PathBlazers Snowmobile Club Prepares for the Upcoming Season
PathBlazers is preparing for snowmobile season | Local | mesabitribune.com
CHISHOLM – After an atypical winter last year, the PathBlazers Snowmobile Club of Chisholm/Hibbing and Side Lake, is hoping there will be plenty of snow this year.
For the second year in a row, the club is hosting an open house as an opportunity to show its appreciation to landowners and club supporters, and it’s also an opportunity for the public to stop by, meet its members and check out the equipment the Pathblazers uses to maintain and improve trails.
We try to be very inclusive of everyone and make sure people are welcome and learn about our club,” PathBlazers Club President Dan Marich said.
The open house is from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, at the clubhouse at 119 Southeast Sixth St., in Chisholm’s Industrial Park. Free food and soft beverages are being served, and there are door prizes.
“We are respectfully appreciative of our positive, collaborative relationships that we have with all of the land owners, for without them, our longtime trail network wouldn’t be possible,” Marich said.
Reflecting on the 2023-2024 snowmobile season, Marich recalled the groomers, machines usually busy out on the trails, never left the clubhouse all season.
State snowmobile trails, per the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, open December 1 and close March 31, March said in a phone interview earlier this week.
“They were open but there was zero riding,” Marich said. He noted there was some late snow, but it was too late to even consider grooming the trails.
This past winter PathBlazers members took advantage of the mild winter to do additional brushing and clearing of trails, and they also built a new shelter.
The club is hopeful the additional work put in last season will mean less for this fall, according to Marich.
Marich said there’ll still be work to do this fall, clearing away any trees that may have fallen due to wind and/or storms.
“Over the summer months we get a few storms with heavy rains and gusty wind,” Marich explained. “We learn which trees are weak — the ones that fall over the trails.”
PathBlazers grooms and maintains 68 miles of trail. From the south they start on the Alborne grade, up through Hibbing, over to Chisholm, out of Chisholm, over to Buhl. Back the other direction, they go up to Side Lake up to the Taconite State Trail, Marich said.
Landowners include governmental agencies: City of Chisholm, City of Hibbing, City of Buhl, and French Township, which allow permitted access, according to Marich. There are also corporate landowners, primarily U.S. Steel Keetac and Cliffs Hibbing Taconite, and eight private landowners who allow Pathblazers permitted use of their land, he noted.
Should the weather cooperate with snow this year, the PathBlazers will be ready. The club purchased a used Pistenbully trail groomer last year, and has ordered a new 2024 model Pistenbully Trail 100 groomer this year. The new groomer is anticipated to be delivered at the end of October.
PathBlazers currently has about 135 members, and welcomes new members. Anyone interested in joining can sign up at the open house, attend a PathBlazers meeting, or join on the website at www.pathblazers.com. The website links to the club’s Facebook page where you can find updates and club activities.
A part of the Range community
The PathBlazers clubhouse location, right along the snowmobile trail in Chisholm, has worked out well for the club.
Marich said the club appreciates the city’s cooperation, and the public appreciation expressed since the building was built two years ago.
The clubhouse provides a place for the club to store, maintain and make repairs on its machine as needed. It’s also where the club offers snowmobile safety courses for adults and children.
Minnesota requires snowmobile certification for residents born after December 31, 1976, according to the DNR. More information is available on the DNR website at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/safety/vehicle/snowmobile/index.html.
The PathBlazers Club served as a sponsor for the Tomassoni Tour bike ride held Sept. 19. The clubhouse served as a stopping point for the tour.
This winter the club is supporting the Never Surrender Blizzard Tour against ALS, taking place Feb. 5-8, 2025. As was the case last year, the clubhouse building is a designated fuel and lunch spot for the snowmobile ride.
“We are supportive of Never Surrender,” Marich said of the Hermantown-based nonprofit.
Marich noted Chisholm is the hometown of the late Minnesota State Senator David Tomassoni, who the Tomassoni Tour is named after. Tomassoni fought a very public battle against ALS, and was a passionate advocate for research into the disease. He died on Aug. 11, 2022.
“David was a good supporter of snowmobiling and a friend of many club members,” Marich said.
PathBlazers is preparing for snowmobile season | Local | mesabitribune.com