How It All Started...
AbsoluteSnowmobile started back in 1999, when my cousin, a friend and myself, were planning a snowmobile trip to Canada. When Canada didn‘t have any snow "Shocker", we attempted to get a reservation on Tug Hill. If you ever tried to call information and referenced Tug Hill as the town, you've heard the awkward silence of the operator, then "Are you sure the name's Tug Hill?".  Tug Hill is a nickname for an area that covers a few counties and a few dozen towns and hamlets. There are no listings.  So how do you find any info about the area? 

Back in 1999, there was nothing online for the Tug Hill & Old Forge area. Not even a list of places to stay.  This wasn't long ago...  So the idea came up about what we would want to see in a Website for the place we love to ride.  We were frustrated with getting poor or inaccurate information about area conditions.  Many times we wouldn't travel to the area because there were so many conflicting reports on the conditions, we didn't want to take a chance being disappointed or wasting time and money. 

So obviously reliable Trail Conditions were first and foremost… How about Live Cams so people can see the conditions before traveling many hours. We‘ve all experienced calling a local business and hearing how great the trails were, to travel 3+ hours to find the conditions were horrible.

We weren’t Web designers, just avid snowmobilers, frustrated with the lack of information and reliable conditions. To make a long story short… My cousin and friend bailed when it came time to work… I had done all the leg work and planning, as well as came
up with the name, so I figured let’s give it a try and
see what happens.

In the beginning, I had some locals help with gathering trail conditions and continued working full time as a New York State Special Investigator and traveled 3+ hours back and forth to run and promote the site, as I'm not originally from the area.

As the site developed, I just kept on asking myself what I would want to know and see in a site and then I added it to AbsoluteSnowmobile.  Little things like a list of all the snowmobile clubs, what a new rider needs to vacation in the area or a map that shows where all the businesses are in relation to each other, letting you view their site and plan a trip before you get to the area.  AbsoluteSnowmobile was an unbelievable great success from the first season. It was obvious I wasn't the only one who was starving for reliable information for all those years. 

AbsoluteSnowmobile started with one Live Cam at a local tavern.  Because the areas elevation is so divers, receiving varying snow accumulations, it only made sense to add more cams in the area, as well as expanding to the Old Forge region. 

I continued working fulltime and traveling back and forth to the area, until the morning of September 11, 2001.  I was in New York City, working near Battery Park, which is within view of the World Trade Center towers...  Needless to say, it was a life changing experience.

That following snowmobile season (2001-2002), at the age of 31, I made the decision to live in the area full time during the Winter and dedicate all my time into developing AbsoluteSnowmobile and helping to promote snowmobiling in the Old Forge & Tug Hill areas, creating one place to find all the information you need to plan a snowmobile trip to the area.  There were people that said "If you tell riders the conditions are bad they won't come to the area". Ya think!  The flip side is more riders will travel to the area if they can count on getting a reliable report.  It's better to just give an honest report on the trails an let riders decide.  

The focus has always been to offer the most reliable trail conditions, with the most up to date information, consistently everyday.  There's only one way to get a trail report and that's riding the trails.  Why do you think NO other site gives a reliable detailed report, as well as info on who's grooming, on over 200 miles of trails a day, every day?  It's not just the enormous amount of time and hard work, it's very, very expensive.  The people that say I don't ride are the competition.  

What started as a way to offer local conditions to fellow snowmobilers, has turned into a tightnit snowmobile community that cares and takes action on snowmobile issues from the clubs losing insurance, to the state legislature trying to steal snowmobile funds, to area clubs not grooming.  As a snowmobile community we've united, making our voices heard and steering the sport and area in a positive direction.

Thanks to all of you that have been loyal viewers and supporter of us and our sponsors over the years, making AbsoluteSnowmobile the number one site for the Tug Hill & Old Forge area and one of the top snowmobile sites in the industry, with over 2.5 million visits in one day and I do it without message boards... 

What does that mean??  When you have a Website, the name of the game is "Traffic".  It's hard enough to get someone to find your site, but how do you get someone to keep coming back over and over again?  Websites that lack substance or content use message boards to get people to revisit their site.  Don't get me wrong, there are a couple boards that are good and serve a purpose to allow the snowmobile community to gather and learn about new info and trends, however look at a Website that has a message board and ask yourself if it didn't have one, would you visit the site, let alone daily?  Even with an increase in competition each year, I easily could have added a message board to AbsoluteSnowmobile and increased my traffic even more.  Would it help your experience or make a difference for your visit?  That's why I say a majority of message boards are a dime a dozen.  How many Websites offer detailed trail conditions on over 200 miles of trails, daily?  AbsoluteSnowmobile is a leader, not a follower...
   
Some Often Asked Questions:
The biggest questions I get...  Do you really ride the trails?  Although I have volunteers who help with the Trail Conditions, AbsoluteSnowmobile is a one man show. Some riders think I sit behind a computer all day, make a few phone calls and write a trail report. If that were true, I could do my trail reports from a tropical island or every snowmobile site would do the samething and have the same report.

Although I have a network of people and clubs that volunteer and ride the area, they don’t ride every day, especially with gas prices going up.  Tug Hill has shown that just because a club has been out grooming, doesn't mean the trail is in good condition.  So to give you a complete report everyday, means I’m out in the area 7 days a week, including holidays and major snow storms.  It's like working a double shift everyday.

Don't get me wrong...  I'm not complaining the slightest.  I absolutely love what I'm doing, however there is a lot of time and money that goes into offering a detailed, daily trail report that covers over 200 miles of trails.  It's actually a service I provide to you free of charge.

Fortunately in the past few seasons, with the increase in popularity, AbsoluteSnowmobile has picked up some key sponsors like Barrow's Performance & Snowmobile Rental, who supplies the snowmobile for the Tug Hill Reports.  Feel free to ask them how often I ride the area in the middle of the night.  This past season I had a cam that worked well at night and were posting photos with the daily trail reports.  It not only gave the site more credibility that I really do ride, but it was used as a reference to when clubs weren't grooming or neglected trails were creating unsafe conditions.  What more could you ask for than pictures of the trails hours before you ride?  This year with the addition of the Helmet Cam, videos clips with the Trail Reports or the Virtual Tours, which can be downloaded to a media device like an iPod, will change the way you see the area and get conditions.  There is no other site like AbsoluteSnowmobile.com

Why do I ride in the middle of the night? Use the link "How Trails Are Reported" to the upper right, under "Helpful Links".  This explains in depth how the Trail Conditions are reported on, however, the reports are done at the best time of the day, when traffic and temperature are at it's lowest and more than likely the groomers will be out or have been out. So when the majority of riders get to the area in the morning, the Trail Report will be most accurate.  Many area businesses even print out my trail reports for their guests.  I go the extra mile to give the best trail conditions around. You'll see more daytime rides from the Helmet Cam during the 07-08 season. 

Why don't I report on other areas?  Because I actually ride the area, it's impossible to ride everywhere.  I've developed and streamlined a way to cover the main corridor trails on the Hill, including the secondary trails that lead to and from the area.  In Old Forge, ALL the inner trails, as well as the trails that lead into the area are reported on, with over 200 miles of trails reported on daily.  If myself or someone I know happens to ride through an area I don't normally report on, I'll mention the conditions on my report.  If you live in the area and would like to volunteer your time riding and reporting on an area I don't cover, contact me.  That goes for you clubs as well.  Areas close to Old Forge or the Tug Hill that I don't report on and you would like to get some exposure for your club, when you're grooming, contact me.

A majority of the Websites out there have message boards, so you the rider are responsible for giving trail reports. Who's offering the report?  What's their riding style?  Will there be a reliable report posted when I'm going to ride?  There are some very considerate riders that post and offer a trail report as soon as they get home from their ride, however, how many people are reliably riding 7 days a week and posting reports?  What message board will have the report?  Most people report about their weekend ride on Monday and Tuesday, which is useless to the majority of riders who are traveling 3+ hours on Friday.  I do all the work for you, with photos and now video, so you have the best information before you travel to the area...

Who's Magnum??
Magnum is a sled head like many of you...  He eats sleeps and breathes snowmobiling 24/7.  It was funny how many people recognized him because of the cam attached to his helmet at the end of the 2007 season.  Normally his rides are late at night and traffic is very low.  For the 07-08 season, Magnum will be doing daily, daytime rides with the Helmet Cam, so you'll be seeing him along the trails and maybe seeing yourself on the video clips he records while riding.
 

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