Sound restrictions for snowmobiles

Do you think it would make a positive difference in your backcountry experience? Not trying to get a land use war going (already too many of those), but I am curious if you think it would help, if you would appreciate it, and anything else that you think.

Thanks

Yes, it would definitely make a huge difference! Both when I'm riding the thing and when I have to hear them when I want quiet.

Is it having a positive effect on the backcountry experience in places like Yellowstone? What are the winter Park users saying? I imagine the economic consequences for the West Yellowstone community have been negative.

The noise is part of the issue but the consumption of terrain and the rendering of trails as useless to skiers is also part of the issue. Separation of user groups in the reasonably accessed backcountry will be the logical outcome of the discussion.

Mixing uses for winter sports is is like mixing bird watching and logging. It can be done but there are better ways to plan for the uses...

The noise is part of the issue but the consumption of terrain and the rendering of trails as useless to skiers is also part of the issue.  Separation of user groups in the reasonably accessed backcountry will be the logical outcome of the discussion.

Mixing uses for winter sports is is like mixing bird watching and logging.  It can be done but there are better ways to plan for the uses...

lets try not to make this another land use thread please...

It would make a big difference to me at home--the whine of snow machines from across the river (0.5-2 miles away) can be heard inside my house. Just like the roar (HD) and whine (sport bikes) of motorcycles with aftermarket pipes and the popular "closed course" dirt bikes can. All types (snowmobiles, street motorcycles, and dirt bikes) are now being manufactured with reasonable sound levels and, to me, these are quite tolerable outside wilderness areas; whereas I would like to see the other kinds be made subject to fines if used on public lands and roads.

It would make a big difference to me at home--the whine of snow machines from across the river (0.5-2 miles away) can be heard inside my house.  Just like the roar (HD) and whine (sport bikes) of motorcycles with aftermarket pipes and the popular "closed course" dirt bikes can.  All types (snowmobiles, street motorcycles, and dirt bikes) are now being manufactured with reasonable sound levels and, to me, these are quite tolerable outside wilderness areas; whereas I would like to see the other kinds be made subject to fines if used on public lands and roads.

Good point about the state of technology.  I was considering Tobys' sled, but I want a four stroke.  Four strokes may not have as much power (?), but they are quiet and you can't smell 'em, even from 10 ft away.  Did a hut trip in the French Lick Creek area(does that name strike anyone else as odd?) last winter, and rented [four stroke] sleds for the 15 mile approach.  Plenty of power - but then we weren't off-trail, highmarking, etc., and very quiet.  After parking at the TH to the hut, we could hear the 2 strokers reverberating through the valley - and that continued for the several days we were there (North side of valley is fair game for off-trail sleds.  South side is pedestrian only.  Road/trail down the middle/valley bottom is the boundary.  Apparently that's not working either because in 2012 there is no longer off-trail snomo, there.  Sleds will be for approach only).

I hope to have a sled, some day, and hope further that there will be plenty of 'quiet' road approaches to use.  I might even seek out free-for-all playgrounds, when the time comes, and if there are any..