Cruising along Michigan snowmobile trails

EDWARDSBURG, Mich.---The wait is over for snowmobile drivers. The time to cruise along these Michigan trails is finally here.

"It's been slow up til the last week or so here and now it's kinda turned things on, so it's much better than what it was a month ago for sure,"said Norm Krupp, owner, Krupp's Power Sports.

Since the start of this month--fourteen inches of snow coated Edwardsburg. Even though conditions are ideal, drivers still face safety risks.  

"Don't ride too close to somebody cause they can stop really quickly and you can rear-end them," said Benjamin Anson, snowmobiler.

Fresh snow can quickly obstruct the vision of the driver behind you. Like in a car, leave ample space and don't drink and drive.

"Sixty to seventy percent of the accidents on snow mobiles are related to alcohol," said Krupp.

But if you're looking for good, clean fun--be sure to pick a safe location. A trail permit gives a driver access to over one hundred miles of groomed and well-marked trails. They span all the way to Van Buren county. Don't risk injury in an unfamiliar field or farm land.

"There's irrigation equipment, buried posts, all kind of that stuff so beware of that stuff when you get off trails," said Krupp.

Kids can safely ride too. Children ages twelve through sixteen must take a safety course.It was there Benjamin learned simple snow mobile ettiquette like alerting those coming the opposite way.

"When sleds or snow mobiles pass you, how many people are behind you, because I didn't have anybody I put a zero," said Anson.

He hopes the weather holds up. That way he can continue to ride after-school. Krupp says forty degree temps this weekend will be bad. He's hoping the weatherman is wrong.

"It would certainly help and it would help the snowmobilers themselves because it would give them a chance to actually use their equipment," said Krupp.