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- #61
I don"t think think our sport is even sick . Its been growing in leaps and bounds since the late 60"s early 70"s.Just look at sled sales in the last 20 years.How many ereas can you list right now strictly for sledding?How many were there say 15 years ago?we"ve come a long way too late to turn back now.onward and upward.
The fact that you have to list areas that are strictly for sledding is exactly the point I'm making. 30 yrs ago you could ride anywhere, if you asked someone in 1975 to list sled specific areas they wouldn't be able to because you could ride anywhere, and people had the same attitude - our sport was growing and nothing was going to stop it. Here we are 20 yrs later...maybe you want to talk to the people in Revy and all along the southern rockies - 20 yrs ago you could ride most terrain, now a large portion of some of these areas are closed to caribou habitat, parks, etc, so I will have to disagree with your statement.
Sure, we can only look at a single factor like sled sales to say the sport is growing - of course there are more sled sales now than in the 1960s, how many people lived in Canada in 1965 as well? In 1969, it was a big deal if your record made it to platinum sales status, nowadays records go platinum multiple times over. Its not that music is any better, its just more people buying records. Just saying there are more sled sales doesn't mean the sport is growing, you need to look at how many sleds are bought per capita.
Also, I guess I never pointed out that I'm referencing western riding specifically. There will always be lakes to ride in Ontario so the east can bolster sled sales, but our western way of riding seems to be under attack from all angles. If we wait too long, we will be very very restricted in riding areas in 20 yrs IMO. I'd like to have more, not less, area for my kids to ride on.