November 17, 2006

Letter from GMNC President Joe Ramey:

Some of you already know, but after a long, extensive, and exhausting
search we have a new snowcat grooming machine! It is a beauty, a brand
new PistenBully 100Nordic with an 11 foot plow and 10 foot tiller, and
double independent track setters, and an internal heater to pre-warm
the engine and hydraulics. This machine will change Grand Mesa cross-
country skiing forever. With proper care, this machine could provide
excellent Grand Mesa grooming for two decades or more!

If you want to see this new machine, it will be delivered to Skyway
Monday, November 20th at around 10AM. And we will have a dedication
ceremony between the first races of the season on December 2nd at
Skyway.

Special thanks to the PistenBully dealer in Grand Junction: Kassbohrer
All Terrain Vehicles Inc. Kassbohrer has worked with us for over a
year to find this machine, and gave us the Xenon lights and heated
windshield wipers for free, and is providing on-snow training next
week for our groomers. Sam Trafton, one of their sales reps, will be
joining us this year on the trails and races.

This amazing gift was made possible by a very generous grant from the
Jean Thomas Lambert Foundation. But the costs of running this machine
will have a big impact on our little budget. Associated snowcat costs
will include: transport up and down the Mesa, fuel costs of 2.5
gallons of deisel per hour requiring a fuel tank rental, annual
maintenance expected to be around $3000 or more, annual insurance
costs of $3000, and we are afraid there could be repair costs. Then we
have to store the snowcat somewhere off the Mesa in the warm off-
season, to include some kind of covering...either a canvas custom
cover or some kind of shed.

I tell you all of this because our membership dues of $25/$40 don't
come anywhere near covering these new costs. Your tax deductible gifts
are needed now more than ever before.

Please come up on Monday, and again Saturday December 2nd, to
celebrate a new era of cross country skiing in western Colorado.
Congratulations members!