AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com
Good news -- the final issue of
American Snowmobiler is back from the printer and will be heading to newsstands shortly. Its official on-sale date is Oct. 8; if you’re a subscriber, then you should have your copy shortly before that date. We hope you enjoy it!
That’s the news, sad as it is, but bear with me for a moment. I’d like to mark this final issue published by
Kalmbach Media with a few thoughts.
From Jerry Bassett, the founder and original owner and editor, to Ryan Thompson, the editor of this final issue, every one of us who have been involved with
AmSnow have had a blast. I took over from Jerry for the
2005 Buyers Guide in October 2004, and wow, was that first issue a struggle!
I mean that cover was the worst in our 15 full seasons, and I’ll bet there were a few typos in it too. But you readers were right there with us, with few complaints. And here’s why: our contributors!
From regulars like Les Pinz (our vintage expert) to Olav Aaen (our technical editor all these years), and Jim Czekala of
DynoTech Research, who has done so many dyno tests for us. These guys are top-notch. They are authorities. They know their stuff.
And we’ve had plenty of other talented helpers too, from regular travel writers like Mike Carr and Bob Island, to hands-on snowmobilers like Jason Houle of
Straightline Performance, and racers like Steve Martin and Shelley Balls recently, or Chris Burandt in earlier years.
There were many test riders, but over the long term it was Butch Veltum and son Ryan, Lil Weber (also our expert and creative art director) and, of course, Les Pinz, a former snowmobile racer himself. In recent years it was Ryan Thompson, and his brothers Kevin and Lonnie, out West. Before that, Matt, Kevin and Jake Allred.