Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
OGDEN — After 20 years in the outdoor recreation business, Casey Pratt said lackluster winters come and go, but they aren't often as sparse in snowfall as this one so far.
"Definitely not as much as we're used to," Pratt said. "But where we're at, there's plenty of snow. All the trails are covered, and people are still going out and having a great time."
Pratt is part-owner of Club Rec. Its snowmobile rental and tour shop is in the Monte Cristo area, which he said tends to see much more snow than down in the valleys.
"I think the hardest part for us is when there's no snow down in the valley," Pratt explained, "some of the locals don't get excited about coming up. They do other things."
Business from tourists, however, is helping keep things running. Pratt said many of them book their adventures months in advance.
Sasha Petov and Igor Dozortsev stopped by while visiting from Dallas, Texas. They're originally from Russia. They said another snowmobiling business canceled on them due to lack of snow.
"So we called, like, maybe 10 different places," Petov said. "But this place, they told us, 'Hey, come up. We got some snow here.' So, yeah, we've been lucky."
"It was a lot of snow, especially on the other side of the mountain," Dozortsev added. "It was awesome. The tour guides were amazing."
Pratt, however, said they could definitely use some more snow to help boost business. With snow in the forecast for Friday, he's hoping the incoming storm shows up in a big way.
"Hopefully it's all snow, and people get excited about winter again," Pratt said. "We still have a couple good months of snowmobiling and skiing and things like that to do."
