A New Hampshire winter outdoor activity popular with experienced riders and first-timers alike has been put in the spotlight recently after two Massachusetts women died from injuries suffered while snowmobiling. Both were inexperienced riders on a rented machine, according to officials, calling into question the rental process and safety of the seasonal past time.
Shawnee Hollis, 39, of North Brookfield, Mass., and Stacey McGarry, 56, of Littleton, Mass., were both killed in snowmobile crashes on trails in Coos County within a month of each other, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department reported.
Several other crashes this year with “inexperience” listed as the primary cause involved Massachusetts people, including a 41-year-old Methuen, Mass., woman riding a rental on Feb. 10 who had to be flown to a hospital to treat her serious injuries.
Other than all three Massachusetts women renting their vehicles from Northeast Snowmobile & ATV Rentals in Gorham, the serious crashes’ only common denominator is one both the rental company and Fish and Game said is often overlooked: inexperience.
McGarry was near Route 2 on Corridor 12 the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 24, with a passenger on back, authorities said. Her snowmobile went airborne after she did not negotiate a right-hand turn on the trail, instead going straight off and hitting a rock, the department said. Her passenger was ejected and not hurt.
Hollis was riding with a group of people in the evening on Friday, Feb. 16., all four on their own snowmobiles, on a trail near the Berlin border in Milan. She did not make a left-hand downhill turn and hit a tree off to the right by 13 feet, the department said.
Who can ride a snowmobile?
The requirements to rent or ride a snowmobile in the state of New Hampshire are (1) being at least 18 years old and (2) possessing a valid driver’s license, according to the Fish and Game department.
Riders can be as young as 12, but must complete an off-highway recreational vehicle (OHRV) safety education course in lieu of a driver’s license, the department’s site said.
N.H. Fish and Game Division One Chief Lt. Mark Ober said though rental companies “have very few regulations as to how they run their business,” they’re also required to inform riders of all snowmobiling penalties and laws and ensure they can legally rent.
The companies are not mandated to provide safety classes or other background checks, Ober said.
Legislation designed to increase snowmobilers’ safety was brought before New Hampshire legislators last June requiring all riders complete an online OHRV education course, regardless if they have a driver’s license, but it was struck down by the state’s governor in August 2023. Ober said he was not aware of any other legislation being pushed as of February.
Inexperience is the most common factor in any snowmobile crash, followed by speed, both Ober and the law enforcement division said.
“A lot of people come up and they want to have fun; they see the the option to rent a snowmobile in the summer when they’re up using an ATV ... (but) if they’re generally not used to those type of machines, they have to be extra cautious when they’re driving,” Ober said.
“It’s when you maybe get a little bit into it, and you think you’ve mastered the controls and the trails; they might push a little more and that gets them into trouble,” the Fish and Game lieutenant said of some inexperienced riders.
Is snowmobiling dangerous?
In addition to Hollis’s and McGarry’s deaths, six other people have died in crashes over the past five years to date, according to the OHRV law enforcement division of N.H. Fish and Game. There have been 318 crashes since 2019, with 432 people involved either as drivers or passengers.
Just 67 of those people had OHRV certification, the division said. Five of the fatal crashes, including Hollis’s and McGarry’s, happened in Coos County. Ober said there’s been 16 crashes in the county this year so far with five involving rental vehicles.
Ober also stated the number of crashes with both private and rental vehicles so far in 2024 — with more private vehicle crashes than rentals, according to provided statistics — were on par for what has been seen in years past; two people also died snowmobiling in 2020, and one was killed in 2022.
“There’s never been a fault to the (rental) company... They don’t want people to crash, obviously, but they’re a big company with a lot of machines, so they get a lot of customers, and the more customers you get the more likely there’s something’s going to happen,” Ober said, adding snowmobile rentals are an integral part of the state’s economy and officials are not looking to “regulate someone’s livelihood.”
‘Extensive training’
Terry MacGillivray has owned Northeast Snowmobile & ATV Rentals for 23 years, which has two other locations in Maine.
Though MacGillivray said he could not comment on any fatal crashes due to ongoing investigations, he said his company has GPS tracking on its machines and therefore knows where its customers ride, and that McGarry’s incident was due to “extenuating circumstances.”
“Obviously this is a tough business; when you have a fatality, it hurts,” he said, adding that it specifically pains his 30-person staff. The last time a person died using a vehicle from their company was in 2007, he said.
MacGillivray said all people who rent from his company receive “extensive training” before hitting the trail, and described what the process looks like for both beginner and experienced snowmobilers who rent from his company.
“If you come to rent a snowmobile with us, you get extensive training,” said MacGillivray. “You get a 2-mile ride out and we stop to answer any questions; ‘Are you comfortable on this machine?’ If anybody’s not comfortable, we take them back and they don’t ride,” he said.
Before stepping foot outside, riders also fill out a questionnaire and check a box on whether they have previous snowmobiling experience, the owner said. All first-timers also start on a “beginner model,” MacGillivray said, which has less RPM and horsepower. The owner said his company’s “hands-on” experience is better than any online training course that could be offered.
Though the company does not mandate an extra training process for its beginners, it does give new renters the option to test machines in the yard beforehand for those who are uncomfortable as “safety is our No. 1 priority,” said Gorham employee Lana Stiasny.
What’s so hard about riding a snowmobile?
Both MacGillivray and Ober said one of the most common challenges beginner snowmobilers have is with the throttle handling. MacGillivray explained the accelerator is in a rider’s right hand and pushed in with their thumb, and the brake is in their left hand and pulled back “like a bicycle brake.”
New riders often get confused and push in on the accelerator throttle when they’re trying to stop, MacGillivray said, causing them to shoot forward fast instead.
The owner added his company has been aware of this issue in the past, and advocated to snowmobile company Polaris to put a kill switch underneath the throttle to cut the engine if gripped all the way.
For anyone looking to rent a snowmobile for the first time this winter, Ober and MacGillivray offered the same advice: slow down and pay attention to your hands.
