Winter storm primes Maine, NH and Vt. snowmobilers

Heavy, wet snow that fell on Wednesday, combined with snowmachine trails in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont means some paths will be active before Christmas, earlier than usual in some areas.

The three states have a combined total of about 25,000 miles of snowmobile trails that reach from New York and Massachusetts to Quebec and New Brunswick.

In addition to local riders, down-country snowmobilers help bring hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the region for everything from hotel rooms to gasoline to trail lunches.