On Episode 56, we talk to Wisconsin snowmobilers, Erica Marten and Jen Marcott-Bong, founders of the female-focused Facebook Group “Wisco Sled Divas” connecting women who love to ride. Erica and Jen share some of their best tips, tricks and snowmobiling stories – including what to pack, favorite trails and how you can make the most of your next ride.

Since safety is an important part of the ride, the Wisconsin DNR reminds all snowmobilers to think smart before they start.

Learn more about staying safe on Wisconsin’s trails: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/Education/OutdoorSkills/safetyEducation

Learn more about snowmobiling in Wisconsin: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Snowmobile

Find the Wisco Sled Divas Facebook Group, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wiscosleddivas
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TRANSCRIPT
ANNOUNCER: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin "Off the Record" podcast. Information straight from the source.

KATIE GRANT: [00:00:13] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin Off the Record. I'm your host DNR's Digital Communication Section Chief Katie Grant. Did you know that the sport of snowmobiling started right here in the Badger state. Over the years interest in this hobby has grown exponentially and now more than 200,000 registered snowmobiles hit our 25,000 miles of groomed trails each winter. We just finished up International Snowmobile Safety week. While much of the state is still waiting for trails to open. We are doubling down on all things snowmobiling and encouraging you to think smart, before you start. Remember the basics. Don't drink and ride. Always wear a helmet and stay on marked trails.

Need a refresher on snowmobile safety and the laws in Wisconsin? You can find them at dnr.wi.gov. In this episode we chat with Erica Marten from McFarland and Jen Marcott-Bong from Phillips. These two are friends and co-founders of a new female focused Facebook group called Wisco Sled Divas. They started the group this past November, and it's growing rapidly. Consider it a virtual space for fellow riders to connect, share information and support one another. Erica and Jen share some of their best tips and tricks. Including what to pack, favorite trails and how you can make the most out of your next ride. So sit back and listen in.

Allright,  so welcome to the show, Jen and Erica. Uh, why don't you guys go ahead and get us started off by just telling us a little bit about who you are and what it is that you do and Erica, we will go ahead and start with you.

ERICA MARTEN: [00:02:05] Great. Thanks. My name is Erica Marten. I am in McFarland, Wisconsin and I am currently a recruitment specialist at UW Madison.

KATIE GRANT: [00:02:17] Fantastic. And Jen how about you?

JEN MARCOTT-BONG: [00:02:20] Um, so my name is, uh, Jen Marcott- Bong and I live in Phillips, Wisconsin and I am a Director of HR for a, um, global manufacturing company.

KATIE GRANT: [00:02:34] Awesome. And how did you guys meet? Being, you know, in separate parts of the state.

JEN MARCOTT-BONG: [00:02:40] So I used to live in the Madison area. Um, I just recently moved to Phillips about, well, I shouldn't say recently about five years ago I moved here and Erica and I used to work together.

Um, so we worked at a, uh, a recruiting company in Madison and that's how we got to know each other. And then our husbands became BFFs as well.

KATIE GRANT: [00:03:01] Those are always the best kinds of friendships. How did you guys get into snowmobiling then?

ERICA MARTEN: [00:03:08] Um, well, um, my parents bought our family a Yamaha snowmobile when I was in high school. Um, and it was something my dad and I could bond on because I wasn't really the tomboy. I was the girly girl in the family. Um, and that quickly became one of my favorite things to do in the winters because it was fast. Um, but it was also fun. And unfortunately I kind of lost touch with it during college. Priorities changed.

Um, but my husband got back into it a few years ago, thanks to Jen's husband um, and I was able to make my re-entry, um, with his hand me down sled at the time. And it kinda just brought back all those memories from high school, how fun it was, um, and how great... It's a great way to get out, um, take in the scenery and be active in the winter months.

JEN MARCOTT-BONG: [00:04:05] For me a very kind of similar story. Um, grew up in a snowmobiling family. We, as a young kid, we actually had a cabin on Solberg Lake, which is in Phillips, um, so spent most of my winter weekends in Phillips, um, snowmobiling with my family. And, um, I just kind of learned to really enjoy it because I come from a family of mostly boys.

So I was kind of a tomboy as well. And, um, similar story in the sense of got out of it when I went to college, had to sell my snowmobile cause you know, poor college student and um, when I met my husband, he um, for lack of better terms is obsessed with it. Um, and so got back into it because it was something he really enjoyed and it was something we could do together.

And my brothers were still snowmobiling, so we kind of became a family thing again and kind of like Erica, I remembered how much fun it was. Being out of it for so long.

KATIE GRANT: [00:05:03] What is each of your favorite things about snowmobiling?

ERICA MARTEN: [00:05:07] Um, I'd say that when, when you're out, you're truly among friends because everybody is out there for the same reason. Um, you get to see new places, making new memories, but just in a completely different way. You're not stuck in the car. You're actually out on a sled taking it all in. And there's um, you know, I think is... Jen and I have both found there's a true sense of community with snowmobiling. Um, and that's, that's what makes it really enjoyable.

JEN MARCOTT-BONG: [00:05:40] I would agree. Um, you know, I really enjoy just that aspect of, of getting out and seeing new places. And I think a lot of times when we go out snowmobiling, we have some sort of destination, whether it's, uh, a landmark or a new town or something that we possibly haven't been to before, just to kind of get out and explore and you know, meet new people. And it's something fun that we get to do with our friends and, and, uh, meet new people along the way.

KATIE GRANT: [00:06:07] Very cool. That sense of comradery, uh, I think is something that we keep coming back to on this podcast when it comes to so many of the things that you can do in Wisconsin's outdoors, whether it is snowmobiling or fishing or hunting or whatever it may be. So it's really cool to hear that kind of carry through here. What are some of your favorite trails, uh, to ride in Wisconsin?

JEN MARCOTT-BONG: [00:06:30] So I'm partial to the trails in Price County, mainly because that's what I grew up on. I grew up riding them, having a cabin on Solberg Lake and now that I live in Price County that's where most of our riding is done.

So for me, um, there's, there's a lot of different types of trails. Um, you kno...