Magnolia resident, Mike Honsinger is pursuing a new entrepreneurial endeavor, which incorporates his love for snowmobiling as well as enhancing the snowmobiling experience for Texas residents.

Honsinger said he has always had a love for snowmobiling or “sledding.” Many times he has rented equipment while on trips and traveled along snowmobile trails in different locations across the U.S.

During those trips, Honsinger said the stories he heard of other people’s experiences were “just ok, or not so good.” He explained that often people were given the keys to their snowmobile and sent on their way not knowing how to operate the machine, or they would be in large groups of inexperienced snowmobilers stopping frequently. The trips usually lasted for only a few hours.

Although he is experienced in snowmobiling, for others he felt as though snowmobiling should be a learning experience, because he said its more than renting equipment.

“The (snowmobiling) industry expects you to know,” he said. “It’s a little difficult if you don’t know the sport.”

During a trip eight years ago, Honsinger, who is originally from Maine, said he had the idea to start a snowmobiling company which would solve the problems he has had on his trips and some of the other problems he has heard others have had. The company would target Texas residents and it would take them on a 4-day getaway rather than a few hours of snowmobiling.

After five years of searching for a destination that would appeal to Texas residents, Honsinger found a snowmobiling lodge area in Maine.

He said in Maine, four months of the year the snow is reliable, but not too heavy.

“It’s cold enough for snow, but not so cold you don’t want to go outside,” he said.

He has spent the last three years partnering with a lodge, snowmobiling company and other third parties in order to offer clients from Texas a unique all-inclusive snowmobiling experience.

In addition, Honsinger became a registered Maine guide.

His goal for the snowmobiling ventures was to provide a trip “so you (his clients) don’t have to think about anything. It’s all in one neat package,” he said.

“My job is to pull the plan together so the customer doesn’t have any worries,” he said. “They aren’t going to have to deal with being lost, having a bad meal, icy roads, fixing stuff that doesn’t work, grumpy employees or finding a gas station on the way back to the airport.”

Now, for the first year, Honsinger has kicked off SledHead Ventures which will take clients to Maine for a snowmobile vacation during the winter months, December through March.

Clients will take a four day trip to Maine, where Honsinger will pick them up from the airport and stay with them each day as their registered Maine guide. Each day the clients will take snowmobiling trips and stay in a lodge nestled in a dense forest.

Honsinger’s goals were to get into an untapped market, such as residents of Texas, in order introduce them to snowmobiling and to expand and bring more people into the sport of snowmobiling.

“Whether you have a need for speed or you just enjoy the simplicity of an all-terrain vehicle that glides through the forest, you’re going to find that your sled is a blast to ride,” he said. “I assure you, it is something that you will tell your grandchildren about.”

For more information about Honsinger or SledHead Ventures, visit sledheadventures.com.

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