Those taking their snowmobiles out will have an easier time navigating the trails, following the release of a new app. Snoman President Allan Butler says the new app was brought forward at last year's Snowmobile Congress meeting in New York, and snowmobiling organizations in Canada and the U.S. jumped on board. The RiderX App was originally developed for Polaris, and only those who had a Polaris snow machine were able to access it's contents. However, Butler notes it's now available to all iPhone and Android Users.

He says the free app outlines 12,000 kilometres of Manitoba's trail systems, 10,000 of Saskatchewan's trails, as well as trails in Ontario, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. He says some of the benefits of the technology include safety, and easier navigation.

"First of all there's the safety factors. Secondly, the only other way people know where they are is with a paper map. Those are kind of awkward and cumbersome, where as the digital map is easier to handle, and it's like a GPS system in your car, it's the same idea."

Butler says he's already taken the new app for a test run, and was impressed with the ease of use and planning capabilities.

"It's quite good. One of the nice features about it is that you can plan your trip on your computer, and then you can download that map to your phone. Then, you don't actually need the cell phone coverage to use that map, you just need the GPS that's built into your phone."

He says he was using the App for about six hours, and it didn't drain the battery. He notes the app was developed without any cost to Snoman, or any of the clubs.