The season's first winter storm is giving northern New England's often snow-challenged, multibillion-dollar snowmobiling industry the promise of a bright start.

The heavy, wet snow that fell Wednesday provided the base needed to support snow machine trails in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, and clubs across the region are gearing up to get tens of thousands of enthusiasts on the trails before Christmas. A series of smaller snowfalls continues to add to the base.

"We've got to have snow to have our sport," said Jim Morrill, the president of the Sno-Bees Inc., snowmobile club in the town of Barre, Vt. "More often than not, we get off to a late start in Vermont. Oftentimes it's January."

Bryant Watson, the executive director of the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, the club that oversees snowmobiling on the state's 6,300 miles of trails, said that the past two seasons got off to good starts, too, but that early snow was followed by warm weather that closed down much of the state's trail system.

"Hopefully we aren't going to have that this year," Watson said. "The extended forecast doesn't show" a warm-up.

The three states of northern New England have a total of about 25,000 miles of snowmobile trails reaching 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 hotels, gas stations and restaurants.

Lisa Savard, the co-owner of The Cabins at Lopstick, a resort in Pittsburg, New Hampshire's northernmost town, said Friday that the 14-week snowmobile season, which accounts for about 40 percent of her business, is looking good.

"It just keeps snowing," Savard said. She said that she's expecting some business before Christmas but that the season is expected to take off between Christmas and New Year's.

New Hampshire has about 7,000 miles of trails. The most recent economic impact study, conducted during the 2002-03 season, showed that the total impact on the state's economy by snowmobilers was nearly $1.2 billion and that direct spending by snowmobilers accounted for 10 percent of all money spent by travelers in the state.

Gail Hanson, executive director of the New Hampshire Snowmobile Association, was optimistic. "We're looking forward to a fabulous season," she said. "Ride carefully, obey the speed limits, and have a good time."

In Vermont, the start of the season is set to follow the close of the last deer hunting season of the year, which opens Dec. 15. The Vermont snow travelers group website always carries the caveat "pending snow conditions," but this year nearly the entire system should be ready by the opening date, Watson said.

New Hampshire has similar rules for opening the trails. In Maine the opening is up to local clubs, but all expect to be in action by Christmas.

Maine snowmobilers are energized by this week's snowstorm, and especially the cold weather following it, which hardens the ground to make a good base for the state's 13,500 miles of trails, said Bob Meyers, executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association. Snowmobiling pumps $300 million into Maine's economy, state officials said.