There was no White Christmas in the Southern Tier this year. And that lack of snow is worrisome to those involved in outdoor winter sports. As our Lara Greenberg tells us, snowmobile season is off to a rough start this year, thanks to Mother Nature.

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BATH, N.Y. -- "I've been snowmobiling probably about 16 years of my life."

Brittany Clark's been snowmobiling ever since she could sit up straight on her father's lap. She's ready to get the season started, but Mother Nature isn't.

"Everybody tells me it's going to snow and I say we'll see what happens."

Brittany's dad is the president of the Bath Sno-Flake Snowmobile Club. He says the trails are closed and will stay that way until there are at least four to six inches of snow on the ground. But that could take a while.

"We got to have a lot more freezing before it really stays and stays good."

But Clark says it's not the lack of snow that he's most concerned about. It's the amount of mud. They're leaving huge ruts in the land and it's going to make it difficult to prepare for snowmobiling season.

"I preach on the website everybody please be careful on the rutted up field and the plowed field and stuff like that because it is going to be rough this year for the beginning, for the early season rides," said Bath Sno-Flake Snowmobile Club president Bob Clark.

The mud is a result of heavy fall rains and it can't be smoothed out until the snow comes.

The Clarks have been putting up signs for the 70 miles of trails that the club's 200 members ride on. But without that snow, there's not much else they can do to prepare.

"What's your outlook on when it'll really open?" we asked.

"Mid-January. I'm hoping. I hope I'm wrong. I hope it happens tomorrow," said Clark.

But only Mother Nature can decide.

There are about 200 miles of snowmobile trails in Steuben County. None are open yet.