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OFSC Trail Conditions - OPEN - CLOSED - LIMITED


bbakernbay

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The Clubs were sent a directive today by OFSC advising that Club websites are not to use any descriptive or narrative describing the trail conditions.

They are either "OPEN', 'CLOSED' or 'LIMITED' - period.

It's a CYA Lawyer's world.

Our Club won the OFSC Communications Award last year and much of that had to do with letting prospective snowmobilers know more detail about our trails, what to look for, what to avoid, when we groomed, etc.

IMHO this will really hurt attracting some potential touring snowmobilers as they make a big investment in planning a trip and they deserve as much info as possible.

I guess this will be one of my last posts, unless it's responding to non-trail questions such as parking, etc

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i got the message too

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As I have said in the past, if you're planning a trip call the local club and some of the local businesses in the area, they will give you the real information for which you're looking. These are all great people and great resources for information. Also read the posts here and ask questions about your trip. Likewise, if you have information that can help, please post a reply.

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As the OFSC shrinks away from providing detailed information we can keep each other up to date on trail conditions, etc. by providing and sharing more detailed information. The time has come.

We have a good information exchange here. If you have trail conditions you would like to report, or groomer condiitons, signage etc. please post it here.

We will report all we receive.

KEEP THE SPIRIT ALIVE !!

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I've always found this site more useful (and definately more up-to-date)

We just need to spread the word!

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"Welcome to the OFSC"... :mrgreen:

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I got that bulletin as well. As I mentioned in another thread, the OFSC is trying to limit the liability. However, I believe anything posted on here is an individual opinion as opposed to an official status update.

Keep the 'opinions' coming!

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It doesn't matter what they post its all out of date by the time it gets posted anyways, and its all just someone's point of view. Limited to one person might be open and good to someone else. It all depends on where you live. Around my area a foot of base on a trail its lots, but in other places that may still be seen as a limited trail.

But what I do miss from the old system is the warnings about things like logging operations. Trail might have been good on the weekend but if its logging is starting up come Monday, there could be nothing left Monday afternoon.

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Dave, your exactly right.

It's those little things like logging, slush, water crossing closed, bare sp[ots on pipeline, tree down trail blocked, etc. that can be very helpful, Club Members and Visitors alike.

I agree,esp on the slush part,,,,, :mrgreen:

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A Perfect example of this forum working for the reasons stated above....sledder looking out for other sledders

http://ontarioconditions.com/forums/index.php?/topic/7336-heads-up-hidden-hazards/

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But what I do miss from the old system is the warnings about things like logging operations. Trail might have been good on the weekend but if its logging is starting up come Monday, there could be nothing left Monday afternoon.

Now that they can mark sections of trail on an individual basis, they can at least drop the logging roads down to Limited status, which should make it pretty obvious as to what is going on. The comments were never a bad thing, but I feel that the new system is able to tell just as much, if not more, and it is a lot easier to access to boot; mobile devices and colour blind people excluded. :)

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But what I do miss from the old system is the warnings about things like logging operations. Trail might have been good on the weekend but if its logging is starting up come Monday, there could be nothing left Monday afternoon.

Now that they can mark sections of trail on an individual basis, they can at least drop the logging roads down to Limited status, which should make it pretty obvious as to what is going on. The comments were never a bad thing, but I feel that the new system is able to tell just as much, if not more, and it is a lot easier to access to boot; mobile devices and colour blind people excluded. :)

Oh for sure, and hopefully this system can grow in to even more. There is not reason why the trail couldn't even be marked down to the spot with an X and a pop up box telling you Logging, or a wetspot. Kind of the same way online traffic reports show you there is a broken down car blocking the left lane. Telling the clubs you can only use Open, Closed, or Limited is hopefully just a way to bring everyone in line to a standard way of doing things so they can make it better next year and the year after.

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There is not reason why the trail couldn't even be marked down to the spot with an X and a pop up box telling you Logging, or a wetspot. Kind of the same way online traffic reports show you there is a broken down car blocking the left lane. Telling the clubs you can only use Open, Closed, or Limited is hopefully just a way to bring everyone in line to a standard way of doing things so they can make it better next year and the year after.

I had the same thoughts when reading about OFSC guidelines (that the system 'will' expand to allow users to click in areas and see issues).

As for OCL (Open, Closed, Limited) - that's a bit troubling, as it makes the club's website less 'useful'. The trade-off, in time, should be a highly effective OFSC interactive map only one click away once you're on the local club's website.

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Ya I think we all from time to time found the text version of the trail updates/conditions qute usefull, yes, some not up to date as others too. It was nice to plan your weekend away or week away, knowing if there were reroutes and when logging was in operation and such. Maybe theres a way to still have that under each distrcit on this site and keep everyone as up to date as possible like I think it was mentioned up above here.

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I still don't get how the OFSC can dictate what goes on a web site that isnt owned by them.

They effect your clubs risk management scores thereby raising your deductable and effect other factors that reflect on club funding.

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But what I do miss from the old system is the warnings about things like logging operations. Trail might have been good on the weekend but if its logging is starting up come Monday, there could be nothing left Monday afternoon.

Now that they can mark sections of trail on an individual basis, they can at least drop the logging roads down to Limited status, which should make it pretty obvious as to what is going on. The comments were never a bad thing, but I feel that the new system is able to tell just as much, if not more, and it is a lot easier to access to boot; mobile devices and colour blind people excluded. :)

I think that this is really only a first cut by the OFSC and they should be commended for using new technology to improve the trail status information process. As the kinks are worked out, and they listen to what improvments sledders want, I'm sure we will see much more timely information with warnings and special conditions posted in a way that even us visually challenged folks will be satisfied! lol

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Dave, your exactly right.

It's those little things like logging, slush, water crossing closed, bare sp[ots on pipeline, tree down trail blocked, etc. that can be very helpful, Club Members and Visitors alike.

So I take it the notice will be Limited w/ no mention of why? I can handle if the snow conditions aren't 100%, but 3 or 4 miles of plowed (down to dirt) logging/mining road is a different story.

This whole "threat" of liability will be the downfall of our civilisation. Just listening to my 13 year old nephew talk about what can't be down @ the school playground since he started school is a joke. No wonder kids are obese. Playtime is basically stand around & talk to each other. Touching is inappropriate. If you tried to raise a kid like our parents did in the 60s & 70s, the CAS would be on your butt in a heartbeat & you'd lose your kids.

Plus it has created a whole bureaucracy of "risk management". Kids play, they fall down & get hurt. Suck it up princess. This blameless, feeling of entitlement society deserves a good kick in the azz.

Back on topic, if anyone has questions about the Apsley area, I'll try to answer any that are posted.

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I still don't get how the OFSC can dictate what goes on a web site that isnt owned by them.

Dave I look at it this way, we all signed to be covered under the same insurance policy, and agreed to abide the decisions of our elected board govs. What's best for all, some doing detailed reports and others not, or others doing very detailed reports and others not so detailed ..... or one consistant standard province wide ?

What I don't get is how some clubs in protest can continualy buck compliance that a commitee of their peers worked long and hard to put together, which is then legaly reviewed and tweeked by the OFSC's lawyer ....... Then someone sticks a law suit in their face, and they say "why didn't the OFSC protect us"

As for tree's down, wet spots, bare sections .. ect, I would guess if it came to heed the question in a court of law would be asked ..... If you were aware of a tree down or slushy spot why post it on your website instead of closing the trail till it was taken care of ? after all you clearly knew about the condition since you posted it.

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This is an interesting post and I'm thinking alot of what Nutter says makes sense, you knew there was going to be a but. I class tree on trail different than wet or bare spots and having said that , if a suitible alternate trail is close to one that is "wet', not dangerous, just a bit muddy, why not point out that fact on the club web page. We've all made decisions at intersections , given choices to the same destination and really wished we'd made a different choice.

Rules are guidelines but common sense needs to prevail.. "Due diligence"

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I still don't get how the OFSC can dictate what goes on a web site that isnt owned by them.

Dave I look at it this way, we all signed to be covered under the same insurance policy, and agreed to abide the decisions of our elected board govs. What's best for all, some doing detailed reports and others not, or others doing very detailed reports and others not so detailed ..... or one consistant standard province wide ?

What I don't get is how some clubs in protest can continualy buck compliance that a commitee of their peers worked long and hard to put together, which is then legaly reviewed and tweeked by the OFSC's lawyer ....... Then someone sticks a law suit in their face, and they say "why didn't the OFSC protect us"

As for tree's down, wet spots, bare sections .. ect, I would guess if it came to heed the question in a court of law would be asked ..... If you were aware of a tree down or slushy spot why post it on your website instead of closing the trail till it was taken care of ? after all you clearly knew about the condition since you posted it.

The real sickening issue is that this is brought on by the insurers and the lawsuits.

Someway of adding some minor detail would be nice a wetspot or a plowed road .

I do not like those that are acting against the rules if you do not like the rules work towards change do not break them in this case as it is the insurer that is demanding it.

Individuals who are not OFSC directors can still feel free to post .

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I still don't get how the OFSC can dictate what goes on a web site that isnt owned by them.

Dave I look at it this way, we all signed to be covered under the same insurance policy, and agreed to abide the decisions of our elected board govs. What's best for all, some doing detailed reports and others not, or others doing very detailed reports and others not so detailed ..... or one consistant standard province wide ?

What I don't get is how some clubs in protest can continualy buck compliance that a commitee of their peers worked long and hard to put together, which is then legaly reviewed and tweeked by the OFSC's lawyer ....... Then someone sticks a law suit in their face, and they say "why didn't the OFSC protect us"

As for tree's down, wet spots, bare sections .. ect, I would guess if it came to heed the question in a court of law would be asked ..... If you were aware of a tree down or slushy spot why post it on your website instead of closing the trail till it was taken care of ? after all you clearly knew about the condition since you posted it.

The real sickening issue is that this is brought on by the insurers and the lawsuits.

Someway of adding some minor detail would be nice a wetspot or a plowed road .

I do not like those that are acting against the rules if you do not like the rules work towards change do not break them in this case as it is the insurer that is demanding it.

Individuals who are not OFSC directors can still feel free to post .

Simple way to deal with this is to Contact Mike Farr at the Barrie office .... By running this by him and checking to see if we are compliant .... Beats getting slapped with an A03 doesn't it ?

I'd imagine some Districts are compliant and that is all it takes to find out , these guys at the Barrie Office are there to support the clubs not to create confusion ....

Just my opinion !

Paul

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