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Just got in from Tall Pines trails. Best I've ever been on. Not a single bump. 115k. No road running was a bonus

Its really got me thinking. I realize I probably have minutes to make a call. Tough to justify spending over $30k on a sled when I rode less than 500 kms this winter. Kinda made a deal with myself last week that if I put over 2000 kms on my Cat next winter then I could buy what I want....lol I assume this will be a one year only paint scheme. Decisions, decisions.

Haven't decided anything yet, except we are driving somewhere tomorrow. Our sleds and trailers are parked just south of Lake Michigan. Right now I'm thinking about going up to MN or NW Wisconsin instead. They got hammered with snow last weekend. Used to ride out of Searchmont once or twice a year but haven't gone since COVID, so I was really looking forward to it. I enjoy northern Ontario a lot more and it's an easier drive to get there, but I'm starting to be concerned about conditions. I see Luc is out grooming all over and that area looks good. If we go Ontario, I'd be leaning towards starting in Searchmont and then staying in Wawa, accessing it from the lake trail, or maybe Dubreuilville, if rooms are available. I really like the trail going out to Marathon, and we've never done the part going up to Manitouwadge, but if the trail is closed we won't mess with it. Could go up towards Hearst after that or the other way out towards Longlac but that looks like it might just be a straight away for most of it (we've done the loop going towards Hearst but haven't gone West on A before). Or could just look for places to play between or around Dubreuilville. We're not too picky and like the adventure and low traffic of Ontario

Ox, do you think in 5 years from now, anyone is going to care if you took a weeks holiday? Any of your customers that would begrudge you a holiday may not be worth keeping anyway. JMHO

Took the princess for a ride today. Trails from 830am until about noon were really good with some expected bad spots and roads were partial snow / scrape. Than the snow started to turn very mushy, corners were pushing for sure, some were on wrong side, but traffic was real light and some more rocks poking through. Trails were flat and nicely set up. Fuel at MTH and lunch was boiler room. Lakes are in great shape though, good for some high mph runs.

Last week Friday we drove up to Searchmont and parked at Driftwood Valley which was a first this season. We rode out at 1:00pm sharp and arrived at the gas pumps in Dubreuilville at 6:05pm with the GPS saying we had gone 180.3 miles. We stopped at the warming shack where all 3 groomers come together from different directions and a few more times for breaks and once to dump our 4 gallon cans of fuel. We did not go into Wawa and saved miles and time. We took the Magpie which was perfect. After a night in Hearst we were back for a 2nd night in Dub. Then we had breakfast in Wawa the following morning and gassed up for the trip to Chapleau. We stopped at Halfway just to look around and then continued towards the Chapleau turnoff which is no longer 8.6 miles south of Halfway but rather 21 miles south at the warming shack. This is where all three groomers drive to. When Halfway suddenly left hundreds of sledders hanging last season, the Chapleau and Soo clubs changed the Chapleau run to hookup with the Soo so at least some could sled through Chapleau from points south. from this point 21 miles south of Halfway the Chapleau trail distance is 71 miles into the gas station. Moose horn Lodge is quite a bit less. I am guessing maybe 20 miles? spent the night at Valentines and shot down to Searchmont to head home Tuesday morning. The run from the gas station to the Driftwood left the gas gauge reading over a quarter tank so no extra gas needed that day with beautiful trails. We did put 1 gallon of extra fuel in to go from Wawa to Chapleau although it might not have been needed. We were on Doo 900 Turbo R Renegades which can get 15 mpg when not hammering the throttle. All those trails were fantastic and in better shape than I can ever remember. We both carried the LINQ 4 gallon extra gas tank and 2 one gallon cans in our saddle bags so we each had 6 gallons of extra gas. Depending on conditions you may need the extra, but perfect trails meant that if you stop at Wawa only the 4 gallon would ever be needed. 900 plus miles of the BEST TRAILS ever.

Well, that's an option as well. Just wouldn't want to come back and run a klick of pavement... I have heard of some trouble there over the years as well, but then you see 30 rigs parked there when you drop there, so, it must not be quite as bad as all that. But I understand safe/sorry...

If the road is that bad, I would trailer, and drop the sleds, and leave the rigs at Carl's for safety reasons. walk back to the sleds, if need be. too many horror stories of coming back to broken windows, stolen items on Whitman dam road... I aint leavin my rig like that. even if you just pay carl the "parking fee" it is worth it. your results may vary. Ski

But next year even if you ride 1000km, you will regret not buying it! Looks like a sweet sled though - congrats on your soon to be purchase!!

depending on what sleds you have and option for carrying fuel, start in Searchmont, ride to wawa, or Dub for the first day depending on rooms, then up to hearst for the second day, then head back... that is 4 days of riding. just understand, tomorrow and thursday it is going to be warm, and friday, they are expecting a big dump of snow. they still dont know how far it will track north, or where the majority of the snow will fall but, friday it will be snowing in algoma hard, might not be a great day in the truck, or on a sled, trying to navigate. Sunday looks like an awesome sunny day to be on a sled. be safe, wherever you decide. Ski

Pricey sled! I hope your not financing at the 10.99% rate! 🤣

Day permits were a disaster which is why they were cancelled. The whole permit discussion does come back to enforcement. Until they solve that day permits don't work. Would you have the same issue with a southern permit? Maybe. Provide an upgrade option mid season to encourage those venturing north to do the right thing. At least with a southern permit, you've collected the first $210 from the guy that chooses to break the rules vs $40 or $50 for a day pass when they ride all season with it. I think the biggest mistake OFSC could make is holding seasonal permit prices as is or only moving forward with a $5 or $10 increase. Can't underfund things year after year and not expect a decrease in quality over time.

And they made it. Damn.....lol

Did 30 miles last night fooling around on the lake and some little low lying areas. Unfortunately - we are screwed getting to the trails because of the roads being bare. I bet the trails are great - we just can't get there

I think it's important to not forget how good we've had it and for how long - and that is 100% only because of the volunteers. In my opinion, the only thing that matters is the one we can't control - and that is the weather. When winters are winters - and there is an abundance of cold and snow - life is good. When they suck - we all sit and stare at the costs and armchair quarterback how it could be "better". If most or all clubs operate with efforts similar to those of our skeleton crew local club - then I don't know what else anyone could do and/or expect. No easy answer to any of it.

Road is plowed , that's why it's red. Too bad. On the other hand did 240k yesterday, Baysville, Dorset area. Trails were great with the new snow. Road running was terrible but it is mid March

A little harsh, but agree permit prices aren't where they should be.

How about running it like a proper organization rather than a 200 dollar afterthought on the backs of volunteers, wait never mind. I have to go pay for my 29000 dollar sled,

If anyone is out in HGR area today on d103 clearwater lake stop in and say hi. Follow the trail when u see a huge skidoo banner! They'll be a whack of z120, and mxz 200's if you got kids with ya. I made a jump too. I'll have the fire rockin.

Sure seemed that way. We were playing on the lake and for march break there weren't many sleds going by. Even this morning in town i couldnt hear any sleds on the trail. In years past it'd be moguls and snirt by noon on march break. Maybe everyones in Florida.

Agree 100%. Personally I think that secure land access is the single biggest risk to the sustainability of our sport. Without land access nothing else matters. Funding is part of the solution and it may not be as expensive as one could think given, as you said, when you could be offsetting the costs with reduced costs of continuous reroutes. Legislatively there needs to be work done to reduce or severely limit liability/ exposure to landowners and trail operators when user have “willing assumed” the risks.

No way we can make snow for a trail network Hailburton forest couldn’t even do it and quit. I like idea of increasing snows density so it melts slower. We could add water to it. Lots of near by lakes in cottage country to fill a tank on a groomer with some high pressure spray nozzles to increase denesity of snow. As it was being groomed. Water would have to be heated too. That idea could work though in some areas no doubt.

Some interesting "out of the box" ideas for sure. I agree that the sport needs new ideas to continue to be viable. My thoughts are simplistic in comparison, I would like to see some functionality on the OFSC Trail map: 1. FCMQ has has a layer which shows when last groomed, why can't the OFSC map do the same; (Heck, New Brunswick shows the groomer in real time.) 2. I would like a third color (purple?) which identifies road running, and or bridges when the trail is open but be advised lack of snow. I see some clubs flip to Yellow for lack of snow, but no snow for a few KM's is a whole other matter for sleds. Example, the section in red is a long bridge, which is a road way, I expect that the club has identified that there is no snow on the bridge, not that the province told the OFSC that snowmobiles can't use the bridge. Flip that section to Purple - no snow road way. As we all know, no snow on roadways or shoulders is very different than in the dead of winter when the ground is at least frozen. Also, I'm not talking about simple road crossing, I'm flagging when we have to drive along a road for hundreds of meters, and it is dirt, or rocks, or bare pavement. My 2 cents.

If you stage out of Searchmont, you may want to park up at the trailhead/turn-around, and not at Carl's, so that you don't have to ride all that pavement.