yamadan700

Very happy for you guys too! Good for the sport when there are many options to ride in southern Ontario.👍 Lived west of Orangeville(Waldemar) for 20 years and always appreciated when I could open the garage door and ride!

Wow! Feel free to send some of that snow to the east! We need another 15cms and we would be good to go. Damn Canadian Shield!!

I noticed that too. The trail was showing when the ITG first came out in December. Not sure when it disappeared. I assume there's a landowner issue somewhere along that trail, hence, the trail has been removed from the ITG. Too bad as we have friends(non-snowmobilers) in Howdenvale and were hoping to ride out there this winter and stay for a couple of days.

Ski, will you deliver down to the Soo? Asking for a friend. I did reach out. Waiting for response.

I'm down in Florida(south of Tampa) now until about 13th as well. First time staying more than a few days down here. Weather is good! However, we're staying with the in-laws. I'm at day 5 and it's getting a bit "interesting" already. Not sure I/we can last another 3 weeks...lol.. Need more snow/cold and some trails to open up our way so I can have a "rational" discussion with my wife about why we should return early.😉👍

It's all about the geography of the area. I was part of the Orangeville club for several years and understand the farm land perspective. If they can't stay between the stakes then just stay off. It will cost the club with crop damage payouts. However, my area now is 95%+ hills and valleys in the bush and swamps on the Canadian Shield and I, personally, don't have any issue with sledders wanting to pack down the trail for us. If they are willing to potentially damage their sleds, feel free. It helps freeze the swampy areas faster and it makes it much easier for the groomer to climb or go down a solid rock hill when it has a somewhat base under it. Trust me, it's no fun getting your fillings rattled being the first running down our trails in a groomer. The trail looks smooth with the snow on top but you feel every rock outcropping underneath and punch through every swampy area. The only caveat is when the groomers are out trying to establish a base, please stay off so it can set up. JMO.

Does this fall under the GST exemptions for the next 2 months if you buy it for a child? Asking for a friend...lol

Personally/selfishly, I don't mind people running closed trails as they are packing the trail down instead of us beating up the groomers. However, don't call the clubs when you do get stuck in a deep water/mud hole or swamp! We won't save you! ..lol.. Call CAA or a friend!😉

We were out too!!!..lol... We've got snow but not enough for our area.(Canadian Shield) Getting there tho! Some more cold nights would help.👍

Hmm. Is that a slam on Arctic Cat owners?...lol..

The reserve in my area still advertises that there is no ethanol in their premium fuel. I haven't had any issues with their fuel. Maybe the same in Quebec.

Good for them! 👍 They are mostly summer roads so it doesn't take much snow to get the groomers out. I wish our trails were like that!!..lol..

Hmm. Seems brushing the trail is not high on the priority list...lol.. Do you guys carry a chainsaw just in case?

Most of ours are multi-year. We have some that are annual but most of those folks enjoy the social interaction with the club member when signing the MOUs. They like to converse ..lol.. When you overlap the groomer GPS tracks on top of a county's GIS, there can be some surprises. We had a few where the trail crosses a corner of a property that we thought was some other landowner's property or road allowance or Crown land etc.... We contacted the "new" landowners and they had no idea that the trail was even on their property. Fortunately, most had no problem with the trail and signed the MOUs. The municipalities we deal with are pro snowmobiling. Obviously others are not.

Dec 1st. I'm hearing there may be some shock at the lack of trails that will be available on Dec 1st due to the landowner MOUs. Many clubs are struggling. Our District, District 2, is in good shape from what I've heard.

In my area, we share some of our trails with the ATV and OF4WD clubs. Most of it is Crown land but there is some private land mixed in there. We have a good relationship with both clubs and the landowners. Crown Land that allows motorized vehicles. Snowmobiles have to follow the Motorized Snow Vehicles Act(MSVA). If you are snowmobiling on a OFSC Prescribed Trail on Crown Land, you need to follow the Act and the OFSC rules, ie trail permit, etc. However, you can run your recreational bulldozer, ATV, truck, skid steer, electric scooter, PWC, etc on a OFSC Prescribed Trail on Crown Land as they don't have to follow the MSVA rules. They don't have any "Acts" to follow. The OPP can charge them with mischief if they are destroying the trail, ie doing donuts, trenching, etc, but that's about it. It's a huge PITA for many clubs across the province every year, especially when we are trying to establish a base.

My wife and I switched over to FXR a few years ago and we have no complaints. We appreciate the built in floatation capabilities as there are numerous trails that cross lakes up this way. Warmth has never been an issue.

Our area usually does well from north of Mississauga Lake over to the Paudash and the Twin Mountain(Bobcaygeon) trails. The biggest issues are always the swampy areas, not the lack of snow. When the swamps freeze up, we are golden. Paudash trails north from their clubhouse to Lake St Peter/Whitney over towards Haliburton back down to our trails usually get early snow and it stays late. Mostly bush so it helps protect it from the sun exposure. As for the landowner MOUs, our club should be fine. Rumour on the street is that District 2 and 3 are in good shape with the MOUs.👍

On the bold. We have had some surprises on that front! A hundred feet or more of trail here and there that isn't on property that everyone thought belonged to "Bob". Hopefully most clubs don't have those issues and if they do, I hope the unsuspecting landowner is open to having a trail on his land and signs the LUP. Could be many reroutes coming in the near future. Sigh.

We have the same issue here as do all the clubs. We have discussed this at our last club meeting. Not sure where this ultimatum came from. I assume there must be legal action against the OFSC/landowner from some quality individual who did nothing wrong on the trails and is suing the OFSC/landowner because the trail somehow injured them as it is never their fault! My other assumption is that an incident may have happened on a trail that may have crossed a section of private/public property that the club didn't think it crossed and did not have a LUP. I honestly don't know. It is very hard to get in contact with many landowners as many don't live in the area as "Topnotch" stated. Some are just numbered companies. They don't answer emails, phone messages, etc.. It is a lot to ask of the volunteers in a short amount of time as we do have other life obligations. We used to have open ended contracts with many landowners(local and not local) as they don't want to be bothered with signing new contracts every year/few years. Not 100% sure if open ended contracts still applies tho. Regardless we all have to get in contact with all the landowners. It's a huge pain in the ass to get this all resolved by Nov 1st. I do believe this will be an issue for this coming season for many clubs. As "Nunz" stated, there could be some trail closures due to this. Go easy on the clubs when there is copious amounts of snow in your area and you don't know why the trails aren't open. Curious if this was discussed at the OFSC AGM this weekend. I'm sure it was. We/I will find out soon.

Apologies to the OP for going off topic. Anyone have any experience with the Ice Ripper on a four stroke crossing roads? Was on a AC demo ride years ago and a non-studded ZR7000 couldn't get across a road crossing. The carbides dug in and the non-studded track just spun and would not push it across. We had to grab the ski loops and help it across. Curious if the Ice Ripper has enough bite to push a four stroke across a road. Note: I'm not concerned for myself(both sleds studded) but for the new or inexperienced riders who stop close to the road/on the shoulder and have no momentum crossing a road.

Yes, red tape is a pain. On work days, we have a quick meeting beforehand with regards to what we want to accomplish and the safety factors involved, ie maintaining at least 10' perimeter from anyone using a chainsaw. We all print our names on a form and sign it saying we understand what is expected. We do this even if it is just board members who come out. Thee must cover thy ass! I believe the OFSC has an umbrella insurance policy to cover volunteers when working with the club. Not sure what it entails tho. However, I believe you are out of luck when doing trail work on your own. There are some locals who tackle trail work, ie downed trees, on their own and that eliminates the hoops, ie chainsaw certified, but it is at their own risk. Agree with Strong Farmer, it is a "pretty sad world" we live in. No personal accountability. It's always someone else's fault. Therefore we must "go through the hoops".

Come on up to my area!! We will embrace you with open arms!!👍👍 We had about 80 people check off the volunteer box on their permits last year. I think we had 3 total new volunteers show up for some work days. However, we do most of our work during the week. That being said, we did postpone a few work days to the weekends to see if we would get more volunteers. Didn't happen. We do have a decent core of yearly volunteers(8-10), of which 2, 3 or more do come out regularly. We always put a mass email out to all that checked the volunteer box for most work days. Like PLC said, sometimes it's just easier to get the regular 3-5 board members out to get a job done on short notice. Our club put in close to 1200 volunteers hours last year. That's just actual time doing trail work, bridge rebuilding, brushing, signage, etc... This does not include driving to the trails, grooming, club meetings, meeting with landowners, sharpening chainsaws, etc... As Strong Farmer said, "Then when you volunteer and ask them if you can do this or that they say we think about it and get back to you. ".. For example, due to risk management and insurance, we can't just let volunteers run chainsaws unless they have taken a chainsaw course. We will pay for that training if they are regular volunteers. I don't know why the club didn't get back to him tho. Maybe the club doesn't have a dedicated volunteer coordinator due to not enough people on their board. Maybe Strong Farmer can fulfill that role. 👍 We have 8 guys on our board fulfilling 15 positions with 5 of us are wearing multiple hats and the same 5 of us do most of the trail work. I think the bigger issue is the lack of volunteers willing to step up to board positions. No board, no club. I'm the youngest by quite a few years at 57. We need more people to step up or it won't last. IMO, that will be the downfall of organized snowmobiling. Hope this sheds some light from my perspective.

I bought a 71 Motoski Mini-Sno for my kids when they were, I believe, 4 and 6. Cool little sled that would stay on top of deep snow even with me on it! Had a decent top speed around 40mph. It didn't "braap" but rather it had a long deep groan...lol... The kids learned well on it as you needed to add some body language to make it steer. They moved up to a 300 Enticer a few years after that. Enticer is still kicking around 20 years later.

Do you have an extra bedroom? ..lol...