yamadan700

Thank you Old Sledhead for all you do!!! We are in a similar situation here. Getting very frustrated. Our trails are closed and we have been packing and filling in holes(lots of exposed Canadian Shield) trying to establish a base. Volunteers doing trail work today saw over 30 sleds in a 2 hour period. Yesterday, another volunteer drove down the 507 to Buckhorn and counted another 30+ sleds on closed trails running beside the highway in a 20 minute drive. Open trails within a 30 minute drive either side of us!! SMH! The OPP were in the Bobcaygeon and Buckhorn area yesterday issuing warnings(third party info but have pics that they were there) The OPP needs to issue tickets, not warnings. Enough is enough! The OFSC needs to push for zero tolerance enforcement from the OPP. The situation now is not sustainable. I don't want to volunteer hundreds of hours and spend $1000 in fuel every year to have our/my trails be garbage all season because we can't get a good base due to people tearing it up riding on closed trails.

Good amount in Lakefield area. At least 6” so far according to my wife. Get those groomers warmed up!!

Hmm. Looks like TWN may have been right for a change. Blizzard warning for the GTA.😳 Can’t remember that ever happening.

Hmm, looks like all the clubs south of Bancroft will be using their groomers starting tmo night! (fingers crossed)

Forecast is looking better. May get lucky with the rail line!

Hi Brian Still snow covered here in the Lakefield area. Maybe 2". Looking at the forecast, the short answer would be no. I'm part of the Buckhorn club and we are still dealing with fallen trees on the trails from the windstorms a couple of weeks ago. We've done about half of our trail system. Still about 80km to go. Most of the trails we have worked on have a bit of base on them which is good. However a good chunk of our trails run through the Canadian Shield and need quite a bit more snow to cover the exposed rock. Believe we would need 30cm to get there. Last week some swampy areas were still not frozen enough to support our atvs. Rail lines or smoother trails wouldn't need much to get going, maybe 10-15 cm. Hope that helps. Dan

We have a good relationship with KATVA and OF4WD and many times we share the cost/labour on mutually beneficial projects. Maybe they can reach out to the other user groups of those trails for assistance.

Looks like the ITG is now open.

Also clubs may still be working on reroutes due to landowner issues or making new trails and the maps may still not be ready to go. Many new landowners from the GTA and not all are snowmobile friendly. Go figure..lol

Could contact clubs in the area that you want start from and see if you can park at their clubhouse for a few days.

Did not take it as bashing volunteers. No worries there. I understand what you are saying. I agree. More $$$ would be great! I was just highlighting the actual hidden costs to maintain a provincial system and how much extra that would be if everyone was paid. It would be a staggering amount. How much would a trail permit cost then? Would be four figures for sure. I would also imagine that if everyone was paid then the landowners would also want to be paid. It would just be an ugly black hole to go down, IMO. It would be helpful if the government would put some of that extra tax revenue that snowmobilers generate back into the OFSC. The tree hugging green energy people may not think that is a good idea tho. If the OFSC should ever collapse, I can pretty much guarantee that the money spent on snowmobiling in Ontario will then be spent on vacations outside Ontario/Canada. It would be a large loss of tax revenue.

If volunteers just billed the OFSC for their fuel used in their trucks, atvs, snowmobiles, chainsaws, generators, etc., you would already be paying $400. Let alone all the donated(free) use of personal tools, trucks, atvs, equipment, supplies, lumber donations, etc.. Going to the AGM, which is a working weekend, with costs covered is a small token of appreciation, IMO, for the hundreds of hours of annual volunteer time the leadership provides. If they were paid for their hours, as the groomer operators are, your trail pass would likely be many times higher. UsedtoSkidoo. As you know, volunteers is only way to keep the cost of the trail permits reasonable. We do it because we are passionate about keeping the provincial trail system alive. Maybe we should do like the ski hills do and charge $80 a day for when you want to ride the trails. That may provide enough resources to pay everyone as long as we can maintain the same amount of ridership. Call Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau and ask them for some funding. Good luck! Just my $.02

Maintaining volunteers at a leadership level is paramount to the OFSC being successful. Gaining knowledge and wisdom from others at that level and throwing a few bucks at them is worth the cost in my opinion. The amount of $$$ that all volunteers donate to the club cause is large, ie gas, equipment, supplies, atvs, etc.. And no, I am not at the leadership level so conflict of interest can be ruled out.

A factor could be a lack of willing volunteers to operate the booths. Many are usually older and may have concerns.

In our district, permit sales (seasonal and classic) were up over 10% from 2019 to 2020. Up around 20% from 2020 to 2021. Around 80% of both were sold before Dec 1st. Classic makes up around 8% of the total sales. According to the OFSC website, "Altogether, you bought 2019 Trail Permits for about 105,000 sleds". If the permit sales increase is the same across the province, the need for an increase in permit prices may not be needed at this time. JMO

I always assumed that mid grade fuel was just premium and regular fuel being mixed to get a mid grade rating. Didn't know it was a separate tank.

Guess the SRX will still be the fastest sled next year

Always appreciate your local reports too.

503 has been open for a bit now from E107 to the lake. Trail was getting narrow in some spots due to the bush overgrowth. Remedied some of that today. We only got about halfway to the E107 from the Buckhorn side. Trail was in decent shape to where we turned around. It is a good trail. Has a bit of everything. Lake, bush, cottage roads, etc. However it's always a bit rough from the lake to Hwy 507. Only about 1km tho. Can't get a big groomer through there. Back in the 70's, I believe you were wrenching as much as you were riding ..lol.. Bit before my time.

We staked Mississauga Lake today and did heavy brushing along the 503. Still lots more brushing to be done. Keep an eye on the ITG. Note. Careful at the east end of Mississauga Lake. Lots of snow covered rock where you exit the lake due to low water levels.

I used to park on the first road on the right/east north of the Lakeridge Road/hwy 47 intersection. It's a dead end road and there is room to turn around at the end. We all parked on the north side so we didn't block it for the residents. Believe it is Ganton Road. Trail crosses the road right at Lakeridge Road. Disclaimer. It's been four years since I lived out that way.

Maybe a new project/sku for revrnd

Congrats to the club for having the only trails open south of Cochrane!!! Probably the first time ever!

JMO. If you do the monthly start up during the offseason, make sure you let the motor get good and warm/hot. Your heat exchangers should be warm/hot before you shut it down. If you don't, you are just creating an ideal environment for increased moisture/condensation in your engine and hence rust issues in the bottom end. You are actually doing more damage than good.

Last year it took 6 weeks to get my passes. Ordered in October, received email they have been shipped, and received mid December. Had the police report all ready to go to get replacements and then, of course, they arrived. FWIW. Paid the extra this year to get them by courier. No issues.