signfan

Where can I stage out of in the Orillia area? Is there an area in the north end of town accessible to the trails?

Is the Best Western in Walkerton decent for trail access? Looks like it might be a decent staging location to run loops from. Considering Owen Sound, but I'm guessing we'll spend a lot of time running the rail bed everyday just to get in and out of town.

Looking like the lake effect is starting again. If things open up any advice on sites to see and trails to ride in the area for a 3 day trip. Also what are the best places to stay at. Has been on the bucket list for years, but never been. Open to any / all advise. Would be going mid week, but only if conditions are worth the trek.

I'd say yes 130 hp. It's a decent deal.

So that sled new today (a renegade 900 ace adrenaline) has an msrp of $15,684. 23% increase. I looked up building trade wages. Union wages are up around 20% in the same time frame. So those comparisons are close to being on par. Not in anyway saying sledding is cheap, but if ppl will buy base models there is a huge swing between base model pricing and the premium model thats approaching $30k. That's not in anyway saying the cost of living for that trades person has only went up 20%. That guy is getting squeezed from all sides. But there is options when buying sleds. Snowtrax and ourselves are our own worst enemies sometimes.

What I don't get is why announce an indefinite production halt if your plan is to sell. I get putting assembly on hold and scaling back costs. But what advantage to a potential buyer does paying severance out and permanently severing ties with employees provide?

Textron was never a good fit for arctic cat imo.

Any word on the haliburton area since the rain? Did the haliburton forest survive or not?

Wireless charging won't heat it enough. Get the one with the heater and the ability to plug the phone in. I've tried the wireless charging and its a fail. Phone freezes and dies.

Someone needs to be fired at OFSC head office. Do they not realise this is their primary marketing tool? What message is being sent with this release today? After last years weather conditions this is suicide. My initial gut reaction (and so many others) is I guess I will look at other options (Quebec, New Brunswick, etc) for my holidays this winter. Tourism operators that rely on sled trails should be pissed. Having a glitchy app and software issues is bad. Advertising that half your trails are gone. Suicide. What this really is is a map showing the strength and weaknesses of the clubs. The ones that have good management and have their stuff together are showing up (some with the odd landowner issue shown). The weaker ones that do well to get their trails open without a pile of additional admin headaches are not. Congrats to the clubs that got this done. Hopefully there is help in place to bring the others along. What is still not clear and the OFSC hasn't communicated is whether this whole process has been driven internally to fix a liability concern. Or whether it's driven by the ofsc insurer. Was this the only option to work through this issue? The mandate of the ofsc is to provide leadership and support to the clubs. Downloading more and more admin on volunteers is not doing that.

As long as it gets cold and stays there we should be happy. The snow will come. Bring on dome Alberta clippers. None of those southern storms that turn to rain.

Amazing the difference elevation makes.

Big White ski resort is getting slammed. They clean this guage off daily. Over 35 cm since the last clean. Maybe the snow drought for the west is over. Rumor is that the resort will open a week early. They run on natural snow only and need 65 - 75 cm to open.

Yep it's a business. Aligning costs with revenue.

That's ugly for a few towns in there.

Getting the same weather in Quebec right now. Mont Valin has been getting rain.

It does. Delays it by weeks. I looked today On the web portal. My permit shipped Nov 6th. So I should see it next week.

Bummer. You have the delay and they keep most of the refund as a processing fee. Best way to do this is pay for it outright. Then you submit a seperate form (found on the fcmq website) for a refund direct to the insurer. Your permit arrives on time and you get a cheque is about 3 - 4 weeks time for the full insurance value.

Anyone order Quebec permits at the deadline? Have you seen them yet? Only thing I'm missing.

Expropriation for recreational trails would be a tough sell. Would be nice to have a system where easements could be bought over time though through willing parties with a fund and process setup to allow it to occur. In the long run that could make a big difference. Work away at it piece by piece. MTO and local governments could be a lot more co-operative too. Some fundamental changes to their legal exposure of hosting a trail would be very beneficial and some direction from gov't that co-operating to put trails on secure land is not optional would also go along way.

Your numbers are way off. Under $1 million per year.

How does the OFSC do this? From what I can see it's Quebec following Ontarios lead on a lot of organizational changes (the good parts anyways). Quebec has a population that the majority lives within an hour of the snowbelt or closer. In Ontario that's 4 hours. That snow belt is at higher latitude and elevation to boot making it more reliable weather wise. Totally different political will to invest from politicians and the majority of the population. Insurance environments are completely different as well. I do think OFSC made a cpl errors with permit prices through covid. But all in all they are doing a good job with what they have. Arguably too good on some fronts. Dragging the volunteers through the lup issue this year instead of just accepting a higher insurance bill and passing the costs onto the membership is case in point. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's the impression I get from the outside with no internal knowledge. I can see someone who didn't ride last year not seeing value in a permit. But in the same boat you got no value from the insurance bill, sled maintenance costs and the depreciation on the sled. Permit is still the cheapest part of that. Unless you plan to sell it all no point in not buying the permit. I considered last season a donation to a non profit to ensure it exists next year when I take full advantage of it (like I have many years in the past). The weather trends are definitely troubling for the OFSC's long term outlook. I still think a technological breakthrough in snow management or snow making is the only long term solution (maybe on a smaller footprint). Not sure saving all of the southern districts trails is essential to keep the system viable. Have a look at how many ski resorts exist south of Kitchener. Almost non-existent. But downhill skiing still exists in the province. Can you draw the line at North Bay and survive. No. But at Barrie yes that might work. Always an interesting debate. Permits are bought and I plan to find snow this winter near or far. I hope everyone else does to.

No you'll spend over $200 on snow shoes. Lol. Can't afford that. https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5055-464/msr-lightning-explore-snowshoes-mens?colour=International+Orange&size=25in&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpvK4BhDUARIsADHt9sRKexW2fywlN3vqnRTAHYszKfVOgWVS6DKR72yWg6BuUy065V2hrHsaAo9ZEALw_wcB

Hopefully you never do. Been through the claim process with TD once. Will never deal with them again. I agree house insurance is awfully important when you need it.

Congrats!!! Welcome to the forum.