topnotch

It's typically always a local doing stuff like this. On our staked fields the people cutting across aren't the weekend riders passing through. What a crappy way to end the season. Good luck with the landowner.

I seem to remember them calling for a snowy winter but don't not all that cold? The consistent cold temps have help just as much as the snow has. We have some usual problem issues that aren't a problem at all this year because the temps have been cold. Granted when you looked at the forecast the first week of January the season looked like a write off. At least in the French River.

I've been VP of the French River club for 5 years, I have never heard they don't want trail closed signs up.

Thanks for the explanation. I've never heard that before and that is definitely not the direction it is now. It would be an awful practice to not have a Trail Closed sign up if the trail is indeed closed. It protects the club in case of an accident as the person would be trespassing and thus they have no argument if they got hurt. Anyway, moving on.. having a map system on your sled is very handy, but if it doesn't update frequently it will definitely cause issues. But the rider needs to be responsible.

The OFSC doesn't want Trail Closed signs put up anymore? Are you able to explain this?

A complete reset. Need a week straight of cold and no snow to have a chance at riding mid to late January south of Sudbury. So much rain.

The start over/reset is my biggest frustration with trying to run a club. Make all the plans and 2 days later everything has changed for the worse.

Looking bleak in the French River now as well, we had 18 inches of snow but had rain pretty steady yesterday afternoon and mild again. Might not be much left by Wednesday evening. Long range forecast looks worse each time I look at it- right till New Years. Fingers crossed it'll change because last year was brutal.

The OFSC doesn't share groomer tracking with the general public.

The trails on the ITG will be removed back to the nearest intersecting trail with a land use agreement. So a club won't have the option to have a trail lead to a property without a land use agreement. It'll definitely be a mess to start to the season, and we don't know what the logistics will look like because you can't cross a property with a groomer if no land use agreement, even if there's property on the other side of it. Floating equipment that won't be viable, so clubs with more than 1 groomer might not be able to utilize them. Which results is less paid grooming hours which effects the budget. Our volunteers are working hard at getting these land use agreements and I know other clubs are as well. It just takes time.

The signed agreements can be in place for up to 10 years. Often the landowner sets the deadline to their preference. Contacting all the individual landowners is very time consuming for club members of course, but part of the problem is just being able to track down and speak to the actual landowner, whether it is on the phone or through email. If a landowner doesn't live in the area it can take a long time just to be in a position to speak with the landowner and often they won't have a clue about the snowmobile trails. Personally, I've been trying to receive a signed agreement back via mail since June, and how often do you feel comfortable in asking the landowner for the agreement? Because if you upset them, you might never get the agreement. And a re route might not be possible. So yes, some landowners don't like snowmobilers and won't let the club on their land no matter what. But if the club rep is able to have a conversation with a reasonable landowner and explain how the insurance works, an agreement can be put in place easily. Nunz, good luck with your search, I feel for you. Sorry I can't be of more assistance. The 2025 season is going to be drastically different even if it is a good winter. Andrew, VP of French River Snowmobile Association

Yes, it's an old logging road. Haven't ridden it but I've heard it was trail to groom because it was nice and flat. So I'd imagine it's sweet.

And if the clubs aren't allowed to prep the next 14 days it be much longer until the north is ready to have trails.. We should find out this afternoon

It's not so much that we need snow it's that we need to be able to pack the snow and wet areas we do have. A 2 week shut down puts us very far back, as 2 weeks from now we would have had rideable trails, now we would need to re check everything. It's shutting down the prep work that will really hurt.

10" in Noelville. No frost in the ground...