blue er Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 guess it doesn't matter what the ofsc tries to do to increase sales, everybody to busy bitching that someone got something for free, I for one don't really see an issue with it as family day weekend is the only long weekend likely to have snow also it's the free fishing weekend this is what is required to bring people into the sport and if it requires me an expieranced rider to be a little more patient and on the lookout for rookies so be it, it's one weekend of the year I can live with it. not like the clubs lost money on it didn't see any extra grooming going on but i bet local businesses got a great little boost from an extra 15000 people gassing up and eating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teener Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 It doesn't sound like most folks object to an introduction to sledding but why do it on the busiest weekend of the year? We rode over 130 km of awful ridden-out conditions. Many of these conditions were on top and connector trails as we needed to ride these to get to where we were going. One top trail was over 40 km of moguls. It was so bad I was actually happy when we "got" to do road running. This is not a good way to attract new customers or keep existing, for that matter. It's about striking a balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UsedtoSkidoo Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Du-ya wanna trails were awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Quimby Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 In preparation for anticipated rider pressure our club groomed Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights...we heard Blu re was coming through...LOL! Seriously..though the long weekend is a make it or break it point for a lot of businesses in cottage country and the influx of money sure helps when your primary industry is tourism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannago Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Have to say the Almaguin trails were in great shape for the weekend. They went all out to ensure great trails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave K Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 MIlverton/Listowel area was awesome for the weekend. We had company over with kids, and we were able to ride plowed fields at home with out bumps, so there was lots of snow to work with on the trails when we did get out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dufftom Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 In preparation for anticipated rider pressure our club groomed Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights...we heard Blu re was coming through...LOL!blu er was to busy ice fishing and swilling beer to ride. Seriously..though the long weekend is a make it or break it point for a lot of businesses in cottage country and the influx of money sure helps when your primary industry is tourism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreezerBurnt Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 It doesn't sound like most folks object to an introduction to sledding but why do it on the busiest weekend of the year? We rode over 130 km of awful ridden-out conditions. Many of these conditions were on top and connector trails as we needed to ride these to get to where we were going. One top trail was over 40 km of moguls. It was so bad I was actually happy when we "got" to do road running. This is not a good way to attract new customers or keep existing, for that matter. It's about striking a balance. what did you do 10-15yrs ago when there was nearly twice the amount of sledders than there is today???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PISTON LAKE CRUISER Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I can see what the ofsc is trying to do. Even my dad was asking what is up with the free permits taped to the windshield. I ran into several free riders this weekend. All complained about the lack of snow last winter here in d5 and never bought permits this year as a result. They said they won't buy this fall either unless the price is reduced. Why can't people just buy permits like the rest of us. This free weekend is going to haunt us and rob permit sales especially 3 day passes, (even though they are hard to find currently) There should be a processing fee involved. Say 30 bucks per free permit. Even more people are not going to buy the full season pass next year. 30 bucks per free permit = not a free permit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupkids Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Trails In the Sudbury area where 10 out of 10. Best season we have had up here since 08/09 Snow is waist deep in many places off trail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupkids Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 30 bucks per free permit = not a free permit! How do you get $30 ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve c Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 guess it doesn't matter what the ofsc tries to do to increase sales, everybody to busy bitching that someone got something for free, I for one don't really see an issue with it as family day weekend is the only long weekend likely to have snow also it's the free fishing weekend this is what is required to bring people into the sport and if it requires me an expieranced rider to be a little more patient and on the lookout for rookies so be it, it's one weekend of the year I can live with it. not like the clubs lost money on it didn't see any extra grooming going on but i bet local businesses got a great little boost from an extra 15000 people gassing up and eating I wonder how many of these business are going to use that extra money to help support the ofsc and/or their local clubs. It may be great that the businesses are benefiting from the free weekend, but how is this helping the ofsc and local clubs? I personally don't think this weekend will increase the permit sales for next year. Most of the people that have stopped riding have said it is because the permit price is too high, so they are just riding because it is free and will probably wait until next year to ride for free again. I feel the price for a permit is reasonable. Also, if someone is thinking about getting into sledding, and is not willing to at least pay for a weekend permit, what are the odds that they would buy a full season permit next year. They should have at least charged a nominal amount $ 20 to $ 30 for the weekend to keep out the freeloaders, because I would bet that of the 15,000 permits given away this weekend at least 90% of them have no plans to buy a permit next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muskoka Man Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 The baysville gas station sold 7000 litres of fuel compared to there usual 2000 litres on a weekend , thats got to help the economy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'll Ride Anything Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 When I returned to sledding 12 or 15 years ago I borrowed a sled from a buddy for the day. Bought 2 sleds the next weekend. Been buying 2-3 passes/year ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Quimby Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 If there are those that don't see how local economy boosts their local club then..perhaps you need glasses. The gas station that sells 7000 litres does not need to hand the local club 5k in cash to prove that a good economy is good for the club. Just as an example...not slashing Muskoka Mans post by far. Just borrowing .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerry Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 If we had traditional winters with consistent weather and 12-14 weeks of sledding we wouldn't have to entertain any ideas to get people to buy passes.Good bad or otherwise at least the OFSC is attempting something.For me I will always buy my pass early.Some years are better than others.Other people wait till the last minute and others wait so long it's too late too buy and still others will just try and beat the system regardless.And of course for those that's a whole thread on its' own. Tying it in with the free fishing weekend makes things very seamless to me. I bet a percentage of those passes went to people accessing lakes thru OFSC trails that wouldn't normally do that. Kerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mossy Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 If there are those that don't see how local economy boosts their local club then..perhaps you need glasses. The gas station that sells 7000 litres does not need to hand the local club 5k in cash to prove that a good economy is good for the club. Just as an example...not slashing Muskoka Mans post by far. Just borrowing .. But that being said that gas station might fuel up a groomer at a discounted rate or even help out a bunch of volunteers but giving them free fuel when out doing trail work. Or they could even buy an ad on the map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftbuster Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I believe this weekend was a great success. Saw a lot of people out enjoying a sport I love and I wa great seeing that it still has lots of life in it. These past couple years haven't been the greatest for most of us so if we can get some more people involved the better. The only down side was many people i saw with the free permits didn't know hand signals, and while I was grooming sat-Monday people didn't know what to do when they met the groomer in a bush. Some would so in the middle o the trail and expect me to go around them, some tried reversing out of the bush an some tried squeezing past. I understand newbies and the learning curve but would be nice when printing off the free permits if there was a guideline to be read before the permit was available to be printed. Very scary seeing young kids get scared and almost flip there sled while panicking to get out of the way. I took the opportunity to try and educate them as to proper trail etiquette and what to do when meeting a groomer but groomer sittin in the middle of the bush doesn't allow much talk time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Quimby Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 But that being said that gas station might fuel up a groomer at a discounted rate or even help out a bunch of volunteers but giving them free fuel when out doing trail work. Or they could even buy an ad on the map. That was done in our area...Kushog marine filled up our work sleds when we busted open our trails early on in the season. In a tourism driven area the merchants and services rely heavily on inflow from outside the area. In the Winter it's sled traffic hands down and fortunately this year the big pond hockey tournament in Haliburton. Big weekends in the Winter can truly make or break a season for a vendor. If they're not there next year..they can't provide a service to the tourist or in our case us sledders! It's almost like a " build it and they will come" scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumdrop64 Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I wonder how many of these business are going to use that extra money to help support the ofsc and/or their local clubs. It may be great that the businesses are benefiting from the free weekend, but how is this helping the ofsc and local clubs? I personally don't think this weekend will increase the permit sales for next year. Most of the people that have stopped riding have said it is because the permit price is too high, so they are just riding because it is free and will probably wait until next year to ride for free again. I feel the price for a permit is reasonable. Also, if someone is thinking about getting into sledding, and is not willing to at least pay for a weekend permit, what are the odds that they would buy a full season permit next year. They should have at least charged a nominal amount $ 20 to $ 30 for the weekend to keep out the freeloaders, because I would bet that of the 15,000 permits given away this weekend at least 90% of them have no plans to buy a permit next year. For me using your logic, this means selling an extra 1500 permits (calculated at this year's early price of $210) which equals $315,000. An extra 315 000 in the OFSC pocket might be considered at success. Perhaps that may be enough to not see a need for an increase in price next year, making a lot of people somewhat happy (won't please them all) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02Sled Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 When I returned to sledding 12 or 15 years ago I borrowed a sled from a buddy for the day. Bought 2 sleds the next weekend. Been buying 2-3 passes/year ever since. A friend of mine took me out a number of years ago. I thought we would be out maybe an hour or two. We were gone 7. Came back and told my wife I was buying a sled did she want to come. Her answer. Once in a blue moon not very often. We had a two up sled two weeks later. She lied. She didn't miss a trip the rest of that season and rode behind me almost every trip the next. It wasn't the same for her being a passenger so the next season she had her own sled and enjoyed it even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmied Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 It was so bad I was actually happy when we "got" to do road running. I considered hitch hiking to the parking lot and bringing the trailer to the sleds at one point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo700 Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 For me using your logic, this means selling an extra 1500 permits (calculated at this year's early price of $210) which equals $315,000. An extra 315 000 in the OFSC pocket might be considered at success. Perhaps that may be enough to not see a need for an increase in price next year, making a lot of people somewhat happy (won't please them all) DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THIS !! - I thought along with alot of other people that there would not be an increase this year after last years dismal winter, and yet they did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildman Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I find all this very humorous, everybody has something to say on the forum, are you all going to voice your opinion at your club meeting? The club exec. will be discussing all the input from this trial at the next district meeting........put your input in the right place, it ain't gonna do squat here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sledjunk Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THIS !! - I thought along with alot of other people that there would not be an increase this year after last years dismal winter, and yet they did! Do you realize that the price increase was approved at the AGM in 2010 for 2011 (denied by MTO) and again at the AGM in 2011 for 2012? The increase was specifically to help upgrade the aging groomer fleet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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