Snow VP
02-02-2009, 09:29 AM
Friday and Saturday were pretty busy around here - for this year anyway. Mild temps and great trails brought the traffic in. We got about 3 inches of fresh stuff on Sunday - where there was quite light traffic. Everybody must have been in ready to watch the super bowl.
Trail base is holding very very well. The milder temps actually started to make some stutter bumps, but we got those groomed out over the evenings. The town trails along the side of the road did take a beating, but are perfectly ridable. Groomer #6 is still downstate for service so double shifts with Groomer #5 will continue through this week.
Overall conditions are still excelent both on and off trail. Come on UP and experiance our wide and flat trails!
New Stop Signs: We have had a few problems at private drives this season. Although they are being groomed properly, and are signed according to the DNR handbook, people are just blowing right through them. We have had a little problem with that in the past, but this season is unacceptable. Consequently, we are upgrading some crossing with Yield, to full stop signs. This has already been done on one drive by Trout Lake, and a few more will be done in the coming weeks. Just be aware of this when riding in our area. Yield does not mean just crack the throttle, you are supposed to be slow enough to actually yield to something in the area!
Logging Info: There is logging North of Brevort on the Carp River Truck Trail, (#470) towards Trout Lake. They are plowing the trail in this area, and it is perfectly ridable, but has lower snow, and is more icy.
Grooming info: Remember, we are running only one groomer to cover our entire 101 miles of trail, so expect to see daytime grooming around here. When the groomer goes out, a full run take around 20 hours. Generally we are covering the entire system every 2 days during the week, and trying to cover the whole thing each day on the weekend. Kudos to the volunteers who are doing extra coordination to swap seats out on the trail so the machine can keep running, they have been working together quite well to make this situation as good as it can be.
*Gather your groups, and plan to ride from St. Ignace to the Soo on Feb 7th, for the I-500 snowmobile race! A great staging area here - why drive when you can ride!
*Time to start making your Valentines weekend plans. Feb 14th the Straits Area Snowmobile Club is hosting our annual Fun Run - Dubbed the Bent Ski Classic. Not a normal poker run, no sir. You will have to figure out where to go, what to do next to complete this fun-filled and family journey across our 101 miles of trail. Stop and meet club members and a groomer at the mid-day trail stop. There will be a fire to warm up, free hot dogs, hot chocolate and coffee. You can even see how loud your sled is with a decibel meter on-site. Beginning between 8 and 11 at the Driftwood Bar in St. Ignace, and ending with an included spaghetti dinner at the VFW, it surely will be a great time for all! More information will be posted in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout!
Trail base is holding very very well. The milder temps actually started to make some stutter bumps, but we got those groomed out over the evenings. The town trails along the side of the road did take a beating, but are perfectly ridable. Groomer #6 is still downstate for service so double shifts with Groomer #5 will continue through this week.
Overall conditions are still excelent both on and off trail. Come on UP and experiance our wide and flat trails!
New Stop Signs: We have had a few problems at private drives this season. Although they are being groomed properly, and are signed according to the DNR handbook, people are just blowing right through them. We have had a little problem with that in the past, but this season is unacceptable. Consequently, we are upgrading some crossing with Yield, to full stop signs. This has already been done on one drive by Trout Lake, and a few more will be done in the coming weeks. Just be aware of this when riding in our area. Yield does not mean just crack the throttle, you are supposed to be slow enough to actually yield to something in the area!
Logging Info: There is logging North of Brevort on the Carp River Truck Trail, (#470) towards Trout Lake. They are plowing the trail in this area, and it is perfectly ridable, but has lower snow, and is more icy.
Grooming info: Remember, we are running only one groomer to cover our entire 101 miles of trail, so expect to see daytime grooming around here. When the groomer goes out, a full run take around 20 hours. Generally we are covering the entire system every 2 days during the week, and trying to cover the whole thing each day on the weekend. Kudos to the volunteers who are doing extra coordination to swap seats out on the trail so the machine can keep running, they have been working together quite well to make this situation as good as it can be.
*Gather your groups, and plan to ride from St. Ignace to the Soo on Feb 7th, for the I-500 snowmobile race! A great staging area here - why drive when you can ride!
*Time to start making your Valentines weekend plans. Feb 14th the Straits Area Snowmobile Club is hosting our annual Fun Run - Dubbed the Bent Ski Classic. Not a normal poker run, no sir. You will have to figure out where to go, what to do next to complete this fun-filled and family journey across our 101 miles of trail. Stop and meet club members and a groomer at the mid-day trail stop. There will be a fire to warm up, free hot dogs, hot chocolate and coffee. You can even see how loud your sled is with a decibel meter on-site. Beginning between 8 and 11 at the Driftwood Bar in St. Ignace, and ending with an included spaghetti dinner at the VFW, it surely will be a great time for all! More information will be posted in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout!