Happy New Year! Trail Status Update

snowmobile trail grooming first pass on open field

Hello everyone and Happy New Year from your WC Snowmobile Club.

95% of the trails have been packed two times. The other small percentage we cannot get into yet with water in the swamps. But our volunteers are monitoring this on a daily basis.

We are moving a few trails to Yellow status, Limited (use with caution).

W19 is going to yellow.

W11 from Carp Rd into Constance Bay. Including the W11A in Torbolton Forest is also going to yellow.

W11 from Carp Rd into Kinburn will remain closed until we get some more snow. One field took along time to pass with the groomer and is not in great shape yet.

W16 is close to going to yellow. Lining up volunteers to go and sign and picket from Canon Smith to Stonecrest. There is also an electric fence between Dunrobin Rd and Buckham’s bay that we are negotiating to open. This trail will go to yellow later this week but stay tuned for updates.

The W311 (rail bed) is getting close to yellow but need some more snow in a few areas before we can safely change the status. The same goes for the rest of the trail system. We just need some more snow.

Please use caution on the trails we have opened to limited

The ITG (interactive trail guide) will show the change in status in the next couple of day. As we are sending this information to the District today and they will see it only tomorrow.

Thanks for you patience, let’s hope we get some more snow this week.

Thanks much,
Scott Hamilton
President
WCSTAI

Trails are not open yet! Please stay off of them.

Keep sleds parked

Groomers have started pre-season packing of West Carleton trails, and this cold weather is really helping to firm up our waterways and swamps. We need a little more snow, and things are starting to look good for a start to a great season very soon but TRAILS ARE STILL NOT OPEN.

There are various reasons, whether it be our landowners not able to open gates (yes livestock can still be out in the fields at this time of year). And there is still not enough dense snow in most areas which, as you may be hearing in the news is a serious safety issue. Club volunteers want the trails open as much as anyone, as we are all sledders too, but this takes a combination of the right snow/safety conditions and permission to open gates on our land owners properties. Trail patrol is now patrolling trails and with new legislation in place, trespassers can now be fined up to $10,000 for trespassing and riding on unopened trails. This is serious stuff.

Please, everyone remember that trying to get that jump on the season before trails are open risks it for all of us. We have lost some valuable links on local trails yet again this season and have had to significantly increase road running because of the few sledders who think that just one run on an opened trail does not matter. It does. Just one sled wandering where it shouldn’t be can result in a trail becoming a permanent dead end – and we can’t blame our landowners for trying to protect their crops, property and livelihood.

On a lighter note, West Carleton has some exciting new trails being opened this season, like rail bridges in Pakenham and Arnprior on the W311 and the A trail. It has taken thousands of hours and working with the goodwill of the public, towns and municipalities to get us, the sledders, access to these. These routes are being opened on a trial basis and access to these areas can still be revoked by riding on them now, before official opening.

It’s going to be a great year if people can please, PLEASE keep the sleds parked until they show “Available” on the Interactive Trail Guide. And if you know that person that still insists on trespassing on unopened trails – put some pressure on them – they are messing with all that money you have invested riding this year.

Bids for Sale of 2 Massey Ferguson Tractor Groomers

Bids for Sale of 2 Massey Ferguson Tractor Groomers

Massey Ferguson Tractor Groomers

 

Bids for Sale of 2 Massey Ferguson Tractor Groomers

The West Carleton club is currently looking for bids to sell 2 Massey Tractor Groomers.

General Details

  • Each Tractor groomer is sold without drag in As- Is, Where-Is Condition
  • Bids can be submitted for each unit separately.
  • If a bid is submitted for both units – please breakdown price per unit.
  • West Carleton Snowmobile Club reserves the right to select the bid that provides the most value to the club.
  • A $100 certified cheque or cash is to accompany each bid. This deposit will be returned if bid is unsuccessful. The successful bidder will have $100 taken off final bid price when payment is received.
  • Payment for the unit / units will be by certified cheque, money order, or cash within 48 hrs after successful bid.
  • Unit is to be transported and removed within 10 days of bid opening.
  • Units are located in Pakenham Ontario,
  • Bid opening will be Wed April 5th – 7:00pm at Kinburn Community Centre. Payment must be received by Friday April 7th

Unit Details

Massey 1

  • Model: Massey Ferguson 4270
  • Year: 1999
  • Serial Number: ACBE12AAAXAH39082
  • Hour Meter Reading: 2600 hrs
  • Marcel tractor conversion groomer.
  • Unit does operate but has crankcase oil leak.
  • Unit is currently de-tracked – tracks are included in the sale
  • Equipped with a 18 speed transmission, groomer blade, hydraulic system, emergency roof hatch

Massey 2

  • Model: Massey Ferguson 4270
  • Year: 1998
  • Serial Number: ACBE12AAXAG26249
  • Hour Meter Reading: 3212 hrs
  • Sister unit – Marcel tractor conversion groomer
  • Unit is in operational condition –with tracks installed, transmission rebuilt
  • Includes groomer blade, 9 speed transmission, beacon, hydraulic system, emergency roof hatch

Information

For detailed/technical information on each unit or viewing, please contact Ray Russell at 613-291-2438 rlrussell2@sympatico.ca

For information on bids please contact Paul Asmis at 613-297-9818 pasmis@wcstai.com

Mailing Address

West Carleton Snowmobile Trails Association
P.O. Box 384
Dunrobin, Ontario
K0A 1T0 Canada

 

Wait for it… wait for it….

Keep sleds parked

Another awesome dump of snow last night and today and in the distance I think I hear groomers starting to warm up for some pre-season packing. Hopefully a good cold snap will also help our waterways and swamps, which are still far from being safe. But things are looking great!

Please, everyone remember that trying to get that jump on the season before trails are open risks it for all of us. We have lost some valuable links on local trails this season and have been working hard to find suitable reroutes. One sled wandering where it shouldn’t be can result in a trail becoming a permanent dead end – and we can’t blame our landowners for trying to protect their crops, property and livelihood.

On a lighter note, West Carleton has some exciting new trails being opened this season, like the W311 – the rail bed linking us from Arnprior, through Pakenham, Almonte, Blakeney and continuing on in the BEAST as #311. Huge thanks to the families who went out and brushed and put up the signs!

It’s going to be a great year if people can please, PLEASE keep the sleds parked until they show “Available” on the Interactive Trail Guide. And if you know that person that still insists on trespassing on unopened trails – put some pressure on them – they are messing with all that money you have invested riding this year.

St. Johns Emergency First Aid Course – Dec. 3

St. Johns Emergency First Aid Course - Dec. 3

St. Johns ambulance emergency first aid course image

St John Ambulance First Aid Course

Date: Dec 3 at Kinburn Community Centre 8:30 to 4:00 pm

WCSTA will offering a first aid course on Dec 3. Any of our groomer operators that are not already trained will be taking this course, and it is also a great idea for anyone who rides – especially in remote areas. This will be a one day St Johns Emergency First Aid course, geared toward snowmobilers and groomer operators.

The course will cover Emergency Scene Management, Shock, all CPRs (adult, child, infant), automated external defibrillator (AED), Severe Bleeding, Wound Care, Burns and Medical Conditions.  There will be additional discussion and practice on other topics that may be relevant to snowmobilers.

Cost of the training is $109, and the Club will provide a complimentary pizza lunch.

If you would like to attend, please email contact@wcstai.com

More on the Snow – Important Changes Coming

More on the Snow - Important Changes Coming

OFSC More on the Snow banner

 

Members should attend the WCSTA club meeting on Tuesday September 6th to learn about important changes coming to snowmobiling in Ontario. At this year’s OFSC AGM in September, our club has 2 votes, either in favour of or against these changes. Your understanding of these changes is very important to us and at our next WCSTA meeting on Tuesday, September 6, 2016 we will be discussing how we want our delegates to vote. If you can, please make a special effort to come to our meeting to learn more about MOTS.

Overview:

The future of our club and snowmobiling is at stake.

Our sport, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), OFSC District One, and WCSTAI are all under serious financial pressure to maintain trail operations while trying to life cycle the aging provincial groomer fleet. To address these issues, and others, the OFSC has developed More on the Snow (MOTS) – a 5 year strategic initiative.

To summarize, the objectives of the MOTS plan are:

  • Increased Participation. By increasing overall participation (through attraction and retention of riders) by 6% to 100,000 permits.
  • Improved Organization Effectiveness. By developing a new organizational structure, reducing the number of organizational layers from three (OFSC, District, Club) to two (OFSC and District) with local clubs becoming chapters of the District.
  • Developing a groomer fleet asset management program and a groomer fleet operational management program.
  • Become Valued Stewards and Partners. By continuing to pursue long term government support programs.

Key points of the plan to highlight:

  • The current groomer fleet is too large to financially sustain.
  • 70% of the fleet is over 10 years old with more than 5000 hours.
  • Groomer Asset Management would allow the OFSC to take a provincial approach to life cycle management (vs the current approach of clubs managing this).
  • Grooming Operational Management would be shifted more so to the District to manage (vs the current approach of clubs managing this).
  • Reduce # of back-up groomers.
  • Remove artificial grooming boundaries between clubs.
  • OFSC bought 16 new groomers to kick start the program at a cost of $4M.
  • Estimate average cost of a purpose built groomer is now $300K.
  • High workload on a small group of volunteers is concerning.
  • Impending new not-for-profit legislation is concerning.
  • Local and provincial grants and other funding opportunities are not being utilized.
  • Reducing in administration costs thru Framework for change was not realized.
  • Standardize the size and operations between districts.
  • Current organizational structure causes barriers.
  • Need to reduce groomer fleet from 360 to 246 by purchasing 101 new groomers and removing 215. Need $4M to $6M annually to achieve plan.
  • Hiring of 6 regional positions to support clubs and Districts
  • Reduce the number of Districts from 16 to 12. This change will allow all districts to have on average 2700 Km’s of trail with 15+ clubs participating.
  • Districts manage all funds. Clubs only coordinate payment of minor expenses.
  • New District structure would see District 1 reorganized to Ottawa Region with 17 clubs (including WCSTAI) with a total of 3062 kms of trails (down from ~4000 kms)
  • Standardized District bylaws and operating procedures.
  • District 1 is targeted to go from 50 groomers to 29.