Save The Trails! Don't Ride In Warm Weather
Published on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 in General Announcements, News & Updates
Tags: trail-riding, volunteers, weather

Weather Alert! Groomer operators ask riders to please stay off the trails on warm days, like those expected this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Staying off the trails will give groomer operators a chance to address trail conditions with the return of cold weather this weekend. This will help preserve the snow and extend your riding season.

The International Association of Snowmobile Administrators (IASA) offers the following advice:
Snowmobilers often, mistakenly, comment that “the groomers can’t be doing their job because I’ve never seen one.” If snowmobilers do not see grooming equipment on the trails, that is generally a good thing. Groomers should work at night or when snowmobile traffic is the lowest to ensure that grooming efforts are the most effective and that there is proper time for the freshly groomed trail to re-freeze and set up. Trail grooming is very expensive so every effort should be made to ensure that, when grooming occurs, it will be effective and create trails that are as durable as possible.

Groomers work at night so you can have better trails the following day. Give them a break and please do not follow them when they are working whether day or night.

Set up time will vary depending on temperature and moisture content of the snow. Generally two to six or even more than ten hours may be needed for the freshly groomed trail to set up to where it is durable and will hold up to heavy snowmobile traffic.

Try to avoid riding a snowmobile on freshly groomed trails for at least two hours after the groomer passes by choosing an alternate route to help improve the quality and durability of snowmobile trails. And never follow directly behind a groomer because it immediately destroys the trail.

If you come upon a groomer and you must use that route, try to minimize impacts to the trail: slow down; try to stay off the fresh grooming if the trail is wide enough to safely do so; operate only at the outside edge of the fresh grooming; ride in single file versus having everyone in the group take a different path on the fresh grooming; and don’t purposely fishtail or power through the soft snow.

Understand that aggressive riding styles can impact the quality and smoothness of the trails you ride on. Fast starts and stops, powering through curves, paddle tracks, carbide runners, traction devices, and powerful engines can all combine to destroy the smoothness of a trail. So the next time you hit the brake or throttle, think about how you may have innocently contributed to destroying the trails you would really prefer to be smooth.