Did you ever think you would see the day when a snowmobile club president says there’s too much snow?
“Too much causes lots of problems,” says Timmins Snowmobile Club president Raymond Corbeil.
Like municipal workers, trail groomers have a hard time keeping up with snowfall and the wind that drifts it across the portion of trail they just groomed. They even have a hard time knowing if they’re on a pre-established trail. If they wander a metre to either side, the grooming machine falls into unpacked snow and gets stuck.
Corbeil says that happened to an experienced operator five times in one shift. Most of those times, he got out by manipulating his blade.
“Other times, we had to get a groomer come from the garage that was not being used and pull out the groomer that had fell,” reports Corbeil.
Corbeil says it’s more important than ever to keep your snowmobile on the trail, because looks can be deceiving. As the trail becomes higher, the sides also look high and safe.
“Basically, if the snowmobilers right now go off the trail, they get surprised, they lose their machine in the snow.”