It’s rare that snowmobile season around here opens before early January. However, if things fall into place, it might open for the holidays this year.
Gilbert Fortin is the president-governor of the Timiskaming Abitibi Trail Association. It covers the area from Iroquois Falls to Kirkland Lake, over to Foleyet and Gogama (GO-gam-AH), and along the Hwy. 11 corridor through Englehart, down to Temagami.
He says one big task is getting new property owners’ permission to cut across their land. Without those permits, there are gaps in the trail system.
“We may have 100 km of trail with 1 km of missing landowner, and it affects the whole trail, just like a missing chain link,” he illustrates.
In the meantime, Fortin says volunteers are out packing snow, especially in marshy areas, to help them freeze faster.
“Which is why we have to go out there with some sleds and lighter equipment to pack down the snow to drive the frost further down before we can allow our big groomers to go on there.”
Fortin adds that further north, most of the trails are on abandoned roadways, so less work is required. The clubs there just need a lot of snow.
You can volunteer to help work on the trails by inquiring on the TATA website.
