First Day of Winter!! and things could be better, we still need more snow.
We have not did a full groom in about a week, as I don’t want to start bringing a lot of dirt in the trail. I did take a new driver out on a short training run Saturday, and we groomed Castle Rock road (South part of #471) Things actually looked very good through there with about 10" base, but the RR Grade was much thinner at about 4".

I was surprised to hear a trail was impassable by report of DStein over the weekend. (thank you) Further investigation reveled that it was the loggers out at the trail-stop that did a heavy plow on the Borland Road, which is the Northern 2 miles of #471. The are not supposed to do that, and the good news is that they are supposed to be done this week. And better news is that the loggers along the Carp River TT should be done very early January, so for the first time in a number of years, we should be clear of logging on our trails.

So to update, all of our trails have been initially panned down, but there is not really enough snow out there to do a major groom. The DNR wants us to wait to get some more snow before we do any heavy grooming out there. The good news is this mornings forecast showed that most of our trails are going to get hit today with a few inches, and a x-mas storm is expected too. That should make us perfectly ridable for the week between x-mas and new years. It sill will not be anywhere near perfect, but we should not have any major problems either. I will get a machine out and pull snow back into the plowed roads asap, and get them packed down. They will be good to go for the weekend. I am also going to be sending a groomer up the big loop to Trout Lake, and back to Brevort for its winter berth.

More updates as I get them, and I will promise to get some trail pics in the next few days.

Stay tuned for more info… — Neil -vVP Straits Area Snowmobile Club

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Well, not much changed around here. All of our trails are packed and panned down, and a decent base has been started. Most of the 12" of snow that we had was packed from the top, and melted from the unfrozen ground from below, given us a couple of inches of ice and hard packed base. There isn’t much riding snow on top of that I am afraid. We have picked up between 1 and 3" since Sunday which is out there for your enjoyment. As always, the RR Grade is in the toughest, and thinnest condition. I have seen a few sleds on the trail, but not the greatest conditions out there. We are all set, all we need is a bit snow, and we will hammer it and get them in perfect condition.

So, yes the trails are ridable, no they are not in perfect condition. Very early season conditions persist, ride with caution, and be on the lookout for ice, especially on the RR Grade, and in the corners. The groomers are on a hold until we get additional snow. With even a few inches we may make another panning type run before the weekend.

Think snow!

Stay tuned for more info… — Neil -vVP Straits Area Snowmobile Club

For the latest St. Ignace Reports Click Here