The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Border Explorers Snowmobile Club is writing this letter to explain the reasons for the poor trail grooming this past winter, and identify our plans for improving the situation in the future. The above average temperatures, combined with a somewhat earlier and heavier snowfall, made the ice conditions very poor in the local area. When we took ice measurements in between the middle of January to the middle of February we found areas on the lakes that did not have 12" of ice, which is the very least amount of ice we need to safely run our groomer over. Also, when we finally did get the groomer out, we got it stuck twice in the swamps. So, based on those events, and on the advice from some people very experienced with swamps and lakes, we decided to park the groomer before something serious happened. We did still manage to get out and mark most of the lakes and trails after we felt it was safe for snowmobiles. In order to be better prepared for similar conditions in the future, and to be able to start work on the trails earlier in the season, we have purchased one small groomer and are having another one built. One of these groomers will be four-and-a-half feet wide by 10 feet long, and the second one will be five feet wide by 12 feet long. These small groomers are from Bowsman Manitoba, and will be here this spring. Along with these two small groomers we are purchasing two snowmobiles to pull them. These will be long track, workhorse-type machines, which we are looking for right now. We have budgeted $15,000 equipment. Now we will use the snowmobiles to pack the trails first, which will help drive down the frost, then we will get the small groomers out and work the trails until such time that it's safe to bring the big groomer out. This should result in better trails sooner than we have provided in the past, plus drive down the frost so we can get our big groomer out earlier. We have seen these small groomers work before and they do quite a good job on the trails. With them, we are hoping to provide a much better local trail system without putting the groomer operator and groomer in danger. In closing, we would like to sincerely thank all of you who have supported us in the past with the purchase of a Trail Pass, bought tickets on our Snowmobile Raffle, joined the Club, or assisted by volunteering your time. We hope everyone will understand our difficulties during the past winter, and continue your support in the future. Also, please note that we removed all the trail and lake markers between March 22 and March 28. Thank you for your time and RIDE SAFE.
