Onlin

e Only

OFSC LOGO Mission is to: Provide leadership to member organi-zations in our commitment to enable exceptional snowmobile trails and

rider experiences throughout the province.

OFSC Vision is that: Snowmobiling is recognized and celebrated as Ontario’s premier winter recreation and tourism experience.

The OFSC GO Snowmobiling Ontario CampaignThe OFSC GO Snowmobiling Ontario Magazine is the voice of the OFSC and the OFSC Go Snow-mobiling Ontario Campaign. Go Snowmobiling unites snowmobile clubs, industry stakeholders and snowbelt communities to promote the recreational lifestyle, experience and fun that OFSC trail riding offers Ontarians every winter. Our goal is to grow snowmobiling by attracting new participants, persuading former riders to return, encouraging casual snowmobilers and families to ride more — and by urging everyone to do their sledding right here in Ontario!

Keep Receiving This Magazine!To keep your name on the mailing list for the OFSC Go Snowmobiling Ontario Magazine, you must sign up for OFSC member benefits when you buy your 2016 Seasonal or Classic trail permit. If you don’t sign up, you won’t get your mags!

WARNING: Some of the action shown in this magazine is potentially dangerous. Almost all riders photographed are professionals, racers or experienced experts. It is strongly recommended readers do not attempt to duplicate stunts beyond their capabilities. Always wear a helmet, boots and safety equipment.

Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations

“We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage”

ONTARIO FEDERATION OF SNOWMOBILE CLUBS: 9-501 Welham Road, Barrie, ON L4N 8Z6 • 705.739.7669 • www.ofsc.on.ca

Supertrax Go Snowmobiling Ontario magazine is published four times yearly by SUPER-TRAX Publishing Inc. Undeliverable copies and change of address notices: 762 Upper James Street, Suite 187, Hamilton, ON L9C 3A2. Tel. 705-286-2135. Office Mailing Address: 762 Upper James Street, Suite 187, Hamilton, ON L9C 3A2. Copyright 2016 SUPERTRAX Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-duced without the written consent of the publishers. Publishers are not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. Address for subscriptions is: 1025 Rouge Valley Drive, Pickering, ON L1V 4N8. Subscription rate is $14.99 for 4 issues / $26.99 for 8 issues / $33.99 for 12 issues (prices include GST in Canada). TOLL-FREE NUMBER FOR ADVERTISING & SALES ONLY: 1-888-905-TRAX (8729) For Address Changes and Corrections Go To: mross@ofsc.on.ca

PUBLISHER: Mark R. Lester / CO-PUBLISHER: Kent Lester / MANAGING EDITOR: Matt Lester / OFSC EDITOR: Craig Nicholson / FEATURE EDITORS: John Arkwright, AJ Lester, Matt Lester, Mike Lester / PUBLIC RELATIONS EDITOR: Harold McAdam / ART & PRODUCTION: Andrew Knor / ADMINISTRATION: Barbara Lester, Leslie Austen / CIRCULATION: Matt Lester MARKETING: Paul Stewart, Mike Lester, John Arkwright, Vern Putzer, Normand Trottier, Guy Duhaime, Gary Broderick / TEST RIDERS: AJ Lester, Jeff Martin, Jordan Elliot, Luke Lester

columns 04 outside comments: Meeting Expectations

22 RideR insiGHt: Coupling Up

information 06 voltaGe: Trail Scuttlebutt

08 ontaRio sled destinations Cochrane

10 Real sleddeRs Sharing My Old Sled on Youtube 12 sleddinG tips How I Got Started

16 meet a GRoomeR Don “Riggz” Riediger of Kenora

Volume 9 #3

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Meeting Expectations

Mark Lester, Associate Publisher, Supertrax

outside comments

2017 Snowmobile Trail Permits are not available at retail outlets, so buy yours online at www.ofsc.on.ca.

If there’s one thing requiring management in Ontario snowmobiling, it’s expectations. How much snow can we expect? How often can we expect trails to be groomed? How many weeks can we expect to ride our new sleds? The list goes on.

We all want our expectations fulfilled because each of us has an investment in snowmobiling. We’ve got sleds - maybe a new one; we’ve got all the gear and accessories; we’ve got tow vehicles and trailers. Maybe we’ve got winterized cottages ready and waiting for many sledding weekends. Oh yeah, and we’ve purchased snowmobile Trail Permits. For all of this, we expect to receive exceptional value every winter. Here’s one you may not have thought of. Your club is expecting a good winter season so it can meet your (and their) expectations.

The OFSC and its member clubs should expect special appreciation this year. Come January 1, 2017, the OFSC will be in its 50th year. Pretty heady stuff considering this organization is now internationally renowned for its ability to deliver a fully integrated, signed and groomed, 30,000-plus kilometer winter trail system operated on both private and public land. And how about the fact that for the past three years, the OFSC is responsible for reducing trail permit fees to decade-old levels by offering an extra-early $180.00 seasonal pass? Did we expect any of that?

50 years ago the OFSC’s trail system was based on 4-foot wide trails groomed by old bedsprings. Most club trails were not linked to each other but were random routes circling towns and returning - maybe to a pit stop if the area had any merchants interested in opening in the winter.

Today, snowmobilers expect (there’s that

word again!) minimum 8-foot wide trails always groomed to perfection. We expect today’s OFSC trails to lead to fuel, food and accommodation and to connect destinations across this huge province. When trails aren’t meeting our expectations, we use social media venues never dreamed of 50 years ago to make sure our disapproval is heard loud and clear.

Fifty years later the maintenance and complexity of keeping trails viable is mind-boggling. Every year, almost every OFSC club has to deal with trail closures because of new land development, land ownership changes or, with increasing frequency, non-winter trespassing by wheeled motorized vehicles. For the record, trails on private land are never available to any vehicles but snowmobiles or open during any other season but winter!

Keeping local trail networks viable while constantly dealing with trail closures requires club volunteers to work countless extra hours meeting with landowners, going before municipal and county councils, and preparing re-routes (often at the last minute) to maintain connections. It’s all to keep those amazing trails you dream about all summer available for yet another winter. 

Sustaining the regional and provincial trail systems in today’s high expectation consumer environment requires even more hard work and new levels of inter-club cooperation. That’s why things like grooming plans, schedules, operations,

maintenance and budgets are becoming regionalized and reorganized at the district level. 

Meanwhile, groomer fleet management and replacement is being shifted to the provincial level. The first evidence of this new management approach will be hitting the snow this winter under a recently approved new program called More On The Snow and will roll out over the next several years.

I hope you agree the OFSC and its clubs face formidable and increasingly complex challenges. Frankly, it’s doggone remarkable these volunteer-run organizations continue to produce trail riding opportunities for snowmobilers that are revered across the continent. I think the 200-plus OFSC clubs operating in 2017 and the OFSC itself have earned a big tip of the helmet from every rider for taking our collective expectation of delivering incredible value very seriously and for doing their level best to make it happen.

Meanwhile, here’s a suggestion for snowmobilers heading out to enjoy our amazing OFSC trail system this winter. Make sure you not only check your club and district maps for potential trail changes from last season but also make a habit of logging onto the OFSC’s online Interactive Trail Guide regularly to ensure there’s been no last minute trail changes capable of negatively impacting your ride.

And know this for certain: When you see trail changes and re-routes, behind them there’s a group of hard working club volunteers trying to deliver viable alternatives, all in an effort to meet our expectations. How could we expect anything more?

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Vol.9#3

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2017 Snowmobile Trail Permits are not available at retail outlets, so buy yours online at www.ofsc.on.ca.

voltage Sledding Info & Updates

trail scuttlebutt

With the world’s largest recreational trail system located in a province bigger than Texas, it’s no surprise that some alterations may happen from season to sea-

son. Trail detours and realignments can occur for a variety of reasons and at any time. As a result, any changes made from October on may not be shown on the trail guides printed be-fore the snowmobile shows, so get in the habit of consulting the OFSC Interactive Trail Guide online before leaving home. Meanwhile, here are some you should know…

Happy anniversary to the oFsc

GenerAl• New for this season, the OFSC has

introduced Attraction Points of Interest (APOI’s) - places, sights and attractions that riders may want to stop and see or visit. It’s a work in progress, but watch for the new “camera” icon to locate them – best examples can be found on the 2017 District 2 (Kawarthas-Bancroft-Mazinaw) and District 9 (Grey Bruce-Midwestern Ontario) Trail Guides.

• Be sure to check out the six new Snow Tours in Midwestern Ontario (District 9 - Grey Bruce Region), plus one new one circling Rice Lake (District 3) and another in the Mattawa-Bonfield area of District 11.

nOrTHeASTern OnTArIO• The full loop of Northeastern Ontario’s

Gateway to the North Snow Tour will not be available this winter due to logging operations on TOP Trail C from Smooth Rock Falls south to the junction of TOP Trail A106C. Both TOP C south to Timmins and TOP A106C north to Cochrane remain available to ride.

• Anyone who has snowmobiled the Abitibi Canyon Loop knows how important the fuel stop is at Fraserdale. Now renamed the “Abitibi Canyon Base Camp”, this rest stop has new owners who are already making many improvements for riders to enjoy.

• The under-used TOP Trail A105Q from

Cochrane to La Reine, Quebec is closed this season so that more resources can be directed to grooming the more heavily travelled trails in the Cochrane area.

• TOP A107 from Hearst to Longlac will reopen later this season, so watch for it to go green.

• The Big Loop is back - TOP C101D from Timmins to Foleyet and Chapleau is available to ride this season and continues on to TOP D near Half Way Haven enabling riders to complete the circle back to the Northern Corridor.

• TOP C between Sudbury and Timmins has been re-routed directly through Shining Tree, a midway point where fuel and lodgings are available.

eASTern OnTArIO• A new TOP B101Q rail trail from TOP B at

Beachburg (just east of Pembroke) now connects across a 1260’ bridge over the Ottawa River to Quebec trails 311 & 43 at Portage-Du-Fort (no more ice crossings). 

• TOP Trail A/B has been re-routed on to the CN corridor through Pembroke, providing better access through town and easier access to services.

CenTrAl OnTArIO• Where TOP Trail B103 normally crosses

Highway 400 at the McKay Road near Innisfil, the highway overpass is being replaced so snowmobiles won’t be able to get from one side of the 400 to the other anywhere south of Barrie this season. GSOM

•

Organized snowmobiling in Ontario celebrates a major milestone throughout the new year. 2017 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs. The OFSC was founded on February 5, 1967 when 16 independent snowmobile clubs met in Victoria Harbour to form a united group to promote snowmobiling. John Power, President of the Huronia Snow Riders, was elected as the first OFSC president and said: “I’m fully convinced ours is going to be one of the foremost snowmobile associations in North America.” Thanks to the cumulative contributions and efforts of tens of thousands of incredibly dedicated club volunteers and the support of hundreds of thousands of Ontario snowmobilers, the Government of Ontario and many industry partners, the OFSC has succeeded in fulfilling that prediction. Congratulations to everyone who made it happen over the past five decades! GSOM

visit ontario trails this winter

Only $35 a Day*Take advantage of our convenient buy, print and ride option with a flexible multi-day permit available online only!**

Full Season AccessFeeling like you want more of Ontario’s trails? Pay one price and get instant access to every available trail in our 30,000 km network, all winter long!Seasonal Permit $260Classic Permit $170***

New this year. all permits available online only!

* Minimum 2 consecutive days purchase **Terms and conditions apply, visit www.ofsc.on.ca for details

***Classic Permits for sled models 1999 and older

Ontario law requires a 2017 Snowmobile Trail Permit to access OFSC Prescribed Trails.

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Cochrane is an instantly recognizable name in snowmobiling. So why not getaway sometime this winter and give it a try? You can do multiple day rides, staying in the same hotel every night to avoid saddle bagging if you want.

anyone who isn’t into riding their brains out everyday happy too (especially during Winter Carnival, Feb 5 – 15). Next up for Cochrane, backcountry riding places for those who like to play in the powder!

STAGInG HOTel: Thriftlodge Motel, thriftlodgecochrane.ca or (705) 272-4281. Clean, affordable and recently renovated roadside motel with reliable WIFI, hot tub and sauna, sled parking in front of rooms, huge parking lot, on site Terry’s Steak-house restaurant/bar, and fuel directly across the road.

• Road Access to Hotel – Enter from High-way 11 just south of town.

• Sled Access to Hotel – Direct trail access where TOP A crosses Highway 11.

lOCAl DeAlerS: Bourque’s Auto Sales (Polaris & Yamaha.), Pap’s Power Shop (Ski-Doo).

DAY rIDeS: • Editor’s Note: The southwestern loop,

the Gateway to the North Tour, is not

CochraneStory & PhotoS by

Craig Nicholson

STAGInG lOCATIOn: Positioned due north from Toronto on High-way 11, the Town of Cochrane (population just over 5,000) is big enough to have all the services and amenities you need and small enough to be friendly and easy to get around. It’s about a 4-hour drive from North Bay and 7 to 8 hours from the GTA on good highways all the way.

WHY COCHrAne: Cochrane has lived up to its reputation for delivering “The World’s #1 Snowmobile Trails” for about 25 years and has established itself as the gateway community to District 15’s North-

ern Corridor Adventure. With plenty of snow-mobile-friendly lodgings and eating choices, Cochrane is right up there on the short list of Ontario’s most reliable snow destinations, with a season that usually stretches from December to April.

If you’re looking for the best snowmobil-ing Ontario has to offer, Cochrane is as good as it gets, thanks to the yeoman’s work done by the Polar Bear Riders Snowmobile Club. What’s more, the Polar Bear Riders have been busy transforming Cochrane into a good fam-ily riding destination too – a series of local loops are perfect for casual family outings, and there’s enough to see in town to keep

2017 Snowmobile Trail Permits are not available at retail outlets, so buy yours online at www.ofsc.on.ca.

Vol.9#3

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available to the 2017 season due to TOP C being closed for the season for logging from junction of TOP A106C to Smooth Rocks Falls.

• Southeast – 240 km loop on TOP Trails A, A111C, C & A106C (food & fuel in Iroquois Falls and Timmins).

• North – Abitibi Canyon Tour, 303 km on TOP Trail A103 (warm up shelters en route and food & fuel at the Canyon).

• West – Ride 240 km via TOP A to Moon-beam clubhouse for lunch and back (big milers can go all the way to Kapuskasing - 358 km total and back in one day).

• Family Friendly Rides – Cochrane town loops on L109 or L101; east half of Gateway to North Tour (TOP A. A106C & L103); Smooth Rock Falls on TOP Trail A and back with stop at Green-water Provincial Park lookout on L105.

Be Sure TO See: In town - Polar Bear Habitat & Heritage Village, Classic Vintage Rider Snowmobile Museum, Chimo Polar Bear Statue, Tim Horton Museum.

On Trail - Abitibi Canyon (TOP Trail A103), Gre-enwater Provincial Park lookout (L105), Scenic bridge over Frederick House River (L103).

GeT MOre InFO: Northeastern Ontario Tourism - www.northeast-ernontario.com or 1-800-465-6655; Cochrane - www.cochraneontario.ca or (705) 272-4361; Northern Corridor - www.northerncorridor.ca or 1-877-287-2457; Also, check out Polar Bear Rid-ers S.C. page on Facebook. GSOM

Everything You Need To Know About Rides, Itineraries, Destinations and Gear

Discover Canada’s most popular site for touring riders!

Vol.9#3

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Getting Started: My first foray into YouTube, and snowmobiling, began a few years ago when I purchased a 1997 Skidoo MXZ 670. There are lots of reasons I snowmobile and part of the fun for me is tinkering. Let’s face it, a guy feels like he is kind of expected to know how many cylinders his engine has, and to have at least enough of an understanding of automobiles to look at the right parts as he scratches his head thoughtfully and makes a reasonable, or at least believable guess what that weird clunk was.

But ironically, that just wasn’t me. On some level, I always felt if I rolled up my sleeves and grabbed a wrench, the next thing I looked for would be a good towing service. I knew any bolt I reached for would invariably break off with a smug little snap, and that a part, once removed, was often impossible to re-install.

learning the ropes: Owning a classic sled provides an outlet for the weekend mechanic that’s long been lurking dormant in my DNA.

Hi. My name is David. I live and snowmobile in Ontario’s Grey Bruce region – and I’m a YouTuber. When friends first visit my channel, My Old Sled, their responses range from “Cool, you have a YouTube channel?” to “You’re such a ham.” I also get asked from time to time why I do it and how I got started making videos. I have no pretense about being a star. I’m actually a bit of an introvert, and unless I go viral by hitting a Sasquatch on my snowmobile, I won’t get rich. So why do I do it?

Because I don’t actually rely on this machine for daily transportation, I can risk taking that wire off, or even replacing that worn out thing beside that mysterious looking black box. It gave me a reason to buy tools and the opportunity to explain to my wife how you use a multi-metre, as she glances at me over her book trying to look interested.

My transformation didn’t happen overnight. At first the simplest things, like starting my snowmobile, were a challenge. A primer, once you know how it works and what it does is pretty simple, but for that first day or two, I had a shiny yellow upholstered bench on which to sit and ponder the wisdom of buying a 19-year-old machine. As I pumped a litre of gas into my cold, mocking engine I knew I had a lot to learn.

Classic sleds usually don’t come with a man-ual, or a warranty. Luckily, there is a ton of infor-mation online, and snowmobilers are very gen-erous with their knowledge and experience. Video is a great medium for learning, but what if your sled was built before YouTube?

2017 Snowmobile Trail Permits are not available at retail outlets, so buy yours online at www.ofsc.on.ca.

video tinkeRinG tips FoR novice mecHanicsBy David Clarke

REAL RIDERS

Just getting started with a classic sled and looking for some basic DIY maintenance and repair advice? Here’s how one new owner discovered his inner mechanic and what happened next…

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Searching for Information: After an extensive search, I had learned all about features I would enjoy if my model year started with a two. I had also learned over a thousand spectacular ways to crash, sink or blow up my snowmobile, but I was just expected, it seems, to instinctively know how to use a primer.

Gradually, I did figure things out. I read vo-raciously from service manuals and forums like Doo-Talk, until I knew the round things on the front of my engine were RAVE valves, and that thing with the dipstick was a chain case. My vocabulary soon included things like “torque spec”, “crank shaft” and “primary clutch”.

Don’t get me wrong; there are a lot of ex-perienced riders out there posting a wealth of good content. Still, it occurred to me there must be other new owners out there strug-gling with the same basic things I did. I won-dered if I could help them, not as a subject matter expert, just as a guy with an old sled, learning as I go.

launching My Old Sled: Drawing on a couple of decades worth of communications and corporate training experience, I set up a channel to share what I’d learned, and to connect with people like me, who understand there’s still a ton of fun to be had with an old machine. At first, I just recorded clips on my iPhone. Later, I picked up a GoPro, learned the ins and outs of posting to YouTube and learned to edit video.

Content was easy to find. When I finally res-urrected my long-dead fuel gauge - I shared how I did it. When I figured out why people test for compression and had another excuse to buy a new tool - I shared what I’d learned. I slowly built up an audience of regular view-ers. I learn from them, and they learn from me. That’s one of the best things about snowmo-biling…it’s a real community.

Of course YouTube isn’t the only way to share. You can contribute on a forum, volun-teer at your local club, or just take the time to offer a suggestion to a new rider. If you’ve ever solved a problem or learned from a mistake, you’ve got something worth sharing.

I wish I could say my motives are entirely

THE LEADER IN RECONDITIONED ENGINES,

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CYLINDER REPLATING ENGINE AND CRANKSHAFT REBUILDING

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altruistic. I like to think that I’m saving some other first time snowmobiler a couple of days of pulling on his starter to the point of exhaus-tion. That is why I share on social media, most-ly. But if I’m totally honest, after all these years, there’s also just something rewarding about figuring out that weird clunk – and a satisfy-ing bit of vindication in bragging about how I fixed it.

Editor’s Note – Check out David Clarke’s My Old Sled channel on You Tube! To date, he has posted more than 30 videos, including: What to Carry on Your Snowmobile, Snowmobile Pre Season Checklist, Starting a Flooded Snowmobile, Why use a Snowmobile Lift, Buying a Used Snowmobile, Starting a 2 Stroke Snowmobile with a Primer, Snowmobile Compression Test, Getting Your Snowmobile Unstuck, DIY Spring Puller. GSOM

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Participation in snowmobiling is growing with many former riders coming back and novices trying it for the first time – and lots of them are becoming involved because a friend or relative who loves snowmobiling got them excited. That’s what

happened to Jason Beer and here’s his story…

certainly an eye-opener for me.Discovering a new World: Having only ever

ridden old clunkers around the back forty, this trail riding experience was fantastic as I en-joyed for the first time the responsiveness and handling of a newer Arctic Cat. That and being able to run as a group, stopping along the way to take in the views and enjoying one another’s company over a hot meal got me hooked.

As I drove home late that evening, all I could think about was doing it again. So for the next few weeks, Brent and I went out as much as we could. Brent allowed me to ride his 2015 Ski-Doo Renegade XRS, which took responsive-ness and handling to a whole new level.

Running the various trails throughout Oro-Medonte and Springwater townships opened up a whole new sense of camaraderie as well. As I talked about my experiences with others, including the high school students I teach, and I received many invites to go riding. I quickly realized that snowmobiling bonds people from all walks of life together into a very wel-coming community. I was now determined to find a sled for myself and join it.

Buying a Sled: After getting the green light from my wife, I approached Brent to help me get educated on what I should be looking for within my price range. As spring approached, I searched AutoTrader and the various web-sites of local dealers everyday, searching for just the right sled. Nothing seemed to come of my endless searching until I learned that an-other friend of mine was thinking of selling his 2009 Yamaha Nytro. I went to see the sled that spring afternoon, and by evening I was the proud owner of a Nytro FX with every upgrade I could imagine and then some.

However, I faced were two problems: first, the snow was gone so I couldn’t take my new ac-quisition for a rip; and second, I’d overspent my budget by $1,500 and had to break the news to my wife. While figuring out the perfect way to do that, I stored the sled in Brent’s enclosed Tri-ton trailer at my farm over the summer. Maybe breaking the news would happen by osmosis or she’d simply forget what my budget had been.

Getting ready: I was definitely obsessed. My wife would often see me with the trailer door propped open and staring at the ma-chine, tinkering or just sitting on it wondering how it would handle on the trails. As the fall approached, I tried to learn as much as I could about the sled and prepping it for the upcom-ing season. With great anticipation, I purchased my trail permit early and waited, counting down the days to December, like a child counts the number of sleeps to Christmas.

So I wouldn’t have to ride around on my sled like the abominable snowman wearing count-less layers of old clothing in an effort to stay

S l e d d i n G T i p S : h O w i G O T S T a r T e d

a HiGH scHool teacHeR’s take on BeinG a new RideRB Y J A S O n B e e r W I T H B r e n T M u r P H Y

It’s tough to ignore snowmobiling when some-one’s raving in your ear about it all winter. My friend, Brent Murphy, can be pretty persuasive, and so it was that a couple of years ago, I tagged along on a night ride with Brent and a few other sledaholics. During the three-hour ride we me-andered through the rural countryside and the lake lands around Orillia, stopping along the way for a bite to eat at a local restaurant. It was

warm, Brent graciously gave me his FXR snowmobile suit with matching gloves and a pair of snowmobile boots, all of which fit really well and were incredibly warm. I topped them off with an electric dual sport FXR helmet from Royal Distributing.

I also realized that in order to connect to the OFSC trails from home, I could either run the roads and ditches or I could be pro-active and ask permission from my local neighbours to cross their properties. As a farmer and hunter myself, this practice of re-specting your neighbours and seeking permission is paramount to maintaining good relations. One of the big complaints from landowners is snowmobilers trespassing on their properties and the potential liabilities that could result. In consideration, I also made sure not to rip past their homes late at night when any sled can sound pretty loud.

Spreading the Word: Despite spotty snow last winter, I did manage to get out on some great rides. We trailered to Kinmount to ride TOP Trail B103 (thanks to the Haliburton club for the grooming!) for our first night ride, hit our local trails from Orillia to Wasaga Beach regularly, and orchestrated a destination ride for chicken wings with a large group of students that I teach (see article in last issue). In addition, I am currently working with Rob Hutter, owner of Mount St. Louis Resort, to host a warm atmo-sphere and hot meals for sledders traveling along the TOP B105C Trail running beside his chalet. From the feedback I’ve received, sledders would welcome more places to go with other riders for a bite to eat and a warm place to visit. All that’s needed are busi-nesses willing to cater to the demand.

Even as a novice, I often find myself promoting snowmobiling to others, just as Brent did to me, encouraging them to buy a sled and come riding. I also want to see this amazing winter activity attract the interest of the next generations, and so I’m encour-aging and working along side many of my students on creating community rides using social media. Snowmobiling has so much to offer and I am thankful that I have the opportunity and privi-lege of being one of its ambassadors.

Jason Beer is a high school teacher at Eastview Secondary School in Barrie. Brent Murphy owns Murphy Insurance and Financial Ser-vice in Barrie. GSOM

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don “RiGGz” RiediGeR oF kenoRaB Y l I S A K O P O C H I n S K I

m e e t a s n o w g r o o m e r

Riggz has been grooming trails for 13 years for the Sunset Trail riders so riders can enjoy the beautiful 700 km

trail system.Every year, Don “Riggz” Riediger waits for

the month of February to arrive. That’s when this Kenora resident takes four weeks of vaca-tion from his job as a front-end loader opera-tor at the local mill and begins his stint as a volunteer snow groomer for the Sunset Trail Riders Snowmobile Club. “I love it!” he said. “I can’t get enough of it. I like grooming the trails mainly because I want to provide a smooth ride for our members so they can enjoy our beautiful, 700 km trail system. I put my favorite music on and away I go for the day! When the season ends, I’m sad.”

Riggz works with three other groomer op-erators  at the club and each take shifts de-pending how much available time they have.

However, none of the trails can be groomed until at least mid-January each year when the ice has reached a thickness of 16 inches, the

Credit: Article Courtesy of Snow Grooming magazine. Originally published in May 2016

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minimum for the large groomers to travel on. “All our trails are landlocked or ice-locked,” said Riggz. “For most of the trails we groom, you have to cross lakes to get to them. Sev-enty percent of our trails are on lakes. Once I get everything in place, I take my holidays and then go crazy.”

Riggz started snow grooming 13 years ago after answering an ad in the local paper. He was a truck driver at the time and would get laid off in the winter. “I’ve been doing it ever since and have spent about 4,000 hours in the machines. I average about 300 hours per year and about another 300 maintaining the fleet and other duties. Our club has a small Bombar-dier Bombi, two Bombadier BRs and a Prinoth Husky. I started on the BR160 and I operate the Bombi in early season. For the past two years, I have operated the Prinoth Husky. If I got paid,

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this would be a dream job.”Riggz usually starts his shift on Sunday eve-

ning and grooms a short trail. Then his shifts from Monday to Thursday typically last 10 to 12 hours each, usually covering 60 km to 80 km per day of lake and land trails. “The longest day I groomed trails was 17 hours,” he said. “I went to Vermilion Bay and back. We usually split that into a two-day trip and leave the machine at Stewart Lake and then pick it up the next day.”

Long trips can mean being hard on the grooming machines. “Sometimes we must leave the machines in a remote location where we cannot plug in the block heater and – de-pending on the temperature – it may be dif-ficult to start the machine,” he said. “We have to plug them into a generator for an hour or so before starting them up. Then the machine has to idle for 45 minutes to warm up the hydro-static drive system, so sometimes it takes two hours to get going in the morning.”

Riggz does recall some interesting circum-stances that have happened over the past decade. “Throughout my career, I sunk the machine four times, sometimes having to walk miles in the dark to a road. The first time, I came over a sand bar in the middle of a lake and there was only snow on the other side. The machine just started heading into the wa-ter, but I was able to back out before it was too late! We once sunk a machine near Kenora, but were able to get a bunch of volunteers to pull it out the same night. Then another time, the groomer went down right on the trail where the beavers had built a dam the previous sum-mer and it was 43 below. It took two days to

get the machine out of there. We had to hire an underwater recovery expert to wrench it out with the biggest winch we had.”

Then there was the time Riggz sunk a groomer near Shoal Lake Road. “The front end was underwater, so the fan belt was slipping, the engine overheated and  lost all the anti-freeze. I was able to winch it out by attaching a chain to a cleat and the other end to a tree, then rotating the track so it would pull itself out. Once out, I realized there was insufficient antifreeze in the engine to continue,  I had to walk for two hours to the main road and some-one picked me up. I was a lot younger then.”

Even today at the age of 55, Riggz says snow grooming is not really physically demand-ing, although others might disagree. “I was a truck driver and drove 12 hours a day. Now I sit in a loader for 12 hours a day, so I’m used to that. I also do the maintenance on the ma-chines. There are three, full size machines and one smaller one.  I’m getting older and don’t want to fix them as much,” he said.

When not grooming trails, Riggz loves get-ting out on his snowmobile with members of the club and his buddy, Will. The longest trip he took was to Red Lake and back. “I don’t know the mileage, but it took all day to get there,” he said. “We stayed overnight and came back the next day.”

For now, Riggz has to be content with snowmobiling when he can and grooming the trails in January and February, but that will all change in two years. “That’s my retirement date,” he said. “And once that happens, I really want to go full time!” GSOM

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RideR insiGHtCraig Nicholson, The Intreprid Snowmobiler

Rider insight: Coupling Up

Recently, I’ve had several male snowmobilers ask for advice about doing a couples’ snowmobile tour. Since my wife has snowmobiled with me on tours for many years and we also do several couples’ getaways each winter, I guess I’m experienced

enough to offer these tips…

Couples’ snowmobile tours  aren’t the same as snowmobiling with the guys. For start-ers, unless your wife is also an avid snowmo-biler, your couples’ tour may be her first ride of the season. You’ve likely already had your chance to be out with your buds to work out any bugs with your sled, gear or body and to become acclimatized to the weather and full days of riding. Everyone on your couples’ ride should have the same opportunity, which will increase their overall confidence, comfort and enjoyment. Similarly, if everyone participates in its preparation and planning, your couples’ snowmobile tour is much more likely to meet or exceed everyone’s expectations.

It’s also important for everyone on your couples’ tour to have comparable quality clothing and snowmobiles. My wife rides her own sled, but doubling is okay if the sled is a legitimate 2-upper and you’re both used to riding this way. No one enjoys riding a sled

with poor suspension and handling, or one that is underpowered or unreliable, can’t keep up to the others or gets the worst gas mileage. Similarly, no one enjoys being cold, so besides wearing top quality snow gear, sled accessories like thumb warmers and heated handlebars, handlebar muffs combine with products like heated visors, vests, gloves & boot liners, and chemical warmers provide additional riding comfort.

The focus for a couples’ ride may shift from putting on as many miles or getting there as fast as possible, to sight seeing, photo tak-ing and enjoyment of the ride for its own sake. This can mean a change of pace, more flexible riding days and closer destinations. Accommodations with more amenities are a good choice. A different focus may also mean planning multiple day rides from the same accommodations rather than destination-to-destination saddle bagging. This choice en-

ables everyone to settle in to the same lodg-ings for the duration and enjoy the facilities without having to worry about packing up and moving on every day.

Couples’ snowmobile tours may also have more frequent trail stops, preferably synched with available warm up shelters, clubhous-es and restaurants. Everyone appreciates a chance to stretch, warm up, use indoor wash-rooms, and socialize. I’ve also found that a daily pre-ride briefing helps set the tone for couples’ rides. It can include the day’s route, pre-arranging coffee breaks and lunch stops, points of interest, and confirm the final desti-nation and likely arrival time. That way every-one knows what to expect and can pace them-selves accordingly.

The larger your group of couples’, the more time everything takes from getting started to eating and gassing up. Here are a few ideas to minimize this challenge:• Wherever possible, gas and oil sleds the

night before.• The guys can pack and warm up the sleds each

morning while the ladies order breakfast.• Eliminate the waiting and menu routines.

If you are eating dinner in the same restau-rant as breakfast, ask at dinner to reserve a table at a specific time in the morning and then pre-order breakfast so it’s ready when you arrive.

• Save time on the trail by having a standard coffee break and lunch order so the first person into a restaurant can order for your entire group.

• When stopping for gas, have the guys fuel up all sleds while the women visit the wash-room or warm up.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for easy ways to get started riding as a couple before go-ing on your self-guided tour, I suggest con-necting with other couples’ through the local snowmobile club and participating in club and charity rides. You could also choose to ride a few of the shorter OFSC-Promoted Snow Tours to gain some experience. A good option for your first snowmobile tour as a couple is to call a company like Ontario Snow Cruises to arrange a fully guided and pre-packaged getaway. GSOM

2017 Snowmobile Trail Permits are not available at retail outlets, so buy yours online at www.ofsc.on.ca.