A great winter so far for snowmobiling
Posted Jan 17, 2014 07:09:50 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
With the all the snow we’ve received this winter, there is renewed interest in winter sports.
Spokesperson for the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, Craig Nicholson says snowmobile trails in Ontario opened December 4th, which was phenomenally early compared to recent years.
“Between Christmas and New Year’s we had about half the system of thirty thousand kilometres of trails open and available for riding. For the last couple of winters the lake effect machine just has not been operating properly off of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. This year it is and it`s just dropping massive amounts of snow as it has already and still continuing to do so.”
In Waterloo Region, Nicholson says there are trails within a few miles of city centres. Primarily north and west up into Grey Bruce. Snowmobilers can visit the OFSC website and see not only an online trail map but a map that shows you what trails are available to ride and what trails are not.
Nicholson says some things to always keep in mind is that the same rules apply to snowmobilers on the trails as cars on the highway.
“Its not a free for all. To date, we’ve had seven fatalities. None of which have been on OFSC trails. Six of the seven occurred with snowmobile collisions with motorized vehicles on public roads. Snowmobilers riding where they shouldn’t be riding. Our message is: Stay on the trail. That’s what the trails are for, that’s where the safest place to ride a snowmobile is. “
