Grooming 101 for Whiners

[maxwell]

Couldn't agree more. I am from Alberta and me and my wife have a place in Sicamous and we have never complained about the trails and have zero issues paying my way ever regardless of trail conditions. I like to help "my" community as me and my wife consider Sicamous to be home away from home and take great pride in our community and what happens there. I also get offended when comments are made such as "if it wasn't for Albertans" type attitude (its embarassing) For the complainers seriously go to elsewhere don't bother me as I have no issues driving further to go to a community that if full of great people and sceniory!! People forget how far that money has to go. It doesn't just cover grooming it covers the maint of the cabins and the staff to maintain and clean up the trails. I was there over Christmas and I was disgusted how much garbage we seen on and off the trails (yes we did pick up some of the garbage believe it or not if it was where we stopped). Anything from gloves to lots of bottles and cans. I guess the message on every cabin isn't clear enought!!! My 2 cents I am getting mad thinking about it.

nailed it. Pride Vs Entitlement. its easy to spot

 

[geo]

With the traffic today, it might be time to move to zambonies instead of groomers. Then send a grader with an ice blade up and down after the double yellow lines are painted and solid.

Might cost a bit more (that doesn't seem to matter???) but if I you want it (this seems to be an issue???) smooth,,,

 

[maxwell]

might be the ticket

 

[Marley]

ive watched groomers cut moguls right off under full power barely moving forward. the problem i notice is there is still that hard snow and no matter what you do its still putting a softer snow on the other side and does not take long to resurface in warmer weather. the snow consistency is not the same. and with alot of the lower trails suffering with snow levels it cant even cut deep enough to remove the memory in the snow without destroying equipment. lots and lots and lots of grooming seems to be the only answer to keep that memory gone. but if you only are able to groom the trail once a week due to funds and the moguls turn into 2 footers its almost impossible to remove that memory in 2 passes. cold weather, lots of snow, and constant grooming and you might see a highway like trail last. but we all know thats damn near impossible with what mother nature deals us and the lack of funds available.

I haven't seen a trail last very long regardless of how it was groomed (not that I know much about the grooming process) but it seems that more often is better so why not find a cheaper alternative to the big machines and do it more often with something more basic and cheaper to run like those things that drag behind a wide-track sled. Just an honest question - I don't know - I'm not a Doctor...

Hell I'll drag a little cultivator behind my sled on the way to the cabin and then drag it back at the end of the day if it would help!

 

[lilduke]

Invest in some good shocks and set them up,,, you won't mind the whoops so much.

 

[catinthehat]

I haven't seen a trail last very long regardless of how it was groomed (not that I know much about the grooming process) but it seems that more often is better so why not find a cheaper alternative to the big machines and do it more often with something more basic and cheaper to run like those things that drag behind a wide-track sled. Just an honest question - I don't know - I'm not a Doctor...

Hell I'll drag a little cultivator behind my sled on the way to the cabin and then drag it back at the end of the day if it would help!

The biggest problem with your idea (do it more often) is most of the grooming is done by VOLUNTEERS that are giving up time with their families or even riding time so you can all have as smooth a ride as possible. Now you want them to give up even more??? Try to get more volunteers to groom more often, let us know how that works out for you.
The reason most clubs have gone to bigger machines and drags is to try and reduce the amount of time spent out there.
I have been out grooming both ways and no way would I ever go back to riding a sled towing a drag all night.

 

[old mountain man]

It takes a lot of power and a lot of traction to cut out deep moguls and go up steep hills. We try and groom our well used trails once per week and even that can be hard on some of us old boys! Younger working people do not have the time.

 

[maxwell]

Invest in some good shocks and set them up,,, you won't mind the whoops so much.

and this is the absolute truth. i can come down in 2ft moguls at a decent clip with only my wrists moving up and down slightly. the only thing thats holding the machine back is my weak muscles and my fat ass standing up for that long. its unreal what a good set of shocks can absorb. but you cant just set them and forget them you need a basic understanding of how they function so you can adjust a couple clicks here and there based on the roughness

 

[X-it]

I have not seen any moguls or any other tracks other than animal tracks for 2 straight years now.

 

[fnDan]

Some people need to ride in on the ungroomed trails, like the pipeline. I think they will really appreciate anything that resembles a groomed trail and the people that run the equipment.
I use to stage at the tin shack every time we rode Fernie. Suffered a bit riding in but after a day of riding the ride out was unbearable. I gladly drive to Fernie and stage there and pay the trail fee or for the past 2 years buy the membership.
If the trail is butter smooth, it's like a gift. I don't expect or demand it, I just just enjoy it.
When I first started sledding, I always thought it was bad to keep the throttle in one spot for too long. Not sure where I got that from.

 

[lilduke]

When I first started sledding, I always thought it was bad to keep the throttle in one spot for too long. Not sure where I got that from.

That was an old carberator thing,, all sled are fuel injected now

 

[Marley]

The biggest problem with your idea (do it more often) is most of the grooming is done by VOLUNTEERS that are giving up time with their families or even riding time so you can all have as smooth a ride as possible. Now you want them to give up even more??? Try to get more volunteers to groom more often, let us know how that works out for you.
The reason most clubs have gone to bigger machines and drags is to try and reduce the amount of time spent out there.
I have been out grooming both ways and no way would I ever go back to riding a sled towing a drag all night.

My point was don't just have one big machine and one guy doing it - have a couple of sleds that get run up and back everyday - or locals that drag something up behind their sled on the way to go riding. Not sure if that would work or not but the grooming thing seems to be an issue for just about everybody (riders, clubs, operators etc) maybe looking at other options makes sense. Too much antagonistic rhetoric gets nowhere.