Twin Mountains Snowmobile Club P.O. BOX 519, BOBCAYGEON, ONTARIO, CANADA, K0M 1A0 www.twinmountainssc.ca Fall Newsletter 2015 President s Report Twin Mountains Snowmobile Club is the proud recipient of the 2015 OFSC President s Award. This award is presented to the outstanding OFSC club of the year in recognition of its programs, events, community service and special accomplishments. There are 213 member clubs across Ontario, so this is an outstanding achievement for our club. This award is great recognition of all the hard work performed by our directors and volunteers. The attributes that made our club stand out, I believe, are innovation and cooperation with other trail users. TMSC won the award this year but it is the culmination of many years of dedicated work by volunteers that has led us to this point. Some of the directors and volunteers that we must thank are now retired from their positions, and we are certainly indebted to the current group of directors and volunteers. Like any club it takes long-term vision and dedication to achieve greatness. The idea of developing the current location at 889 Bass Lake Road for our groomer facility and clubhouse has been paramount in providing a suitable base to work from and to hold club events. The development of our website and our Facebook page has been the icing on the cake. These two things are the biggest factors in allowing us to hold and host events as well as get information out to make events happen. This has also afforded us to become more efficient in grooming because our home base is in the middle of our trail system.
Many little known factors have also contributed to our club s success. The development of a packer for early trail use has decreased wear and tear on our drags and has allowed us to get out earlier to drive the frost into the ground to make a better base. The great relationships with other seasonal trail users such as KATVA and OF4WD clubs has allowed us to plug into the community with a toy drive. The regular Saturday morning informal rides open to anyone have created friendships (look on our Facebook page to see when they go for this winter). The cooperation from local dealers to host demo rides from our clubhouse has drawn riders from far and near. The dedication of our groomer operators and the groomer repair crew has ensured that our trails are some of the best in the Province. The regular off-season trail brushing, rock picking, and sign replacing has ensured that those wonderful trail are safe and enjoyable. I can go on, and will probably miss something, so I will once again offer a big thank you to all our volunteers, past and present, for amazing dedication in achieving greatness. This past year has been one of the greatest and, in some ways, not so good. We had just enough snow to produce some of the best trails in Ontario once again. We saw moderate growth in permit sales to our club once again. The clubhouse has been refurbished and now sports a nice new covered deck now. TMSC successfully completed a huge project on the E108 with Tourism funding to the tune of $110,000. However, we also lost a few trails this past season. This is directly related to an incident where some snowmobilers decided that they needed to go around a couple of closed gates after the end of the season. These actions have resulted in a landowner taking away our use of his property. We have landowners all over our system that generously give us permission to use their land. The result of a few selfish individuals can affect many people. We implore you to respect closed trail signs and to stay on marked trails because we don t want any further incidents like this. We anticipate several changes in the way clubs operate in the next few years with the More on the Snow initiative by OFSC. In the future, permits will be sold online only, there will be more cooperation between clubs for grooming frequency, and there will be different funding methods for clubs. Many of these initiatives will lead to better efficiency and hopefully more consistent trails. I am thankful that the changes will result in less red tape and administration having to be performed by us the volunteer. Hoping for another great season. Wayne Haagsma TMSC President Vice President s Report As another great sledding season fast approaches, I d like to welcome you and thank you for supporting Twin Mountains Snowmobile Club.
What an exciting year we ve had. As our President Wayne Haagsma previously mentioned, the OFSC has bestowed a great honour upon our club, the 2015 Outstanding OFSC Club of the Year award. This was a wonderful surprise and we will continue to do our very best to meet and exceed all expectations by providing the best trails in our district. Our volunteers have been busy clearing and brushing our trails as well as repairing our bridges and our grooming equipment in order to be ready for an early season. There are a few trail changes that will be explained in the trail section of our newsletter. See you all on the trails. Larry Hulsmans TMSC Vice President Trail News In the fall of 2014 we undertook a comprehensive repair project on a 7 km stretch of E108 between the junction of E108 and the 460 and the junction of E108 and the 490 (North Junction). We were able to improve and smooth out the trail base through some of the deep mud holes, which enables trail packing and grooming operations to take place as soon as the snow arrives. We received a grant from the National Trails Coalition (NTC) for this project, and the OFSC, the Kawartha ATV Association (KATVA), and the Ontario Federation of 4 Wheel Drive enthusiasts (OF4WD) also assisted us financially. Throughout the off-season regular trail maintenance was ongoing. This consisted of brushing, rock picking, clearing beaver dams, etc. A bunch of persistent beavers took a liking to the bridge on the TMSC 420 trail and took extreme pleasure in jamming the space underneath with sticks, stones, grass, mud, and whatever else they could find. This turned into a weekly outing for our volunteers who were finally able to get ahead of the beavers and keep the area clear. This fall some excavator work was completed on the TMSC 470 trail (Old Logging Trail), water holes were drained and a metal culvert was installed to replace two old broken ones. We also repaired decking on the E108 bridge after someone
attempted to drive across it in a vehicle. Unfortunately, we have lost several kilometers of trail this year as a result of irresponsible snowmobilers going around gates after the season s close. The Tye s Mountain Loop on the TMSC 450 trail is no longer a loop. Snowmobilers will be able to access the mountain from the west side, but will be unable to complete a loop by descending on the east side. We also lost a section of the TMSC 435 trail that runs from Tully s Road to Ledge Road. As a result, our east side trails can only be accessed via the TMSC 425 trail. Landowners/Volunteers It has been a busy year for the TMSC Volunteers. We would like to thank each and every one of our volunteers for giving selflessly of his or her time to help TMSC become the 2015 Outstanding OFSC Club of the Year. We would also like to thank our landowners because without them, none of this would be possible. TMSC members attended a multi-use trial meeting in Lindsay in April to discuss future trail development with Ontario Federation of 4 Wheel Drive enthusiasts (OF4WD), Kawartha ATV club (KATVA), Haliburton ATV club (HATVA) and Ontario Off Road Trail Riders (OFTR). Numerous volunteers came out to help with the installation of a new metal roof on the clubhouse in May. Volunteers also came out to help with the construction of a new porch on the west end of the clubhouse. This will be used for future BBQs and other events. In September OF4WD, KATVA and TMSC came together for the 3 rd annual joint-users charity ride in the 5 Points trail system to raise money for the Lindsay Kinsmen Toy Drive. KATVA volunteers roasted a pig for our lunch and close to $1000 and a large quantity of toys were donated by participating riders. In October TMSC Volunteers looked after the Sunday shift in the District 2 booth at the Toronto Snowmobile ATV and Powersports Show and you can expect to see our folks at the Peterborough Sledarama show in November. Trail work is always ongoing and we cannot thank our volunteers enough. There is no shortage of things that need to be done (and redone) out on the trails. Just when we think that we have everything completed, a beaver comes along and throws a stick into our plans. If you have some time and like the outdoors, check our website. An hour, an afternoon or a day can make a huge difference. Contact Mark Johnson for more information.
Trail Patrol 2015 was a great year for our Trail Patrol program. We were able to log 850 trail patrol hours over the course of the season making us the top club in hours in District 2. As there were no specific designated trail patrol weekends this past season, much of our patrolling was impromptu. This allowed us to do trail patrol almost every time we were out riding. Even with the increased trail patrol hours, we are happy to report that we saw fantastic compliance with almost everyone having an OFSC trail pass. This season we will be out riding and patrolling again, welcoming new and long time riders to our trails. We serve as trail ambassadors so please stop us, ask us questions, and chat for a bit. We always have maps with us in case you are in need (or lost). Feel free to ask us any questions that you may have, and let us help with directions, suggestions, and whatever else you need. We hope to see everyone come out on the trails. If anyone would like any information about becoming a trail patroller, please contact Trail Patrol Coordinator Shawn Patrick or any one of our trail patrollers. Grooming The 2015 season was a good season for our groomers, and we accumulated a combined total of 640 hours on the two units, even though trails did not open until the second week of January. There were several inevitable repair issues during the season. The BR180 is getting older and the hydraulic lines on the blade were replaced, as were the high-pressure lines, and a walking beam axle. Toward the end of the season the oil line blew and as a result, the BR was down for two weeks while we waited for parts. Maintenance and regular service has been ongoing during the off-season. Coolant, oil, and other fluids have all been replaced. One of our drags has a new rim and the Tucker Cat is sporting a new 8-way blade. It won t be long until that first snowfall and we hook up our roller and start packing those trails. We ll see you all out there.
2015 Yamaha Conquer Dirt ATV and Side by Side Demos In July McGregor Sportsline and Yamaha Canada held its first Ontario Conquer Dirt Power Tour at the Twin Mountains Snowmobile Club clubhouse. A wide variety of ATVs and Side by Sides were available for riders to try out. hot, and very, very dusty. Seven demo rides lasting approximately 30 minutes each toured up the TMSC 480 trail to a large clearing, where riders switched machines for the return trip. The morning started out cool and damp with little dust, however it very quickly became extremely dry and People came from all over southern Ontario for a chance to ride the machines and to check out the difference between summer and winter trails. A wonderful BBQ lunch was provided and everyone had a great time. Thanks to McGregor Sportsline and Yamaha Canada for bringing this event to TMSC.
Permit News Update The price of seasonal permits will remain the same this season for all riders who were unable to purchase their permits online before November 1st. Permits purchased between November 2nd and December 1st 2015 will be at a cost of $210 each. Permits purchased after December 1st will go up to $260 each. Classic snowmobile permits for model year 1999 and older sleds can be purchased from Wayne Haagsma or from Nadene Nicholas for a price of $140 until December 1st, 2015. After that date the price of a classic permit will rise to $170. A copy of your ownership will be required for the purchase of a classic permit. New multi-day permits have been introduced for the first time this year and will replace the old three and seven day permits. These permits are available online only and this is how they work: A permit is purchased for a minimum of two consecutive days up to a maximum of seven consecutive days for $25 a day. Multi day permits can be purchased as many times as necessary during the season. If at any time a individual decides that he or she wants to purchase a full season permit, the price paid for the most recent multi day permit can be applied to the cost of a full season permit. Multi day permits are printed on a local printer and will need to be affixed to the sled in a manner similar to that of a Try Our Trails permit. In order to get a replacement permit consumers must first file a police report. The Ontario Provincial Police have an online reporting system that will assist permit buyers in reporting a lost or stolen permit. There are some exceptions to this as the individual filing the complaint must reside within an OPP jurisdiction. The reporting site is very self explanatory and helpful when explaining the process to anyone looking to get a replacement permit. OPP Online Reporting System Note: Users of the site will be prompted to enter their city and select it from a map. If they do not fall within OPP jurisdiction, the site provides them with the name of their local police department. Also, the site is not compatible with mobile devices such as phone or tablets.
2016 Permit Vendors McGregor Sportsline - 705-738-3300 - Season Birch Point Marina - 705-738-2473 - Season HB Cycle - 705-328-2453 - Season Bobcaygeon Chamber of Commerce - 705-738-2202 - Season Pirate's Cove - 705-738-1352 - Season Gateway Powersports and Marine 705-295-4283 - Season Wayne Haagsma - 705-738-2333 - Season, Classic, Replacement Nadene Nicholas & Jim Thomas 705-799-1409 Season, Classic Cycle Salvage/Cat Shack 705-742-6120 - Season 2016 Board of Directors The following is a list of the current Board Members, contact numbers, and respective responsibilities: President Wayne Haagsma (705) 738-2333 Vice-President Larry Hulsmans (705) 738-9572 Secretary/Website Nadene Nicholas (705) 799-1409 Treasurer Larry Hulsmans (705) 738-9572 Landowners Mark Johnson (647) 237-1457 Grooming and Signage Jim Thomas (705) 799-1409 Trails Steve McCaughey (705) 738-5508 Laverne Clark (705) 341-3221 Al Cymbaluk (705) 742-0319 Trail Patrol Shawn Patrick (905) 449-8684 Health & Safety Wayne Haagsma (705) 738-2333