There was good and bad news for snowmobilers this past winter.
The good news...the season was longer than usual.
The bad news...rain played havoc on the trails.
"From our club's perspective, it was a bit of a frustrating season," Shawn Flindall the Public Relations director for the North Bay Snowmobile Club told BayToday.
"Volunteers worked really hard and got trails in tip-top shape just in time for it to rain for a week in January. Then they worked hard again to get trails back in tip-top shape and it rained again in February, then we got trails back in tip-top shape and it rained again in March so it was a little frustrating."
But Flindall says overall there were 11 weeks of riding and a typical year sees 10 weeks. Last year riders only enjoyed eight weeks.
"So we're happier than last year, that's for sure."
Flindall says the longer season translated into more local and out of town sledders.
"There's been a real renewed enthusiasm for snowmobiling. That's been a real positive and the number of out of town sledders coming through has been great for the community because they bring a lot of dollars into North Bay and surrounding small towns."
But more people also means more accidents, and they were way up provincially this year.
See: Snowmobile deaths double last season say OPP
"More sleds on the trails means there's going to be more incidents on the trails so we did have some very tragic deaths and injuries on the trails this year, but hopefully that will be corrected in future."
Flindall says he doesn't disagree with people who argue that the sleds are just too powerful these days.
"With a lot of power comes the need for respect for that power and I'm not sure that everybody has that respect for the power involved and there definitely have to be discussions surrounding that, I agree."
The North Bay Snowmobile Club says its trail system is closed for the season and offers thanks to the volunteers and members, "but most importantly we thank the many landowners who allow us to use their property for our trails. Without them, the trial system would not be possible."
