Can the snowmobile season be salvaged?

It has been a rough year on the trails for snowmobile enthusiasts across Ontario. 

In the North Bay area, the trails opened in late January for just over a week before Mother Nature went on a warming trend that has put the entire 2024 snowmobile season in jeopardy. 

Shawn Flindall, director of marketing and communication with the North Bay Snowmobile Club hopes the season can be salvaged as the club does not have a date in which they will say the season is done. 

"We are certainly optimistic still, we do not have a drop dead date," he added.

"I mean this is so Mother Nature related, this is 100 per cent related to snowfall and cold. At this point, the long-range two-week forecast shows dribs and drabs of snow, like five or 10 here and there, or one and two here and there, and we are back to square one."

Flindall estimates it will take a dump of two feet of snow to allow them to get groomers moving again.  

"So the long-range forecast does not show that is coming and of course, the long-range forecast at this point also puts us into March," he said. 

"March is typically when things start to fall apart and go the other way in a normal year. So although we remain optimistic, like we are not putting the groomers to bed for the summer and covering them up, we are ready to go if we get some snowfall. The forecast could change tomorrow and just like the east coast - they got four feet of snow in New Brunswick.  We are hopeful that happens here as well. It is not in the forecast but if that happens we are ready to go."

Ice Conditions  

With the trails in the area closed, Flindall says the Club's messaging has turned towards safety on the waterways. 

"It is mid-February and typically in mid-February it is cold and snowy and typically there are 24 inches of ice this time of year on area lakes, I was ice fishing on the weekend and Trout Lake has 8 or 9 inches on it and this is a time when we should have 2 feet of ice," noted Flindall. 

"So when things start to fall apart in a typical year in March and there are two or three feet of ice on the lakes, it takes a long time for that ice to break up. When things start to fall apart and there are only 8 or 9 inches on area lakes, it falls apart really, really quickly.

"If this trend in warm weather and no snow continues we are not likely to have ice on the lakes as long as we normally do and it will fall apart a lot faster than it would in a normal warm spell so we really need people to be cautious about lakes and streams and waterways."

Flindall notes that some creeks and waterways that are traditionally frozen this time of year are showing open water.  

"So we really need to push that safety message that ice is unpredictable and unsafe at best right now and please be careful," he said.

"Family weekend is coming this weekend and we do not want to see any bad decisions lead to tragic results."