Shawn Flindall says this is the winter they have been waiting for.
"Consistent cold temperatures, snow every few days, which really helps for re-grooming trails, lots more on the way in the next few days looks like," said Flindall, director of marketing and public relations with the North Bay Snowmobile Club.
After a short nine-day snowmobile season in 2024, Flindall says local trails are almost as good as they can get.
"It is the first time, in a long time that I have seen so many trails open across the whole province," said Flindall.
"About 85 or 90 per cent across the whole province are open. About 27,000 kilometres of trails and that is everything from London and Woodstock - as far south as there - right across the province to Cornwall up through Barrie and Ottawa through North Bay and Sudbury, Cochrane, Kapuskasing, Hearst and all the way back to Sault Ste. Marie.
"All those trails are open and they are all really nice and groomed and just incredible shape. It has been a great great season of snowmobiling for sure."
Flindall also recognizes the economic impact a good snowmobile season has to the region.
"It is also great to see all the businesses filled with trucks, trailers, snowmobiles and snowmobilers spending money. It is great economic drive for the communities in the north so it has been a perfect season so far," he notes.
See related: Snowmobiler flown by air ambulance after crash on Trout Lake
But with the tremendous snowmobile conditions still comes danger. Last Friday, a sledder was airlifted off Trout Lake after hitting a pressure crack with his snowmobile.
"It was a sunny day white on white on white and those are hard to see when everything is so bright out there so caution is always the message because conditions do change on a regular basis," noted Flindall who lives on the shores of Trout Lake himself.
"This is not a sport that carries zero risk, that's for sure. People need to be cautious. People need to be aware of changing trail conditions and aware of changing ice conditions. Safety and caution is always our message."