Another slow start to snowmobiling season for eastern Ontario riders

A slow start to the snowmobiling season is impacting some businesses in eastern Ontario. CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports.

Trails across the Ottawa Valley are only now getting the green light as snowmobilers anxiously await more snowfall.

It has been a slow start to the snowmobiling season in Calabogie, Ont., where most trails still have less than six inches of snow.

“(The start) was actually pretty late this year. We actually only got the trails open a week ago because we haven’t had a lot of snow,” says Marc Diotte, president of the Calabogie and District Snowmobile Club.

“Typically we would start not long after Christmas, so we probably lost about three weeks for sure out of this season.”

The interactive trail map curated by the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) shows a majority of trails across Renfrew County as either being unavailable or having limited availability.

“Last couple of seasons haven’t been great,” admits Terry Vaudry, an administrator with District 6 of the OFSC, located near Pembroke.

“But then I look back, maybe five, six, seven years back, and it’s been a pretty standard winter for us.”

Another slow start to the season has knock-on effects for the community of Calabogie.

Chris Fleming is vice-president of the snowmobile club in Calabogie and says membership numbers are almost half of last season, falling from about 750 members to 400, due to the unpredictable weather.

“It’s huge. You know, restaurants, dining rooms, Airbnb’s (and) hotels, everybody counts on the snowmobile traffic for perfect harmony here,” he tells CTV News.

A popular pitstop for sledders in the region is the Redneck Bistro in Calabogie, which caters to offroad riders and offers parking for snowmobiles and ATVs.

“When the snow is here, there’s 10, 15 snowmobiles just waiting for 11:00 a.m. for us to open, and it does not stop,” says kitchen supervisor John Atkins.

“Once you get snow, we’re good to go. And we pray for that white gold, because if we don’t have it, we’re not busy.”

And as the years tick on, Diotte and Fleming find their sledding seasons becoming shorter.

“Usually we will get into March, so we could have about another four weeks,” says Diotte.

“It just seems that the season went from three and a half to four months, to one and a half to two months over the last two decades,” adds Fleming.

With such limited time left this winter, the extent to which riders can explore the region remains to be seen.

“I’m not sure if 100% of the trails will be able to open, because again, it depends on what we’re dealing with terrain wise and how much snow we can get to build a base,” says Vaudry.

“They’re marginal to good, they’re not perfect,” says Fleming on the current trail conditions around Calabogie.

“But you’ve just got to watch until we get more snow. A six-inch sticky snow would be perfect right now.”