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This has to be the year Snowest Magazine rates McCall as the number one area in the West. We surely have set a record of machines and riders here during the best snow year we have had in a long time. I rode over 1100 miles on great snow and the great trails myself. Things finally came together, good snow year, fairly new groomers, new groomer sheds, enough money and someone to guide and coordinate the group in the high use area north of McCall, to get it done! Mr. Miller!
To answer why the club doesn’t plow the lots, the club has no permanent equipment to do it. The county is now responsible to plow the lots but the residential areas and roadways are given a higher priority, for example “in order to get the school buses thru”. They get to our lots when they can. I have sat at the county roadmasters desk as he answered call after call requesting plowing of someone’s road. The State has directed that the groomers are NOT to be used to plow the lots. “Anyone doing so will be fired.” The groomer operators out of the Wallace lot worked extensive overtime all winter, over 30% most of the time. They couldn’t plow the lots too after grooming 14 hours all night, even if we had the equipment. We had major storms almost every night for weeks. Some with 20” of snow.
The plowing is an area that definitely needs attention. We all know that and parking is definitely part of the grooming program. The State directed the club to keep the lot at Wallace from getting any smaller but it was already too late and the snow floor was in place. We rented a front-end loader and ran it with volunteers almost 100 hrs in 2 months to see what could be done on a trial basis. It will help. What we have done is request a grant from the state to buy a front-end loader to “help the county highway rigs” that are not designed to plow lots but mainly roads. We are waiting now to hear if we will get the money to buy this equipment. IF we get the grant from the State then we will integrate the new machine with the groomer operators, the volunteers, and the county road trucks into some kind of program to plow the lots in a much more efficient manor next winter. Different subject, but we need to think about what to do with the long-term parking and overnight rigs too. They keep the lot from being cleared efficiently by randomly parking in the middle of the lot. Maybe another smaller lot for them or a widened area along the road? Any ideas?
The operators and the club, the Chamber of Commerce, the City, County and the Forest Service all have the same goal, “to provide the best trails in the West”. Now the trails in the north county are being done very well and with the help of lot’s of people. One example, the Sheriff’s department “groomer call-ins report log” is sent to several of us so we can post the “grooming done” on the Internet. Many thanks to the officers there too. Many thanks to the City and the Chamber for funding help. We definitely need extra support to the State funds for things like the fuel costs and the operator overtime if we are to keep the trails in the prime shape we now have. The beneficial financial effect on our area by riders is immense and recognized.
It always takes two to argue, I know, I am married. Let’s spend our energies working “together” instead of disagreeing and lets get McCall to the number one place on Snowest. We need to have the best grooming, parking areas, reporting, maps, signage, and management of the program in the country. We are blessed with a great riding area. Let’s do it. Oh yes, we need the snow. And finally, how about a warming hut up by Sater meadows above Brundage reservoir? Okay Forest Service? Spud.
To answer why the club doesn’t plow the lots, the club has no permanent equipment to do it. The county is now responsible to plow the lots but the residential areas and roadways are given a higher priority, for example “in order to get the school buses thru”. They get to our lots when they can. I have sat at the county roadmasters desk as he answered call after call requesting plowing of someone’s road. The State has directed that the groomers are NOT to be used to plow the lots. “Anyone doing so will be fired.” The groomer operators out of the Wallace lot worked extensive overtime all winter, over 30% most of the time. They couldn’t plow the lots too after grooming 14 hours all night, even if we had the equipment. We had major storms almost every night for weeks. Some with 20” of snow.
The plowing is an area that definitely needs attention. We all know that and parking is definitely part of the grooming program. The State directed the club to keep the lot at Wallace from getting any smaller but it was already too late and the snow floor was in place. We rented a front-end loader and ran it with volunteers almost 100 hrs in 2 months to see what could be done on a trial basis. It will help. What we have done is request a grant from the state to buy a front-end loader to “help the county highway rigs” that are not designed to plow lots but mainly roads. We are waiting now to hear if we will get the money to buy this equipment. IF we get the grant from the State then we will integrate the new machine with the groomer operators, the volunteers, and the county road trucks into some kind of program to plow the lots in a much more efficient manor next winter. Different subject, but we need to think about what to do with the long-term parking and overnight rigs too. They keep the lot from being cleared efficiently by randomly parking in the middle of the lot. Maybe another smaller lot for them or a widened area along the road? Any ideas?
The operators and the club, the Chamber of Commerce, the City, County and the Forest Service all have the same goal, “to provide the best trails in the West”. Now the trails in the north county are being done very well and with the help of lot’s of people. One example, the Sheriff’s department “groomer call-ins report log” is sent to several of us so we can post the “grooming done” on the Internet. Many thanks to the officers there too. Many thanks to the City and the Chamber for funding help. We definitely need extra support to the State funds for things like the fuel costs and the operator overtime if we are to keep the trails in the prime shape we now have. The beneficial financial effect on our area by riders is immense and recognized.
It always takes two to argue, I know, I am married. Let’s spend our energies working “together” instead of disagreeing and lets get McCall to the number one place on Snowest. We need to have the best grooming, parking areas, reporting, maps, signage, and management of the program in the country. We are blessed with a great riding area. Let’s do it. Oh yes, we need the snow. And finally, how about a warming hut up by Sater meadows above Brundage reservoir? Okay Forest Service? Spud.
