Free riding in Castlegar, come on over, BYOB.

[Team Pigeon]

Gotta bring it here to the forums fellas, I got a beef with some Washington plate riders not paying up the $10 trail fees up Ladybird the past few weeks. Well, not only Washington, but also Quebec, Saskatchewan, Idaho, Alberta and some certain well known community locals. Them bright yellow collection boxes are the first thing you see getting up there to park.

I received disgruntled emails from members this week. Parking lot full, 15-20 people from Washington. No Washington dollars. One of my members mentioned the 'trail fee' subject to some of these people last weekend, heads all turned to the ground. Checked the box yesterday, netted a two week total of $40, CDN. Lame eh, 20 people @ $10 a head, you can add. GooseCreek had a bit more, $130 and a group from Oregon had their names on $50. I truly do appreciate the monies from in the boxes, but it's not relative to the trucks I see up there on a regular basis, truly disheartening. Maybe a bit of education is needed.

We burn 250L in diesel every two weeks which adds up to about 2250L a season @ 1.30L- average. 2 cases grease last week- should be good for a year. Snowcat engine almost cratered at the start of the season with mechanical issues due to the cold. Anyone notice the parking lot doubled in size over the summer? A D8 bulldozed it last summer, local logging company handled that for us. Double the size now means double the plowing duties that's been contracted most of the season. But it's sure nice turning your 4place enclosed around ain't it? Tandem axle deck truck is used to haul a 12000lb snowcat between the two zones: we are thankful the owner donates his time and money for these services.

Volunteer time. Ohhh ya, what's that worth? The grooming director resigned just after christmas so I added them duties to my list of tasks. Grant applications. The fall time fundraiser. We were also successful in helping a neighboring club's land issues in order to keep sledder access OPEN from commercial operations. We've been in operation for over 20 years and just renewed a 20 year term agreement with the government last month. Grouser repairs were made last month, took three hours with a welder and his rig. Firewood up at the Shaw a couple weeks ago, Ladybird should follow later this spring, that's a whole day that I can't ride- per cabin. I average a consistent 10hrs/week of volunteering time, all year long. The bookkeeper requires about 50hrs handling monies and mail. There's also a secretary and a vice prez.

What else? A second snowcat is being purchased for about 35K. Been saving up for that one for a few years. We had a lot of help from the locals and community with this project. As of late, I'm trying to fund-raise local tax money for a trail brusher to keep the roads open for all users of the area. Sold the skidsteer to pay for a plow/fueling truck for next season, finding something that ain't gonna fall apart has been an ignorant task. It really be nice to get 10cents on all them American beer cans we haul down but they don't take them at the depot. Maybe start buying you beer locally, Coors is 5% up here eh!


To close, if you think I'm painting everyone with the same brush, re-read my first sentence. The cheapest part of your day sledding is that $10. There's good people out there, I'll probably never know who you are. The message is aimed on those that don't g.a.f. rip and hammer up the trail for free. The reality of what it takes to run a non-profit volunteer club has gotta come to light and deserves some respect. Not just this club, but everywhere there's a groomer going at it in the middle of the night.

'Character' is defined when no-one's watching.

With respect,

Stephane Pigeon
President
Castlegar Snowmobile Association

 

[Blown Motor]

Question, as we have ridden up there from Idaho time to time, and have paid dues in the past. What other options are there for receiving payment? Who is monitoring or enforcing this payment to collect the fines and check that you paid etc? Clearly the current system is not working, and I think we can all agree that there is probably equal abuse all across the board. Ya can't tell us that 4 canadians rode that area in two weeks... (Assuming that everybody has to pay local or not correct?) So it appears to be an honesty issue from all sides. It sure has raised awareness and investment in Revy to have somebody sit at the trailhead during the two weekend days and enforce payment. Not saying that is the best alternative, but clearly these people have no conscience in the first place, writing about them probably is not going to help. Going to have to change the system or figure out a way to enforce it, it seems.

 

[freeflorider]

Great post Stephane, I already put my two cents in on the snow and mud thread. Hell were done with the penny's so I guess it's my fifth cents.

 

[JAW]

Hey Steph-

It's been a while, we've met and rode together a few times over the past 5 years. I've been part of the Castlegar snowmobile club for the past 7 years and truly do appreciate all the time and effort that you, as well as, a bunch of others put in to ensure that everyone has a fun day. Some of my best memories have been riding the Norns. It's a bummer that people aren't paying to play because without the Castlegar snowmobile club none of this would be possible. There quite a few riders from my neck of the woods that frequent the Norns and I'm sure I know a few of those who are not putting up $$$. A lot of them are younger kids who are just getting into the sport and don't realize that without the support of clubs they would not be able to ride these great areas. They get into the parking lot and are so stoked to ride that they often times blow right by the drop box. Most kids at 16-20 have had their dues paid by someone else and I think often times overlook the fact that is is now their responsibility to step up to the plate. I'm not trying to stick up here for anyone but I will make sure to pass the word around to the riders here and hold them accountable.

In regards to having someone at the trailhead collecting dues. The majority of the times I have rode the Norns there has been someone collecting dues. Both times that I rode Goose creek this year there was a gentleman volunteering his time collecting dues. I think the key word here is volunteer. It's always hard to find Volunteers, especially when most have 5 day a week jobs and wait all week for the weekend to sled.

I don't have the answer for how to ensure that people pay their dues but I think a good place to start is with a thread like this and for us to hold each other accountable. Some of the best people I have met in my life are sledders and I would like to think that the majority of us would not intentionally intend to stiff someone or a club on purpose. For whatever reason sometimes things get over looked. Spread the word to your sled buddies and remind them how important the local clubs are to fueling our sled addiction.

Thanks for all that you and the others do Steph. It is truly appreciated and hopefully things start looking up.

Cheers,

Josh Weatherman

 

[05900]

Maybe some volunteer " offense enforcement " would help..

 

[MenzToys]

A little more to add to Stephs post. Memberships are available at the Community Complex as well as our local snowmobile dealers they are $60 before Jan 1 and $75 after that and if that doesn't work you could always email the club and make arrangements for payment. If you are reading this you have access to the internet, right, not that difficult to do. As for having people collecting at the trial head we try do this on the weekends from 9am to 1pm unfortunately quite a few locals know this and come up after we leave. I have stayed after 1pm and guys that show up say I thought you would be gone by now, really shows the "character" of some people. We must remember this collecting is all done by volunteers because we don't have the finances to pay collectors and realistically why do I want to waste my weekend mornings policing this. We were hoping that with the collection boxes we wouldn't have to be there, kind of an honor system and let's face it most of us would rather be riding than being parking lot "Nazis" as we have been called. We are well aware that many people ride during the week here local and out of towners so we would hope there would be more than $40 in the box after 2 weeks. This has been an on going problem here and maybe a few fines[read the yellow sign] would wake people up. Another problem we are having is Illegal guiding services and commercial activity in the clubs managed area. Last week the club approached the Ministry of Forests on this subject and it is going to be dealt with. In the last couple weeks this "guide" had a group from Quebec here not one penny in the boxes[we know the ones being guided paid him] just he forgot to pay their trail passes I guess. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with guiding and filming in a managed area, it just needs to be done with the proper qualifications and permits which includes liability insurance. Enough for now thx wayne

 

[Blown Motor]

A little more to add to Stephs post. Memberships are available at the Community Complex as well as our local snowmobile dealers they are $60 before Jan 1 and $75 after that and if that doesn't work you could always email the club and make arrangements for payment. If you are reading this you have access to the internet, right, not that difficult to do. As for having people collecting at the trial head we try do this on the weekends from 9am to 1pm unfortunately quite a few locals know this and come up after we leave. I have stayed after 1pm and guys that show up say I thought you would be gone by now, really shows the "character" of some people. We must remember this collecting is all done by volunteers because we don't have the finances to pay collectors and realistically why do I want to waste my weekend mornings policing this. We were hoping that with the collection boxes we wouldn't have to be there, kind of an honor system and let's face it most of us would rather be riding than being parking lot "Nazis" as we have been called. We are well aware that many people ride during the week here local and out of towners so we would hope there would be more than $40 in the box after 2 weeks. This has been an on going problem here and maybe a few fines[read the yellow sign] would wake people up. Another problem we are having is Illegal guiding services and commercial activity in the clubs managed area. Last week the club approached the Ministry of Forests on this subject and it is going to be dealt with. In the last couple weeks this "guide" had a group from Quebec here not one penny in the boxes[we know the ones being guided paid him] just he forgot to pay their trail passes I guess. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with guiding and filming in a managed area, it just needs to be done with the proper qualifications and permits which includes liability insurance. Enough for now thx wayne

Thanks Wayne, well said! As noted this seems to be an issue across the board, US, Canadian, Alien etc. Ha. It is sad to think that snowmobilers have that crappy of an attitude as we agree with JAW, we have made some of the best friendships in this community of people.

When we pay our 60 bucks, does that mean we do not have to put in 10 every time we ride up there?? Just curious, and also how many local members do you guys have?

 

[MenzToys]

Yes Shane that is a year membership, not too pricey we think. We are around 200 members and we have some from Alberta and Washington, Steph can confirm, and yes as a member you do not pay the $10 trail pass. thx wayne P.s. thanks to BlownMotor for the donations at our fundraiser.

 

[Team Pigeon]

AGM Oct 7 @ the Lionshead.

 

[Jay]

Those membership fees are a bargain. The Smithers club went from $75 to $140 in a single year. No discount whatsoever for a wife/ girlfriend/kid, they pay full price as well. $20 a day for a "trail pass" on a trail that doesn't get touched till usually January and at best 3 or 4 times over the whole season. All sorts of excuses, same bad trails. All of the above reasons to support a club are valid, everyone should pay their way or help out if they can, how to deal with people that won't pay or help? I don't have an answer. Some people always have to ruin it for everyone.

 

[ferniesnow]

Volunteerism is going the way of the dinosaurs!

Sure, there will always be some form of club volunteer but not like it used to be. It was stated above, the younger generation have had their way paid for and haven't realized the standard quite yet. Education is the key!

Steph pointed it out very well. It is friggin' expensive to operate a Snowmobile club and all the infrastructure that goes with it: trails and signage, warm up shelters and maintenance, grooming with fuel, maintenance, and repairs, etc.. Just researching grants can be a part-time job!

Membership fees are a big part of the income but those who are not members need to "pay their way" and that is in the form of daily trail passes. It is getting more apparent that clubs are having to rely on paid trail pass vendors, paid grooming operators, paid club administrators (doo-ing all the things that the volunteers or directors are not finding the time for anymore), and paid groomer repairs as the few main volunteers are burning out and have been burnt out for a few years already.

I doo know that the more a club grooms, the more traffic they will encounter. It is a matter of economics and the club has to weigh the expenses of paid volunteers in relation to no money in the box. Start small with collectors at the trail head on busy days and see if there is a positive increase in monies. I know a club that pays groomer operators and trail pass vendors, $25/hour and it turns into a profit at the end of the year with only a $15 daily trail pass fee and a $80 membership fee.

I guess the part that really burns my butt are the "locals" that refuse to join the club and/or pay trail pass fees because in the olden days they didn't have to or they have a personal grudge against the way the club is run. It appears there is too much "me, me, me" and not enough "us, us, us" and it is really beginning to show with the lack of volunteer effort and the lack of respect of a portion of the users.

A big thank you out to those who doo pay their way and have made this sport what it is today.