New and Exciting Things Are Happening in Snowmobiling
By Kristen Bryan

 

 Snowmobiling has been a large winter recreational activity for many years in this area and all over Ontario. There are now over 30,000+ kilometers of trails all over Ontario and a couple hundred kilometers in our area alone. I thought it would be a nice idea to give a little summary of the changes that will be happening or have happened this year and the years to come.

 The OFSC website now has many helpful interactive downloads to help any snowmobiler to plan that perfect trip. Available now on the website is the Interactive Guide if you go to www.ofsc.on.ca and click on the interactive trail guide link it will take you to a large map of Ontario with a breakdown of the different districts in Ontario if you click on the district or area that you are planning to snowmobile in, it will zoom to a map of the trails in that district. You can then manipulate the section of trail that you plan to go to on your trip. It works just like a Google® map or road map. You can either see the status of the trail by the colour that is shown in so you will know before you leave your house whether the trails you will be travelling on are open, closed, limited or if they haven’t gotten the data for that section of trail yet. If you are just interested in the map you can view it in just map format and see where the trails connect what towns they go through and any points of interest along the way this will help with your planning of your route. Points of interest could be gas stations, restaurants or just the clubhouse of the area that grooms that section of trail. You can download and buy this map for just under $5.00. If you want to take it with you but if you want to just check the status and be on your way that is a free service. This interactive guide can also be purchased at the itunes® store as an app and downloaded to your iphone® as well so you can take it with you while on your sled and you don’t have to bring 3 or 4 different trail maps while you are on your trip. I believe the cost of this app is $2.99.

 The OFSC is also placing GPS units in all of their groomers so that they can add this exciting feature to the interactive guide as well. This way you can see what trails have been just groomed, being groomed, or have yet to be groomed. You can also download the trail maps to the following GPS units: Garmin, Magellan, and Lowrance and they use official OFSC data.

 This exciting new technology will make snowmobiling easier than ever and just as fun. If you are someone who hasn’t gone sledding in years because you have an old sled and don’t want to pay the expensive cost of buying a permit. OFSC has made a new permit called the Classic Permit this allows people that own sleds that are 1996 or older to buy a trail permit at a discounted rate of $125.00. You can purchase this permit online through the OFSC website,  you can mail in the required form or there are some districts that have walk-in centers that can give you the permit there. It is recommended though that you check online to see what is available in your area. Please remember to put down the district and club that you ride on. If you ride your sled in the Markdale area than put the Markdale Snowmobile Clubs name down on your permits so that the money you spend on the permit will go towards grooming the trails you ride on.

 Snowmobiling is becoming more and more popular and easier than ever to get involved in. If you are interested in learning more information about any of the above mentioned things check out the OFSC website www.ofsc.on.ca

 I am looking forward to going out this year with my family and I hope that we will see you on the trails this year!