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The Buckhorn District Snowmobile Club is based in Buckhorn, Ontario, about 25 minutes north of the City of Peterborough. We are a member club of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, and are one of seven clubs making up OFSC District 2.
BDSC volunteers and grooming staff maintain approximately 165 kilometres of trails through varying terrain, from the east shore of Chemong Lake in the south, to the Gooderham area in the north.
The bulk of our trails are in the Municpality of Trent Lakes, in an area of beautiful Canadian Shield forest once known as The Five Points Trail System – a throwback to the earliest days of organized snowmobiling.
To the west, our trails join those of the Twin Mountains Snowmobile Club in the Bobcaygeon area. On the east side of our system our trails connect with those of the Paudash Trail Blazers and the Stoney Lake Snoriders, leading to the Wilberforce and Apsley areas.
Etiquette/Protocol for Riders When Coming Up On Groomers!!
Serious post.
One of our groomer operators was out last night working the trails when, suddenly, a sled with 2 people aboard came up from behind and passed the moving groomer at a considerable rate of speed without slowing down. Thankfully the operator just happened to see them at the last second and nothing happened. However, our groomer operator with many, many years of experience was very shook up by the incident as it could have ended a fun ride on the trails in a tragic way. He has never had that happen to him in all his years of grooming! All it takes is a slight movement of the controls to move that groomer sideways and take out a passing sled. If the groomer hits a rock just under the snow, the front blade catches on a hard chunk of ice, swerved to avoid something on the trail, or ???, it can instantly alter the direction of the groomer.
The groomer is a large, virtually immovable object that will win everytime.
This is a very serious situation that could have ended badly!!
It is the rider's responsibility when coming up on a groomer to wait until the groomer is stopped and the operator waves/signals you to pass!! The groomer has the right of way, ALWAYS!
The operators are trained, when sleds are passing the stopped groomer, to not have their hands on any controls to prevent any inadvertent movement of the groomer as the sleds pass. The operators take this to heart as they can seriously injure someone with any contact on the controls.
Please be patient when coming up on a groomer. The operator will know you are there and will let you pass when it is safe for both parties to do so.
To the 2 people on that snowmobile, be very thankful that nothing happened. Riding patiently behind a moving groomer won't hurt you but passing a moving one, may!!!
BE BETTER!!!!
That’s just pure stupidity & lack of common sense! So sorry the groomer driver was so shook up!
Wow this same thing happened on Friday to me too. Crazy that people do this. They just don't understand they will lose if Groomer moves the wrong way.
Great post and thanks for putting it out there, if even half the people read this and abide by it, it was worth it. It's usually the ones with no permits that are the idiots out there.
Many thanks to our neighbour club to the north, the Haliburton County Snowmobile Association, for loaning the BDSC a hydraulic cylinder to get our BR 180 back on the trails. Thanks to the HCSA, the BR was down less than 24 hrs and is back out on the trails this afternoon! Great to have this support!
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.Great to have cooperation between the clubs. Thanks HCSA.
We are even happier seeing you folks turning tracks, thanks for all your great work down there neighbour.
do the best we can
At long last...we have some trails posted with Limited Availability!
Please read the description of Limited Availability and adjust your riding style accordingly.
Some trails remain Unavailable. We still have trails to clear and some where colder temperatures are required to freeze water holes before they can be ridden safely. We will be working hard to get the remaining trails open, but please stay off any trail posted as Unavailable until their status is changed on the OFSC Interactive Trail Guide.
Check the OFSC Interactive Trail Guide for the specific BDSC trails that have been posted as having Limited Availability this morning.
ofsc.evtrails.com
If you are a BDSC trail that starts with a vowel,(E) then you have been cleared of trees and are groomer ready!
If you are a BDSC trail that starts with a "5", well, we are getting there!
Over the past few days, BDSC volunteers Don, Bruce, Jim, Gord and Dan, have been out again clearing fallen trees from the trails. Thank you guys!!
The E211 has now been cleared from the clubhouse to the E108!
The swamp that we were hoping would freeze over still didn't have enough ice to hold us up. Of course that's where we needed to do the forestry work! We managed to get to the offending trees and cleared a path wide enough for the groomer to get through.
Also the last tree that was across the trail north of P1, had to be the largest tree we have seen this year!! Thankfully it was a nice lightweight OAK tree that is easy to cut, lift and remove..lol..(see pics).
The 2 big swamps on the E211 have been packed down with sleds to encourage thicker ice growth. There are a few wet spots but overall they look "okay".
The 505 has also been cleared from Mississauga Lake to the E108!
It wasn't as bad as the other trails which was a nice surprise! A snow bridge was built in a known wet spot by the E108, affectionately known as "Stinky Creek".
The guys have been out in the BR180 groomer almost daily, packing and doing their best with the snow that we have. Thank you to Wib, Al and Gary!
The groomer is still breaking through in some of the deeper water/mud holes but progress is being made!
Running the groomer in the early season is tough on it. We have broken a few track cleats along the way on the rocks that are just below the surface of the snow or in the deep water holes that the BR has broken through. The new snow coming should help alleviate some of that.👍
Still waiting for the arrival of our New Holland T6 groomer.
Note: pics are random from the last few days
Between the ages of 12 and 15? Over the age of 15 and do not possess a valid Ontario Drivers License?
Then you need to successfully complete an Ontario-approved Snowmobile Safety Course before riding on public lands.
