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Thanks CNC and Eastmark. In Québec, before the club membership more or less morphed into a "trail pass" (it's still a club membership, by the way), we used to have a Family Membership. However, so many people were gaming the system (it's amazing how many 45 year old "dependants" we had) that things changed and the card/sticker became associated with a unique machine. I know it is expensive when you own multiple machines, but administrating it otherwise would be a nightmare. It's worse for our nearby Ontario members who often put both Ontario and Québec stickers on their machines. Dual province stickers were tried and failed, and any proposal that results in lower club revenues just won't fly. By the way, I just checked out the distribution of snowmobile registration fees and, on a Quebec registration costing $94.60 annually, $40.00 is remitted to the FCMQ for distribution to member clubs. As far as membership numbers go, our club's numbers have never been higher. And provincially, it has risen by 5% per year for the past several years and now tops 100,000. However, as far as members who actually realize that they're part of a volunteer organization goes (many pass buyers don't even realize that they are, by default, members of a club), generally the picture is not as rosy. That being said, we're remarkably lucky in our club. As you can see from the attached, we have a good mix of young and old on our Board, and we're pretty successful when it comes to conscripting non-board members to help out with routine trail maintenance and special projects. Things are going great at the moment ... I hope it lasts!

https://youtu.be/OR8dtTMeDZ8 Happy Birthday to my amazing Gaspesian Lumberjack, Groomer, Guide and best friend. 57!!! Wow you’re getting old lol 💋

merci alain !!! looks like it rained a bit during the night ....cloudy and 0 c this morning !!! pics from jan 7 th ....2018 jean-guy

You're welcome! On a historical note, the birch surrounding the placard was cut almost 50 years ago by John Roos and his son Clinton (extreme right in photo), who was a little gaffer at the time. Before the first generation of Gully Riders built our current clubhouse, the placard hung above the piano in the club's unofficial residence, the dearly departed Long Lake Lodge. Luckily, by the time the Lodge succumbed to fire (sniff ...), the sign had already been moved to it's new home. When something uses the term "autoneige", you know it's old!

bonjour jak and gaf !!! many thx !!! no, not old yet !!! another blue sky day to ride !!! -7c earlier this morning ....6 c now... i had no new pics...so, pics from april 2018 ....april 12 th ....at my camp and the lake !!! jean-guy

many merci all !!!! great shot playhard ...tres bien !!! i like the reflexion of the trees in the water !!!! great shots also northbound...i like pics taken just before darkness !!! well done !!! sunny day ...up to 9 c today !!! jean-guy

There actually is no difference in the price paid by residents and non-residents. This past season, everyone paid $325 for a season pass if they bought before December 9th. Afterwards, the full season pass rose to $400. Antique sleds (twenty years and older) cost $240 with no pre-season discount. Trail passes sold on the trail were $575 (the price was set that high as a deterrent to sledders taking the chance that they wouldn't get caught). Daily, three-day and weekly passes were also available, and the prices are shown on the FCMQ's website. $42.60 of the season pass was the cost of the $1,000,000 in civil liability that was part and parcel of each trail pass sold. Canadian residents who could show proof of being otherwise insured were eligible for a refund of that amount. I'm not sure if our U.S. neighbours were similarly eligible for that refund, but I can check. The Québec government contributes relatively (and surprisingly) little new money directly into the trail network. Québec residents pay a fairly hefty annual sled registration fee (up around $80.00 per sled) and the government remits a portion of that (around $20? ...again I'd have to check) back to clubs through the intermediary of the FCMQ. However the Québec government work closely with the regional tourism promotion offices who in turn work with the FCMQ. A portion of these offices' budgets are underwritten by the provincial and federal governments. The Federal Government has also stepped up significantly with regional government grants and twice now has contributed over $10 millions dollars towards the purchase of groomers and the improvement of trail infrastructure across the country The Québec and municipal governments also help enforce the mandatory purchase of trail pass/membership cards (the two are synonymous) for people using the trail network. As everyone here knows, club membership is mandatory for anyone using the trail network, and this is enforced mercilessly! The philosophy here is "if you want to play, you have to pay". And, apart from a few whiners on facebook and a couple of forums (not this one!!), everyone seems to agree with that. Just my three cents worth ...

We arrived last Friday at km 31 on Saturday morning we headed out into the country for 5 days of off trail adventure. The first day was an adventure over to km 94 relais manic outarde. Breaking trail the whole way sleighs in tow we managed 208 miles for the day. The second day we left and headed for relais Gabriel another 215 of serious trail breaking. Day 3 was 100 miles of beating thru the woods and rivers putting in a trail up 80’ waterfalls stuck in deep snow . Day 4 was a loop east from Gabriel to the old trail along the gorge up to petite Manicouagan back to Manicouagan reservoir in for the night another 190 miles of adventure. Day 5 loaded all back up and headed southwest back to km 31, 300 miles of breaking trail 150 miles of it rivers and reservoirs, ep plus gallons of fuel burnt and 1 plus gallon of oil gone, all in all a great day. Sorry for the long post pics and comments to follow.

You guys had the best spring run in years! Real jealous that I parked the sled the end of March! Great reporting 603. December is only 8 months away!! Happy Trails RR

Who was it used to say they subscribed to two magazines for the same reason, National Geographic and Playboy: “To see pictures of places I know I’ll never get to visit in person”

Day 5 from Manicouagan reservoir back to km 31, pushing miles and miles of snow, snow was really sticky and we were chewing up fuel and oil faster than whimpy eats burgers. Arrived last night into km 31 around 7 pm with 300 miles for the day a big day for sure. The teamwork of this group led by Team Maine’s Early Rider is nothing short of amazing. After 1,000 miles of extremely adverse conditions not being on any marked trail this is truly an adventure not for the faint of heart. Take care signing off from km 31. 603 Backcountry

Some more pics from day 4 up they the gorge trail and even came upon a nice herd of Caribou. Huge country up here and big big areas of nothing.

Slush on the lakes made it tough traveling with sleighs in tow, we even managed to pull out the superwide 24” with 2 backcountry 146” hooked together with snow bungee and rope. A great friend from Baie-Comeau was with us the infamous “Johnny 24 Dufour”. He was definitely ready for battle.

Another set of falls to traverse and endless miles of powder.

Many tough areas where the snow was not set up and bottomless. You know it’s difficult when the super wide 24” and 20” wides will not go but we pulled a lot of skis and put the snow bungee to the test.

First time I have ever climbed an 80’ high set of falls with water ripping below the shelf ice and many holes to avoid. Definitely have to be on your game. 8B213D96-8B95-4DD5-BE75-825E63AB4CED.MOV

Cruising for miles and miles, weather and visibility has been tough at times