MXZ700RIDER

As for complaining to anyone who can improve the situation....forget it. I placed 3 calls to the # provided on the website for the Mont Laurier area....left three messages to please call me (because each time I got a recorded message asking for phone # and they said they would return call) and they have not. I just wanted to let someone know that there was no way they had groomed sections of 13 and 63 leading to town of Laurier in many days (at least 4-5). I know this for fact because we rode for three days in a row over the same moguled and rutted trails and on the 4th day which was Sunday found out from other riders they still were not smoothed out or even touched. No grooming leading to town.....no club or Tourism member replies when the number they provide is called....all of this unfortunately has not sat well with me. I will most likely forgo returning to this area....and will give my business to areas I have stayed at before where the riding experience was much.... much better. 98% of the time I have stayed at and ridden the Lanaudiere region and cant remember a single time in my 15 or so years of snowmobiling there when I had a bad experience and that includes rides around St Donat, St Come, De Matha, Zenon, etc.... Yes when we would come closer to a town...the trail might be a little more worn from traffic.....but nothing like the moguls in and out of Laurier this past week. The receptionist at the hotel who spoke to the President of the club because she had gotten so many complaints from customers apparently was told by him to tell customers the trails were groomed and in good shape....when clearly that was not true. There is an old saying "fool me once shame on you....fool me twice shame on me" All you can do is learn from it I guess, but I would imagine if this continues....this area stands to lose business.

The pictures from SNOBEELER are true. We rode those same areas recently and riding was very good good to great....unfortunately it was several miles of hell to get there (#13 n/s and #63 e/w around Laurier.) Maybe it will change once groomed....for future riders I hope.

It was definitely cold enough to groom the trails this week. We arrived and rode Wednesday and temperatures were below 32 f 0 c all week and colder at night. In all areas up north of Mont Laurier the trails were groomed well and firm. True really cold weather would firm up trails solid, but to not groom at all for a week just because temperatures are marginally cold is ridiculous. Many people from our hotel have complained similarly and some have left early. What can you do? Complain I guess then get on with life. I learned today that apparently one of the 2 groomers for Mont Laurier area is broken.....and the other groomer did the trails way up north last few days... but not near town where they really needed it due to the volume of sleds.

Rode from Mont Laurier on #13 and #63 and trails were garbage. Absolutely worst washboard trails I have ever seen. Didn't seem like any grooming had been done at all in days. True up near Mekos, Devil Mountain, Chutes were very good....but getting there via #13 or #63 was brutal. No reason to stay in Laurier in my opinion....trails too beat down and nobody trying to groom them up. We have ridden since Wednesday and did not see a single groomer or signs of grooming this section since we arrived. It is clear the free weekend trashed the section of trail mentioned and no efforts have been made to clean them up.

Stay in St Jean de Matha (Auberge du Mountaigne Coupe). Can ride south through flat lands...well groomed trails toward Joliette...or head north west toward Saint Come...or Saint Donat.. My wife loved the accomodations and if you stay during the week it is very quiet and relaxing.

Awesome pictures and trail report! I always look forward to your reports as I often ride that area you travel. We usually depart from St Jean De Matha and head north hitting Bazinette....Masse....etc....

Nice toy collection !

Wow....she rode 10 miles with a cracked rib and broken hand! She is a tough bird I must say.....can only imaging how much that hurt! My wife rolled her sled going about 5mph a few years ago when following me and riding the berm of a road (which was the only legal way to a restaurant.) The sled kind of tipped when she lost some balance and accidently leaned on the throttle which caused the sled to buck and roll onto the road. Very low speed event, but she ended up half under the sled on the road with traffic very close to her! Fortunately she was more upset than hurt....could have been really a lot worse. Speedy recovery wishes got out to your gf. She is a trooper!

Yes....I thought there were full blizzard conditions at that time also. A bad set of circumstances. Very sad how this all ended. My prayers for the family and also for the Paramedics who I am sure will struggle with how this all played out as well.

Fantastic pictoral reporting on your rides. I love Real Masse restaurant food and it is a true sign season is almost over with this popular stop off point closing for the season. Thanks again for all the great pictures and reporting!

What was the helicopter doing?

I just read in local paper where a snowmobiler, believed to be drunk, crashed into two sled dog teams during the Iditerod in Alaska. One dog killed, others injured and two mushers also injured. What a senseless incident. Hate hearing about this. The police believe the snowmobiler intentionally ran the sled dog teams down according to witnesses. The story can be seen on internet. Hard to figure out some people?

Your posts were like a good novel! Man you are resourceful, dumping your sled in deep snow would have been a trip challenge alone, only to be followed by a stranded sled that you had to retrieve alone in middle of the night. I give you your props for sure on that move. Well you just sold me on getting the warn portable sno wench. Thanks for the awesome adventure story and photos! Having not ever used a sno wench, I looked it up on their web site. Did you have to secure the wench rope to a tree or some other secure object? I saw the wench and line in your picture, but then the picture cut off not showing what you ended up bracing it to? It looks like the tree line is pretty far off the side of the trail so I was wondering how far off the side of the trail you had to climb? Looks like the wench has 40 foot of rope line and a 25 foot strap. You should have video taped the whole thing as a demonstration training film for novices like me although I am sure doing a documentary was the last thing on your mind at that time! lol

Awesome reports and pictures! Look forward to more......

Gotta give you props for getting er out! Looks like it was a tough one. I want you along if I ever get stuck!

What did you use to get your sled un stuck? A portable wench? What did you secure it to? That two up sled weighs a ton....I am guessing around 600-650? Not easy rolling it back oved in deep snow...

Ouch......

Do you think they will still have snow in two weeks?

Wow!

Found it....really disappointing news...

Where is L'etape located? Man that is a lot of people killed in a short period of time.

More sad news ......too many crashes and too many injuries it seems. Hate to see this. Prayers go out to the family and friends.

I know what you mean. It looks like temperatures are goin g to stay in mid to upper 30s the second week of March. I was thinking of doing some last season riding myself that week till I saw the forecasted warm up. My 800 etec runs hot when temps get marginal like upper 30s.

Did I understand a previous post to say that there were 15 fatalities in the same general region that occurred last year? That seems remarkably and tragicly high if accurate?

I am looking for riding partners to hit some trail in this area, or other in Quebec, in coming weeks. I am free to ride after March 3 if anyone needs a riding partner . IM me....thanks.....