towing

Happy new year Phil and Linda !!! Alain

It's a pleasure, happy new year guys!!! This season's beginning bring us alot of memories of past snowy winters which we were thinking not possible to see again... near unbelievable to see so much snow in december, i'm pretty sure this season will be one of those we won't forget ! happy new year !!! You are welcome bigadouch!! Your observation is right, in fact it is an old one. It have been the #43 trail for years, know as the suspended bridge trail. This summer, the houses development around Val St-Côme ski center overtake on the trail path and St-Côme snowmobile club face a big problem to try to reroute the trail, enought that they had no alternative at fall when the maps have been printed and they really think this trail was impossible to open and they just remove it from the map. Fortunately, their effort paid and they finally got a trail path accepted in december and they opened this historical trail, but it was too late for the maps... for those who have an old map or know the area, the main path is the same as usual unless a couple twisties on a miles in Val St-Côme area. Happy new year snowfarmer It's not only the pics, the scenery is really spectacular this year!!! Happy new year Trailblazer!!! Alain

Unfortunately I won't be at the Gathering, maybe we will have the luck to cross our path over the trails in my playground... Ho!! I had a fear that it would be all underwears Happy new years guys!!! Alain

We passed Coin Lavigne and took the #33 trail towards Notre Dame de la Merci that have a new route this year and can be took along the road that leads to Coin Lavigne instead of back of it as last year The pics are not really representative but the new trail layout is mountainous, a few twisty sections but wide and very nice to ride. Here facing the sun ... About 3 mile before arriving at NDM, we forked east on the suspension bridge trail in St-Côme direction. The trail between the bridge and the village of St-Côme was probably the most bumpy that we did in the day, but we finally crossed Dozer near the village The river in St-Côme village is safe and the other one south of the village on Trail #341 either. For cons, the one near Ste-Beatrix wasn’t look nice with lots of slush on top but it isprobably already all freeze up with the -25C last night. We finally been back home around 18:30 with 205 miles on the odometer. Overall conditions are obviously excellent, better than anything we could expect at this time of year. In the area, there are still few rivers especially in the south and also the St-Maurice on Mauricie side who need a little more cold weather to be safe and also some trails which should be completed sometime in the next week to make the trail system 100% operational. The scenery is just beautiful, quite the best I have seen since I begin riding in the area and actual snow accumulations give good full winter trails conditions, what a season’s beginning !!! Happy new years

We than went exploring westward by #63 trail to St-Zenon Here near St-Zenon with Taureau Lake in the background Here south of the village still on #63 trail To my surprise, the bypass path to the Coin Lavigne was groomed so we have tried For cons the second part of this trail was snow plowed, not so nice compare to the actual trail condition. It was passable with the loose loose snow but should be avoided at any thaw ... the #63 trail(which passes through la Glaciere) would be a way much better choice Being on this trail, a we at least enjoyed the view of the river along this trail ...

Sunday morning -15C under a cloudy sky Snowcruiser, Krikri and I started our ride directly from home in near Joliette ... what a pleasure to abandon the trailer so early this year! There is now more than 24 "of snow on the ground at home and it increases as we go north. It is the snow accumulation of a good season that is already there in December! Below the plan of today ride The fields near home were freshly groomed and fast in the woods near St-Norbert And here north of St-Gabriel de Brandon The sun came out as we approached St-Zenon on #23 Trail Here just before arriving at the Cabanon It was a bit early but Krikri begin to feel cold so we decided to stop to eat ... ...

Hi everyone My friend Coyote is just coming back from a 3 day ride 27-28-29 dec. in St-Zenon/Gouin/Parent. He post his report on passion yamaha and even it is in french, i'm pretty sure many of you would be interested to view the many pics he post to see how it looks like... enjoy!!! http://passionyamaha...-haute-mauricie I rode yesterday in my area, just good things to say about. I will post you my report after my last working day this year, it will be online tonight... Alain

You're welcome RoadRunner, it's true that this end of year is particularly busy for me, but I do the best I can... Happy new year to you too and enjoy your trip !!! Loll I'm not so tall but I was stand up!!! As for my nickname, it's the 2e option. The year I begin to write on a forum and choose it, I was riding a Polaris XLT touring and I had saw on the classifieds an identical sled as mine for sale that was wrongly label XLT towing... I said to myself it's exactly what I have an XLT towing because my ride partner was finishing at the wrong end of my tow rope every 2 or 3 ride. The XLT towing swich to towing after time... We are again in snow alert for tomorroy... from 6" to 12" depending where but it supposed to have the most accumulations on the south side... it's alot of snow in the last ten days, the snowmobile clubs are still working at cleaning the bent/broken trees from the last shot to complete the trails opening and they got snow over that... fortunately there is alot of work already done Have a great trip and ride safely Happy holidays !!! Alain

really surprising, we are lucky. As for the most bigger snow drop I have seen in this area, I just checked in my photo album to find details and it was near the 24 march 2001. We had took this pic near la Glacière where they had just received 39" in one night over the season snow base... They had just open the trails with the front bucket of the Dozers because no one were able to pull a drag. The season was near ending and it was way too late to really benefit from all the snow. I will never forget this ride. Yes I know it and I thanks the good lord for that!!! We already have the snow and now with the cold temperaure we have, the conditions will go above what we dream of.. I talked with a few guys that were working on the trails and some were discouraged. They said "we had just prepared and cleaned all the trails few weeks ago and it was perfect. Now we need restart all over from the beginning". But the result after cleaning is outstanding and with a bit of chance we will benifit of it for many months... Alain

Yes it is, we already have one whole season snow accumulation to the ground Season's beginning are unpredictable but this one is the fastest I've seen since I begin sledding . Already in mid winter trail conditions You are welcome guys and merry Christmas to you too I was there and pinch myself to be sure it wasn't jusdt a dream !!! ...

The new route is beautiful, wide and fast. To put on your "to do list" for this winter and you won’t regret it. Way better then the old more narrow twisty pathway We encountered a small unfrozen stream reminding us that we were still just at the season’s beginning. This guy did not took any chances to become stuck in! And a little later, we crossed the groomer with a couple guys going to work in the fallen trees zone we passed before. Approaching St-Michel, the trees were lying snow but less In St-Michel des Saints village Not seen a single rock or brown snow in the whole ride, not even here in the big hills near St-Michel We stopped to take a break at Cabanon and then went back to the trailer via #23 trail which was particularly bumpy up to the #350 junction and then was freshly groomed A truly memorable ride of 166 miles on this sunday 23 dec for us even for snow accumulations and the beauty of scenery. All the trails had been groomed at least once after Friday storm and even some fallen trees we didn’t had to turn back. Snowmobile clubs teams work hard to get the trails in shape but the work is huge. It's already Christmas and we will need to be a little patient to get perfectly repaired trails. The forecast for the next week call for cold temperature some moderate snow and some sunny days... probably the best Christmas holiday sledding snow conditions for years. Unbelievable to see one whole season snow accumulation already on the ground in december! Merry Christmas!!! Alain

Trees were more snow-laden Here at the St-Donat/St-Michel junction We then switched toward Rouge-Mattawin We meet more and more bent or lying trees We passed Rouge Mattawin relay (the cafeteria) which was closed with no electricity but should reopen soon for the season. From what I heard, it will be a private people that will operate it. After a few miles the #33 then takes a whole new pathway. Still a lot of fallen trees, volunteers will have a lot of work there.

Unfortunately for the pics, the sky became cloudier. The snow was still impressive We started to see more fallen trees We stopped at Coin Lavigne for lunch We then went in the Parc du Mont-Tremblant. The first part is groomed as a boulevard. Personally I like it and helps keep people on the right side of the trail in curves securing us in this fast section

For beautiful snowy scenery, this ride will rank in our top ten for sure!!! We forked over the #350 trail toward la Glacière Half way, the path is new from this year, very beautiful mountain ride La Glaciere ... We then turned on the #43 trail to go south/west towards the Coin Lavigne I did not had my tape to measure and gave up digging before touching the earth but I would say around 36" accumulated to the ground ...

On this last sunday 23 dec, even if the grooming was well underway further south, we started our ride from St-Gabriel de Brandon to spend more time on the norther trails. The day plan was to go lunching to Coin Lavigne, riding Mt-Tremblant park, continue through St-Michel and back ... The night was cold at -18C and it's under a half cloudy sky that we headed north on the #23 trail The scenery was extremely snowy and accumulations are impressive The snow sprayed all around, whiten the whole scenery... Here north from Pourvoirie St-Damien The sun was shy but show up a little ....

Hi everybody We ride today Krikri and me but I'm short on time with job and Christmas party tomorroy to post you my ride-report. Knowing some of you are waiting for some pics of the area after the 2 storms, I will left you for the moment the link of my french version on CMIQ french forum. I will comeback on Chrismas day with the english version here... enjoy!!! http://www.motoneige...chel-23-12-2012 Alain UPDATED!!! english version on #16 message below...

I realize with my internet problems that I miss to answer here... Now imagine it was just the first half of what they got !!! it's an incredible start, the best we got for years... Loll Yes, it appear to be true!!! It was not prepared, the chance send me in that area for a service call and when I saw how it was I use my Blackberry to take you some shots... too beautiful to not share!! And we got it in snow !!! I have the chance to have a job that send me everywhere in many offices and shops see you Yes it was !! I just hope for some sun tomorroy that would give amazing pics... Alain

Yes I believe it too, I had seen them do that before after very big storms. I'm pretty sure that you will have unbelievable good conditions wednesday in the north of lanaudiere but by now St-Côme is not reported officially open yet on trails conditions web site. http://snowmobilecou...a/en/conditions The web site have some updates daily. I know that Coin Lavigne trails and Notre-dame de la Merci is open actually. Like Trailblazer wrote, it is a bit early for saddlebagging at the moment but not impossible if you seek for information carefully. The trail network will expand quickly in the next days... I will be on the trails tomorroy and will give feed back soon Alain

Thank you Fozzy for your report and pics !!! looks amazing I'm sure you will remember this trip for a long time It is still snowing today, getting an other couple inches more... I will get on the trails tomorroy morning Alain

Here at home in Joliette we got around 30cm (a foot) since last night. It rain somewhat since 16:00 but it just get this heavy snow even more wet. We had 3" to the ground a week ago and now over 20" of heavy snow. It is mild at around 0C or just above, it should get really colder at -18C in the night of saturday to sunday and stay cold sunday below -12C... It is enough snow to open the whole trail network, which is already begin and should be continue in the next week... I will have hard time to wait to sunday to go up north to see this mother nature christmas gift by myself... finally, it was not the end of the world today, it was just the beginning !!! Alain

sorry for the late answer MFARJM, I was still facing computer and internet problem... No internet at all in the last 36 hour but I finally manage to solve all this shit... PM sent... Tomorroy friday: At work and receiving 15" of new snow on the head + passing through the end of the world Saturday: Trying to get unstuck, shovelling and let the groomers work Sunday: Riding!!! Alain

Yes' I read it too on CMIQ. It seems that the relais Rouge-Mattawin also called the cafeteria would be open soon for this season. It would be a private people that operate it, lunch and gaz. I ask the question to Denis when I was at Cabanon and he know that somebody was interesting and was dealing for that but he had no confirmation... I will keep you informed when I passed there... Sorry, we keep it !!! You know how it goes: it the snow does not come to you, come to the snow!!! Can't wait until saturday morning Alain Alain

I run the spot#1 since many years by now and i'm satisfied with what I get from for the price. The good:- Very easy on batteries, 1 lithium set last one year on tracking each ride !!! the #2 spot is not the same... -ease of use: press the tracking function at ride start on the morning and stop it at ride end in the evening. The not so good: -only one-way messaging -the tracking sending succesfully ratio not so good when transported in a pocket, this is why I mount it even i know it is less safe in case of accident to find it back. I know that the SPOT 2 is way better than mine for the succes transmission ratio, it's probably why it is harder on batteries... For myself, It's the tracking function that is more important and the "911" button is a plus... If Somebody would carry a device only in case of life-threatening problem, maybe a PLB would be a safer choice over the 911 fonction of a SPOT The DELORME INreach device which offer bidirectional communication when connected to a smartphone and similar fonction as a spot 2 when not connected seems a wise choice but a bit more expensive to operate. The US rate plans for tracking are affordable but the canadian one are very expensive, have to take the full plan to have illimited tracking so it's a no-go for me by now. Irridium sat phone is certainly the best way to go if you can afford it . Florida Snowman, your link give very interesting plans. I figure if you make a trip of one or two weeks in very remote area and are able to split the cost over the members of the group that participate to the trip, it would be the way to go... Alain

I create some expectation loll!! You were many even on the french forum waiting for trail feed back. Glad you enjoyed the report ! You are welcome trailblazer. Imagine a foot++ over those trails... You are welcome guys, stay tuned for more... Post them here if you can, Lionel would certainly agree!!! Ho, too bad we miss you!! your partner easy sledder on CMIQ told me the samething... we were alone and so in an hurry to to ride again that we took-off pretty fast...see you next time! As for the trail, signage will probably improve as the trails open. Maybe printing a sample of the little one I did at the beginning of this report can help... Yes Snobeeler, the pump had moved last season. They replace the old one buried in the ground for two external tanks place a bit farther from garage on the other side. You are welcome mccaffrey!! and it sureley looks way even better right now!!! Thanks again guys. Here today's pics from Chersey... Alain