Dec 18, 2012 - Another task is marking these designated crossing corridors. This is done with the much appreciated and d
Whiteshell Snowmobile Trails – More than just great riding! December 18, 2012
Fresh white snow sculpted into winter’s finest designs, crisp clean air, the warmth of the sun on your face and the scent of jack pine – all beckoning you to a Whiteshell winter adventure. Winter is an exciting season to discover one of Manitoba’s premier outdoor recreation playgrounds. Located only one and a half hours from Winnipeg via the Trans Canada Highway #1, Highway #44 or Highway #307, Whiteshell Provincial Park offers a great cure for the winter blues. Your own winter adventure in the Whiteshell could include sledding over the 250 kilometres of groomed snowmobile trails through the striking terrain of the Canadian Shield. For snowmobilers, this extensive network of trails leads you across frozen lakes and rivers, quaint jack pine forests, rugged snow-capped granite ridges and spectacular scenic overlooks. However, it’s not so simple to create this amazing experience for winter visitors. One of the most frequently asked questions we hear every December in the Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship offices is “there’s snow and ice – why haven’t the trails opened yet?” It’s not an easy question to answer. A lot of work is done every fall and early winter preparing snowmobile trails to ensure that Whiteshell Provincial Park is a premier snowmobiling destination in North America. The season begins even before the leaves start to turn colour. Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship employees take to the skies in late summer and fly over the trails in helicopters and airplanes, observing areas of trails that will need work, such as clearing wind-swept trees and flooded areas from beaver dams. As soon as the leaves start to turn colour, workers take to the trails cutting shrubs and trees and erecting new signs.
Clearing beaver dam
Clearing fallen trees
This year has been particularly challenging, due to a heavy snowfall on October 4. This snowstorm brought millions of trees crashing down across the eastern region of Manitoba. The Whiteshell was particularly hard hit – every single trail and route had to be cleaned of fallen and broken trees, a challenging task. Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship employees have spent numerous clearing all the trails – a task that is expected to continue throughout the winter season as trees continue to snap and fall in their weakened state.
Luckily, the weather has been co-operating this fall - with little snowfall in November and December, it has allowed easier access for work crews to clear the fallen trees. Cold temperatures and little snowfall also help freeze lakes and swamps. Because of the rocky terrain of the Whiteshell, most trails follow swamps and cross lakes and rivers. The water crossings are in designated areas, and need to be marked accordingly. Another task is marking these designated crossing corridors. This is done with the much appreciated and dedicated help of the Whiteshell Snowmobile Club’s volunteers. Once the swamps and lakes have sufficient ice to travel by sled, trees and reflective stakes are erected across the ice to mark the trail crossings. With more than 30 lake and river crossings, this is a daunting task. Many of the larger lakes also form ice ridges, which need to be cut down with chainsaws and closely monitored to ensure safe crossings are possible.
Erected trees in ice to designate a lake crossing
Cutting down an ice ridge and installing safety signs
Once trails are cleared and the lake and river crossing corridors are set up, staff start signing trails. Each year thousands of dollars are spent on new safety signs, to ensure that every curve, corner, bump and other hazards are clearly and safely marked. All of the Whiteshell snowmobile trails are designated Snofund trails; therefore the Province follows strict guidelines set out by Snoman (Snowmobilers of Manitoba Inc.). By following the Snoman trail signing guidelines, staff ensures that the Whiteshell trails are safe and enjoyable to ride. Once the trails are adequately signed and the lake and river crossing corridors are set, staff wait for the snow and ice to become adequate for grooming. In order to determine when the ice is safe to travel across with our grooming equipment, Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship follows guidelines set by Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation that allow us to determine the load-bearing weight the ice can handle. It is critically important to wait until the water crossings have thick enough ice before crossing lakes and rivers with the grooming equipment which weigh up to 16000 pounds. Trail groomers need to have at least 16” of good, hard blue ice before heading out on the frozen water crossings, ensuring the safety of groomer operators. Some water bodies reach this goal earlier than others depending on weather conditions, but one crossing with insufficient ice will delay the grooming and opening of the entire trail. Once there is an adequate snow base and good ice has formed on all the lakes and rivers, the trails can be safely groomed and the season is officially underway. All this hard work in clearing trails, signing and waiting for sufficient snow and ice conditions takes time. Most years it is not until mid-January until the trails can be safely opened, depending on weather conditions. Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship works very hard to ensure that when the trails are opened, they are safe and
amongst the most enjoyable trails to ride in North America. To provide a better idea as to the history of when trails have opened, here is a list of the dates from the previous 10 years. Year 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
Opening Date January 21 February 4 January 7 January 17 January 11
Year 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
Opening Date January 26 January 6 January 8 January 23 January 17
Once the groomers hit the trails the work keeps going to provide the smoothest possible trails. At any given time there can be at least four groomers working in the park, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Most of the grooming takes place overnight, to avoid conflicts with the heavier use of the day time and allow for a firmer and higher quality snow base. Significant dollars have been spent in recent years on new grooming equipment to ensure that trails are maintained in the best shape possible. A brand new Prinoth Husky groomer and drag has been purchased this year for the Seven Sisters area, to replace an old aging Massey tractor. A Prinoth Husky groomer was purchased for Falcon Lake last year and a Bombardier BR-180 groomer was purchased for Rennie a few years back. These three newest machines along with three older, smaller Bombardier SV Ski-dozers ensure that all areas of the park are groomed regularly.
Bombardier SV Ski-dozer
Brand new Husky groomer and drag being delivered to Nutimik Lake
Along with the groomers, other park maintenance staff conduct trail audits on a weekly basis to ensure trails are in tip-top shape and properly signed. Natural resource officers can often been seen along the trails ensuring snowmobilers are travelling safely, enjoying their ride and have a Snopass. Numerous warming shelters are found throughout the park providing a chance to warm up around a crackling fire, enjoy a warm meal and sharing the day’s adventures. These shelters are maintained by the Whiteshell Snowmobile Club. Volunteers of the club have recently built a brand new shelter near Zubec Lake, between Caddy and Star Lakes. The club is now focusing on building a new shelter at Swamp Lake.
All this hard work and close attention to details ensures that Whiteshell snowmobilers can ride all day long, enjoying the cool, crisp days of winter on some of the best trails in North America. After a day of carving the snow, riders can stop in at the numerous lodges and businesses that are open yearround in the park, providing a variety of lodging options to suit your mood. They range from rustic to the most modern and offer all the amenities. Other services available to help make the sledding adventure as pleasant and safe as possible are restaurants, grocery stores, gas and service stations. By joining the Whiteshell Snowmobile Club, you can help build and maintain warm-up shelters, sign trails, help with clearing trees and, most importantly, share in the pride of the trail network. Go online to whiteshellsnowmobileclub.ca to find out how you can get involved.
Trail condition reports are produced weekly to provide accurate riding expectations. For trail information and more information on Whiteshell Provincial Park, you can call the park interpreter’s office at 204-369-3157, or visit ManitobaParks.com. We value any feedback you have regarding snowmobile trails in Whiteshell Provincial Park. You can provide Manitoba Conservation with your comments and suggestions by emailing
[email protected]. For any questions you might have about snowmobiling and other winter adventures in Whiteshell Provincial Park, please call Sloan Cathcart, Senior Park Interpreter, at 204-369-3157 or connect by email at
[email protected]. Are you on Twitter? Share your winter adventure experiences in the Whiteshell and other provincial parks with others by tweeting with the hashtag #MBParks.
