2014 / 2015 Valemount Conditions and Updates

[turboetech]

Took some pics of the trail but too blurrrrrred to post.....lol.... The snow in the alpine was worth the whooped trail out this last weekend....

 

[Syndicate Speed Shop]

Anybody who bitches about the trails must have smoked the last brain cell they had right out of their skull, if you cannot realize that it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep a trail smooth with low temps and snow and top it off with the sheer amount of riders that rip up that trail, I mean come on you bunch of losers give your head a shake. It is babies like you that need to go to whitecourt and ride the triple loop and sip your wine and eat your cheese and talk about the good ol days, stay home and save us the hassle and be a tough guy behind the keyboard. The groomers and people at Vaarda are doing an excellent job without a doubt and people like you should walk a step in their boots, you should be ashamed to put a post like that beside your name on this forum.

its not a matter of being a tough guy, or a hardcore rider, and I understand with conditions and volume of riders trail maintenance is difficult, the comment is why charge the fee then. Anyways a person can argue this till they are blue in the face. I get it you all love VARDA, they do no wrong and that's the end of it....Rant Over

 

[Carrots]

its not a matter of being a tough guy, or a hardcore rider, and I understand with conditions and volume of riders trail maintenance is difficult, the comment is why charge the fee then. Anyways a person can argue this till they are blue in the face. I get it you all love VARDA, they do no wrong and that's the end of it....Rant Over

So you think their just going to send the groomer up the trail for free lol

 

[turboetech]

100 sled Thursday 200 sleds Friday 300 sleds Saturday all $25 do the math...... That's not free

 

[TylerG]

100 sled Thursday 200 sleds Friday 300 sleds Saturday all $25 do the math...... That's not free

the phrase "you have to pay to play" comes to mind. The trails may not be 100% however you already said it was worth it once you got to the top.

If you don't like it, don't go. These groups put lots of time, money and effort into not just making and maintaining trail, but building and maintaining cabins, beacon basins etc, all for our safety and enjoyment.

It's evident we need snow and cold, as this is a horse that gets beat to death every year in the early season, and the late season.

 

[kellyc_24]

its not a matter of being a tough guy, or a hardcore rider, and I understand with conditions and volume of riders trail maintenance is difficult, the comment is why charge the fee then. Anyways a person can argue this till they are blue in the face. I get it you all love VARDA, they do no wrong and that's the end of it....Rant Over

Looks like it is impossible to have your own opinion on this thread...... If you don't align with the group 2-5 people let you know your wrong. That's just my opinion not taking sides on either argument.

 

[turboetech]

Ada boy that's the way to permote sleddin in Valemount

 

[team-x]

They charge a fee and if they can't groom it goes in the pot. The cost to groom doesn't magically always match the number of sleds that went up the trail that day. Sometimes they have extra cash, sometimes there wasn't enough riders to cover the cost so they have to dip into savings. Could you imagine the rant you would get if you had to pay on the way down and the fee was based on the number of riders that went up that day? I have no idea what it costs to run a groomer a day but I know it can't be cheap! I've ridden Clemina at 10 mph because of 4 foot whoops, and I've also hit (speeds I shouldn't post) on here due to the trail being perfect. I'll pay to play because thats the way she goes. When a sledding weekend costs this much already whats an extra $25...

 

[Syndicate Speed Shop]

They charge a fee and if they can't groom it goes in the pot. The cost to groom doesn't magically always match the number of sleds that went up the trail that day. Sometimes they have extra cash, sometimes there wasn't enough riders to cover the cost so they have to dip into savings. Could you imagine the rant you would get if you had to pay on the way down and the fee was based on the number of riders that went up that day? I have no idea what it costs to run a groomer a day but I know it can't be cheap! I've ridden Clemina at 10 mph because of 4 foot whoops, and I've also hit (speeds I shouldn't post) on here due to the trail being perfect. I'll pay to play because thats the way she goes. When a sledding weekend costs this much already whats an extra $25...

come on get real, unless its during the week only the locals and a few out of town sledders use the trails, there is always extra cash on the Friday and weekends. Pay to play?? I bought my sled and the gear, Varda doesn't own the mountain, and the "whats an extra $25?" proves you must make too much money, I'll stop by later if your giving handouts..

 

[suzuki_ryder]

come on get real, unless its during the week only the locals and a few out of town sledders use the trails, there is always extra cash on the Friday and weekends. Pay to play?? I bought my sled and the gear, Varda doesn't own the mountain, and the "whats an extra $25?" proves you must make too much money, I'll stop by later if your giving handouts..

You should quit the sport before you claim bankruptcy if $25 is a stretch.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[thegeneral]

Long or short doesn't matter, whooped out trails suck. EVERYONE agrees with that!
Sometimes its gonna be rough. Like in life, if this is a hill you are prepared to die on, you've got some tough sleddin' ahead!

 

[X-Treme]

come on get real, unless its during the week only the locals and a few out of town sledders use the trails, there is always extra cash on the Friday and weekends. Pay to play?? I bought my sled and the gear, Varda doesn't own the mountain, and the "whats an extra $25?" proves you must make too much money, I'll stop by later if your giving handouts..

This is complete and utter ridiculousness! It really is easy. Just don't go anywhere that has fees! Problem solved. Why go and complain? Don't go, no complaints. Ugh. People with their sense of entitlement these days!

 

[Syndicate Speed Shop]

You should quit the sport before you claim bankruptcy if $25 is a stretch.

with a comment and a closed mind set like that you will be bankrupt well before me deep pockets...quite a few of you out there need to wake up and look at the main principle here...

 

[rusty]

Incorrect, they do own the rights to the trail and the cabin area. They sign on the line for all of us to ride there. Varda has to do a lot of fancy footwork to keep the areas open, stock wood, upkeep and maintain the areas, Groomers, staff, and a whole bunch of other things that don't even cross our worried minds. The sort of things that no one talks about at dinner parties. I understand that the trails are difficult to maintain any time of the year. And yes the 25$ can be cumbersome if you don't "see" any results. But be mindful of the things you don't see. I could go on for hours. So we all get that the trails conditions bug you. Was there any part of the trip you enjoyed? Challenge yourself to find a bit of compassion for the things they did do right. And accept things they continually try to do everyday. This whole idea of having a riding area that is maintained and managed isn't a right so stop the entitlement speech.

come on get real, unless its during the week only the locals and a few out of town sledders use the trails, there is always extra cash on the Friday and weekends. Pay to play?? I bought my sled and the gear, Varda doesn't own the mountain, and the "whats an extra $25?" proves you must make too much money, I'll stop by later if your giving handouts..

 

[X-Treme]

Just curious here, but would they not have to carry some sort of insurance for the area as well? Or are we all liable for any damage/fires/etc. we may cause, ourselves?

 

[suzuki_ryder]

You should quit the sport before you claim bankruptcy if $25 is a stretch.

with a comment and a closed mind set like that you will be bankrupt well before me deep pockets...quite a few of you out there need to wake up and look at the main principle here...

This is a dead horse that's being beat that you have no care or interest for. Curtis and others at varda work harder than you and I would know. I'm sure it's not a 4 month 9-5 winter job and do nothing the rest of the year.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[SLEDBUNNYRACING]

Incorrect, they do own the rights to the trail and the cabin area. They sign on the line for all of us to ride there. Varda has to do a lot of fancy footwork to keep the areas open, stock wood, upkeep and maintain the areas, Groomers, staff, and a whole bunch of other things that don't even cross our worried minds. The sort of things that no one talks about at dinner parties. I understand that the trails are difficult to maintain any time of the year. And yes the 25$ can be cumbersome if you don't "see" any results. But be mindful of the things you don't see. I could go on for hours. So we all get that the trails conditions bug you. Was there any part of the trip you enjoyed? Challenge yourself to find a bit of compassion for the things they did do right. And accept things they continually try to do everyday. This whole idea of having a riding area that is maintained and managed isn't a right so stop the entitlement speech.

Very Well Put Russ



Sent from my Phone while sitting on the side of the road.....maybe.

 

[maxwell]

This is downright embarrassing and Makes me feel a bit ashamed to be a snowmobiler. It's disheartening knowing that the message just isn't reaching people dispite all the efforts the staff and volunteers put in across BC. I say cancel grooming operations for the entire season, lock up the cabins, and stop clearing the parking lots. I think there are far to many people taking what we have for granted. Let's get back to 1980 maybe then folks will be crying for that slightly bumpy trail back

 

[Roy Maxwell]

come on get real, unless its during the week only the locals and a few out of town sledders use the trails, there is always extra cash on the Friday and weekends. Pay to play?? I bought my sled and the gear, Varda doesn't own the mountain, and the "whats an extra $25?" proves you must make too much money, I'll stop by later if your giving handouts..

No right or wrong here just the facts and as someone said earlier we are all on the same team here. The facts are that sledding, at least in Western Canada, is not seen as a politically correct or green sport like riding bicycles (City of Edmonton pours tons of money into construction and maintenance of bicycle lanes) so you will not see governments at any level building and maintaining sled trails or building and maintaining alpine cabins for sledders. As well there are not enough people involved in sledding nor is there enough money in the providing of maintained trails and cabins for the private sector to get involved so the onus for the most part falls on like minded people to form not for profit clubs to provide these trails and cabins for sledders. VARDA happens to be one of these not for profit organizations and there are so many across Western Canada that are run by volunteers and for that we owe them all a debt of gratitude for doing what no one else is willing to do and putting in countless volunteer hours doing so. VARDA is run, like the other organizations involved in sledding, by a great group of Board Members who volunteer their time and whom distribute all the money they collect from grants, trail fees, sponsorships, etc. directly to the services they provide and no one is getting rich in any of these organizations. They do it because they are in many cases sledders themselves and because they appreciate the economic boost that sledders bring to their towns whether it be Revy, Whitecourt, Valemount or many of the smaller towns that rely on sledding to keep their local economy going over the winter. Do they do everything perfectly, no one does, is there a better way to groom or equipment that grooms better, possibly, should fees for use of trails to these non-profits go up to increase the amount of grooming done, maybe. The main lesson in my mind is if you do not like the way certain things are going, get involved, volunteer your time. I am certain VARDA would love to have a volunteer board member whom is a sledder from Alberta providing input on what Alberta sledders want to see happen with trails, cabins and the like.

 

[canadian madman]

Sorry...I may be getting off topic a bit here...but um...how's the SNOW?