3 groomers and drags

maxwell

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3 Groomers w/ 3 hydraulic drags,,, man-power,,, fuel,,, lodging/ meals,,,, extra expenses,,, hidden costs...

$1.2 too $1.7 million based on a 4 month season,,, give or take + or - 2% would be a low bid all in...

I wouldn't be suprized if a person wouldn't encounter a $2.2 too $2.4 m bids...

Its too bad that the 3 areas are spread out,,, darn trucking costs and all of it is expensive...

The biggest set back is a small mishap that becomes a major expense ... no one can recoup from that...

The gamble of business

where are you getting your figures from? remember the groomer doesn't get the entire 20$ from the trail pass. The club can negotiate fixed rates for each trail per groom.

and yes, the only way to have a successful profitable grooming operation is to have one for each staging area.

Generally in mcbride/valemount we can squeeze a 6 month grooming program, sometimes 5 depending on the season
 

Levithan

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CRY ME A RIVER. You have no Idea at what it takes to keep the trails in good gonditions. I'm Guessing you're one of the a holes that has no throttle disiplin on the ride up.
Lol, nope sorry, i am one of the few that does. You however have no clue what it's like to ride 30km of 2-3ft ft whoops, do your job!!! I our sleds and the rest of us that have to suffer them should be happy you groomed them once the night before, get a grip. You groomers need to take some responsibility. Stop crying about the guys that pay 25.00 each to ride a good trail and get ch!t. I'd pay 50.00 a day if you'd groom the dam thing at lunch rather than the night before. The only place that has the issue is renshaw, wonder why that is????? Guess sitting there with beer in hand for several hrs riding up a trail with heat and tunes is to hard for you whaaaaaaaaaa!
 

scotts

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lol truth, i know a few owners and operators of groomers. Not a bad gig if your running someone elses gear but when its your own....what a headache....nothing worse than a broken down rig 30km in the back country and the only way to get it out is to load up another one and drag the B*tch out/
Yah, would be ok if your part of a large organization with multi machines and a shop at the bottom like Revy, but to do it on your own would be headache city, you'll quickly learn snow cats are high maintenance, fuel guzzling machines. If you need two to do the job, you better have 3 so you always have two running. Every move is a wide load at night on a shitty road in a snow storm! The rare times you get to make sunny day runs you sit in fear of some clown bouncing off your blade on the front end or piling into your drag from behind cause they are comming down the hill at Mach 2! I'm getting flashbacks of owning heavy iron for 20 years,!
 

pipes

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Lol, nope sorry, i am one of the few that does. You however have no clue what it's like to ride 30km of 2-3ft ft whoops, do your job!!! I our sleds and the rest of us that have to suffer them should be happy you groomed them once the night before, get a grip. You groomers need to take some responsibility. Stop crying about the guys that pay 25.00 each to ride a good trail and get ch!t. I'd pay 50.00 a day if you'd groom the dam thing at lunch rather than the night before. The only place that has the issue is renshaw, wonder why that is????? Guess sitting there with beer in hand for several hrs riding up a trail with heat and tunes is to hard for you whaaaaaaaaaa!
As a matter of fact I do know what it's like to ride on trails with 2-3 foot whoops. I've been riding the Renshaw since before there were groomer on it. Obviously you have never groomed a trail before to know that after the groomer does it's job mother nature needs to do hers as well. A freshly froomed trail will not stand up to the new sleds that are ripping up thre trail. It needs time to set up and harden. That is why most of the grooming is done at night. Weather also plays a big part in the trail condition. Colder weather the trail sets sooner and hold up longer.
So before you go spouting off about how poorly a job the groomer is doing, do your home work. Or better yet, step up to the plate and buy the equipment and show us all how it's done.
 

Poleman

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Lol, nope sorry, i am one of the few that does. You however have no clue what it's like to ride 30km of 2-3ft ft whoops, do your job!!! I our sleds and the rest of us that have to suffer them should be happy you groomed them once the night before, get a grip. You groomers need to take some responsibility. Stop crying about the guys that pay 25.00 each to ride a good trail and get ch!t. I'd pay 50.00 a day if you'd groom the dam thing at lunch rather than the night before. The only place that has the issue is renshaw, wonder why that is????? Guess sitting there with beer in hand for several hrs riding up a trail with heat and tunes is to hard for you whaaaaaaaaaa!
OMG, stay the F__k home you cry baby!
We were some of the first to ride the Renshaw area back in the late 1980's.
Breaking trails in from either side were always an an adventure and you have no clue about moguls riding the current groomed trail, seriously man!
Big shout out to Rod. His operation was a godsend for McBride.
Sadly, I think the club is going to have a difficult time finding someone to step up and take on the contract but wish them well in their search.
 

Levithan

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OMG, stay the F__k home you cry baby!
We were some of the first to ride the Renshaw area back in the late 1980's.
Breaking trails in from either side were always an an adventure and you have no clue about moguls riding the current groomed trail, seriously man!
Big shout out to Rod. His operation was a godsend for McBride.
Sadly, I think the club is going to have a difficult time finding someone to step up and take on the contract but wish them well in their search.
Your the one cryin, oooo we used to walk up hill both ways to school barefoot. Whatever man. Like i said, i would pay double for a well groomed trail on the way down after a hard days ride. However no one pays attention to the grooming at around noon thing. This is where i have an issue. For everybody's 25.00 you groom once. May be sufficient to you but not for the rest of us. Understand again, i would pay twice the rate for a good trail in the afternoon. Nobody seems to care or understand this on the grooming side. CHARGE more, never happens. So on the end that i would pay more and so would most guys, i don't wanna here it. I don't expect you do do more than your paid for. However again, CHARGE more.
 

CR500R

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Your the one cryin, oooo we used to walk up hill both ways to school barefoot. Whatever man. Like i said, i would pay double for a well groomed trail on the way down after a hard days ride. However no one pays attention to the grooming at around noon thing. This is where i have an issue. For everybody's 25.00 you groom once. May be sufficient to you but not for the rest of us. Understand again, i would pay twice the rate for a good trail in the afternoon. Nobody seems to care or understand this on the grooming side. CHARGE more, never happens. So on the end that i would pay more and so would most guys, i don't wanna here it. I don't expect you do do more than your paid for.

Lol, nope sorry, i am one of the few that does. You however have no clue what it's like to ride 30km of 2-3ft ft whoops, do your job!!! I our sleds and the rest of us that have to suffer them should be happy you groomed them once the night before, get a grip. You groomers need to take some responsibility. Stop crying about the guys that pay 25.00 each to ride a good trail and get ch!t. I'd pay 50.00 a day if you'd groom the dam thing at lunch rather than the night before. The only place that has the issue is renshaw, wonder why that is????? Guess sitting there with beer in hand for several hrs riding up a trail with heat and tunes is to hard for you whaaaaaaaaaa!
You are clueless and no Renshaw isn't the only place that has this problem. I've ridden many trails across BC with 2-3 ft whoops and just to name a couple, Chappel and Clemina in Valemount at times that make Renshaw look good. Last season literally every club in BC dealt with the same problem.
There's dozens of articles on the subject of grooming, actual science is involved in figuring out the ideal conditions for grooming and just a quick summary it takes a minimum of 6 hrs at -10 Celsius for the trails to set.
Also it's great you're willing to pay double for the extra grooming but unfortunately the clubs aren't allowed to charge more as trail fees are set by BC Rec, sites and trails. There's so many other factors to consider like Renshaw is one of the busiest trails in the province, MBCSA is one of the smallest clubs in the province, lack of manpower, safety concerns due to intoxicated riders, excessive speed coming down the trail and the fact that trail is half the width of most trails south of us.
I know that this has gone over your head and to you is nothing but excuses in your mind but the reality is a midday groom is not feasible for the MBCSA, in fact, most clubs in the province won't do midday grooming for the same reasons.
The club has on occasions done midday grooming on Renshaw and it benefits maybe the first 50 sleds down but the next 250 are dealing with a trail that is actually worse than if it had not been groomed. This also makes the evening grooming less effective as the trail only sees one pass rather than the two. I know the club has plans to run some midday grooms on the extremely busy days but only if the manpower is available and conditions are favorable for grooming. Say what you want but this is the reality.
 

rknight111

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Ok, from this point on this isn't about the previous grooming practices at McBride. This is about moving forward. They are in need of groomers/drags and possibly someone that wants to take on the task. If you know anyone let them know or if you have any groomers or drags that you know are for sale, post it. Thanks
 

greenthumb

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Fernie had a machine on FB marketplace a couple weeks ago, but it's pretty old.
Salmon arm is selling theirs, but it's a tracked tractor, so less than ideal.

I'd be phoning every ski resort in the province to see if they are retiring any machines.
 

TylerG

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Fernie had a machine on FB marketplace a couple weeks ago, but it's pretty old.
Salmon arm is selling theirs, but it's a tracked tractor, so less than ideal.

I'd be phoning every ski resort in the province to see if they are retiring any machines.
I think Barry is looking for more than just the machines, he's looking for a contractor.
El-Ja grooming is retiring, and is willing to sell his 3 setups, would be a "turn key" operation for someone to take it over. It's just "what is that financial cost" for startup, what is the return year over year, and are you willing to have that thankless job of grooming the trails, nobody is EVER happy with a trail.
 
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