Silent Pass or Quartz Creek Conditions

[prairiepulling]

:d The wife and I are planning a trip to Golden Jan 6,7,8th and was wondering if anyone knows what the conditions are like @ Silent Pass and Quartz Creek ? any Avalanche concerns ?. Input would be greatly appreciated.
2006 M7 Sno-Pro 162 (Wifeys Sled),
2008 M1 Sno-Pro 162 w/NOS (My Sled)

 

[Taminator]

:d The wife and I are planning a trip to Golden Jan 6,7,8th and was wondering if anyone knows what the conditions are like @ Silent Pass and Quartz Creek ? any Avalanche concerns ?. Input would be greatly appreciated.
2006 M7 Sno-Pro 162 (Wifeys Sled),
2008 M1 Sno-Pro 162 w/NOS (My Sled)

Check the CAC site for avy conditions They change daily so you don't want to rely on what peeps are saying, better to research it yourself at the time you are going. What they are today isn't necessarily what they'll be on the weekend. Always some avy danger in the mountains.

The snowpack is low for this time of year, but both areas are decent and accessible. Spent 3 days at Silent this week with great snow, but it'll be getting a bit pounded out by now. More snow in the forecast a bit this week so it'll freshen stuff up a bit. Really depends what kind of trip you're after...but each area will give you a good ride. Rocks and trees are still lurking just below the surface...and if you trench big, you're hitting dirt!

 

[prairiepulling]

Thanks Taminator, will check it out.

 

[macronut]

Was at golden from 31-jan 02 Silent had rocks and bark everywhere poking out and was pounded hard, didn't get to quartz but heard from some folks who rode it that weekend that it was pounded hard.... Golden needs snow badly!!!!

 

[smc]

Quartz video from jan 2nd


[YT]v=aWhLs4wFLBs[/YT]

 

[macronut]

Quartz video from jan 2nd


[YT]v=aWhLs4wFLBs[/YT]

Nice Vid! I didn't ride quartz on the 2! It sure doesn't look pounded out too badly from your video...
Cheers!

 

[Modman]

when are they grooming silent? Thurs or Fridays this year?

 

[NosRX1]

Quartz video from jan 2nd


[YT]v=aWhLs4wFLBs[/YT]

Is your name Shawn? and did you grow up in High River? I think I use to play hockey with you years ago!

 

[smc]

haha yeah my names sean but i sure didn't grow up in high river, or play hockey.

 

[summit1974]

so how are the snow conditions in silent pass?

 

[robhayward]

Quartz video from jan 2nd


[YT]v=aWhLs4wFLBs[/YT]

Slick angles. I look forward to all your guy's vids.

 

[sledhead5000]

Quartz video from jan 2nd


[YT]v=aWhLs4wFLBs[/YT]

What hardware did you use to attach it to the side of your helmet? (photo?) I've got mine mounted on top and it's not nearly as good.

 

[kosstro]

Was in silent yesterday, great snow! at least two feet of pow, maybe more in the trees. Base is low compared to last year, hit a few small trees under the snow, no rocks though. stayed in the trees and meadows due to avy risk. still lots left to track out.

However the trail was really, really rough.

 

[Roughrock]

Rode Slient past two weekends.......Conditions this past weekend were great with the addition of new snow......however, the trail was very bumbed out.....no grooming in the past two weeks. I was charged grooming fees three out of four days. Does anyone know why the trails aren't being groomed??

 

[foothills m8]

maybe they go bye the amount of sleds before they re groom some places its 75 sleds.

 

[pano-dude]

Rode Slient past two weekends.......Conditions this past weekend were great with the addition of new snow......however, the trail was very bumbed out.....no grooming in the past two weeks. I was charged grooming fees three out of four days. Does anyone know why the trails aren't being groomed??

the fees are not "Grooming" fees they are trail fees. The money you pay covers the cost of the running the club.

 

[JMCX]

the fees are not "Grooming" fees they are trail fees. The money you pay covers the cost of the running the club.

They never charged until they started grooming. If 80% (just a guess) of the budget goes to grooming then it might as well be called a grooming fee. At Silent the club provides nothing but a groomed trail. Maybe they are saving up to build a cabin which would be nice. Fees did go up 33% this year, it's not unreasonable to expect some regular grooming. I was there on the 29th and there were at least 100 sleds and it doesn't sound like it's been groomed since. Lot's more coin collected between then and now too.

 

[pano-dude]

I hear ya on the regular grooming, I am not too happy when I pay and the trail is beat but I am sure there is much more to the fees than just grooming.

The groomer probably costs the club $500 per day it is used( fuel, transport, wages) then you have to repair the beast and pay insurance.

There is probably a good reason why it has not been done. Hopefully someone in the club responds.

 

[Taminator]

I hear ya on the regular grooming, I am not too happy when I pay and the trail is beat but I am sure there is much more to the fees than just grooming.

The groomer probably costs the club $500 per day it is used( fuel, transport, wages) then you have to repair the beast and pay insurance.

There is probably a good reason why it has not been done. Hopefully someone in the club responds.

Trail last weekend was BRUTAL!! No fees were charged on Sat though because of it...love to pay double instead of ride that for 40 kms though.

Golden's club runs a bit differently than most. They contract out the grooming to a seperate company so the club isn't doing the actual grooming, it's done by hired peeps versus volunteers. I don't know if the club actually knows when it's groomed, or not.
If they say it's going to be groomed regularly on a specific day and they post the grooming schedule on their site, they should groom that day unless it's broken down IMO...if it's not being groomed take a couple minutes to post on the site that it wasn't done that week perhaps so peeps can make informed decisions on where to ride. They may decide to hit Quartz or Gorman and pay the fees..thus more money in trail fees would be earned instead of a bunch of unhappy peeps riding a beat up trail for free.

It may not be cost effective to groom the Silent trail at certain times, but it's easy to fire up the website and post accordingly. We checked the trail society site on Wed, saw a new entry that Silent was going to be groomed regularly on Thursdays-which was the next day...made our decision to go there based on this...and got to ride a badly whooped up trail. Had it said, 'no grooming this week' instead of 'getting groomed Thursday' we would have taken our group to Quartz and paid the trail fees thus resulting in more income.

For us it's no biggy to hit it without grooming, as locals we're pretty used to it and ride lots of ungroomed areas. But for peeps making special trips, coming to ride specific areas and bringing peeps etc, chosing the area based on grooming is many times a factor...especially on a trail as long as Silent's. It's good business to follow through or advise differently and to keep your customer's informed and happy

A groomed trail is super to have...and it is something we should be thankful for...but this is a 'business' they are running and there are certain expectations that come with that, whether it's a club, society or whatever.

Let peeps know if it's not done... when you advertise that it is.

 

[drop the hammer]

Costs a lot more than that to run a groomer. A capable used one costs around $250K for decent condition so just the payment alone is about $400/operating day +operator+service truck+transport truck+fuel+BC insurance+huge maintenance = big bucks to operate plus owner/operator needs to make a living or why do it.
Club owned machines can shave off the profit factor, however, get hit with larger mainenance/repair bills since operators not usually personally invested into the machine (unless the club is lucky and fortunate to have someone who cares). My 2 cents.