754bigbore
Active member
Yeah Mitch its Dean lol. Got mine reflashed and a different map in the PC5. Was in blue river the first weekend of dec. Ran great. Hopefully I am done fixing for a while. But it is a dragon ha ha.
Whitecourt conditions
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Summiteer
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Put on 95 or so miles yesterday with brew_doo, lucm, old mountain man and a bunch of other folks south towards silver summit. Found some powder thanks to omm's vast knowledge of the roads and cutlines in the area. Trails are still good but we need some more snow. Athabasca river is still open, stay off of it. Cat went through and modified the new trail behind Millar Western ( Thanks Jason Strydhorst) so the groomer will be able to get through and drag some snow into there. Looks like the trail down flats road is NOT going to be groomed as there have been too many noise complaints from home owners along that street. People are just too stupid to keep their speed down when it's smooth so they are leaving the speed bumps there.
m1000db
Active member
We just returned from a great weekend at Whitecourt, rode south on Saturday and went north this morning..looked like lots of sleds heading out as we left the eagle river staging area at 1.
brew_doo
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Whitecourt grooms to the Virginia Hills Road a couple km west of the Gundy cabin - Fox Creek territory from there on. I heard there was a creek in that area that was not frozen so maybe their groomer is waiting for more ice to cross. Did guys ride to Fox Creek?
Summiteer
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There are sections of trail that have not been accessible to the groomers because of creeks or muskeg not frozen. Nature of the beast with early snow. There is about 6-7 km between silver summit and our summit cabin that hasn't been groomed yet either. Hopefully with the traffic on the trails and some more cold weather, it will freeze up and allow the groomer through. Short ungroomed sections remind sledders what they pay for when they buy a trail pass.
All good though looking forward to more miles this weekend out there too.cameljockey
Member
Is this still good directions to find Virginia Hills? Drive westerly on Highway 43 for 39.6 kilometres from the Tim Hortons in town. At the 39.6-kilometre mark there is a large sign for Virginia Hills and a right turn. You will travel 17.9 kilometres north on this road to the Virginia Hills heli-pad on the west side of the road. There is a plowed parking area there with lots of room
Summiteer
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That will get you to the Virginia Hills SRD firebase. Haven't been out there this winter but I'd be surprised if the parking area is plowed.
cameljockey
Member
Where is a good place to stage to ride Virginia Hills, I hear the snow is pretty good there.
brew_doo
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Rode to the northern most section of Whitecourt trail yesterday (letter 'O' towards Swan Hills) and the trail is in pretty good shape - should be getting groomed this week if weather co-operates. We rode from Whitecourt to the Gundy cabin today and the trail is still as smooth as a table top. We packed the trail accross the Athabasca River at Whitecourt so the North & West trails are now accessible from town... hopefully the warm weather in the forecast for this week does not compromise the crossing. Ride safe !!
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Wrench900
Member
Never been to Whitecourt. Few questions. Where's the best place to buy a trail pass? How much? Have insurance but no registration or plate fixed to sled... will that be a problem? ( ride 99% in B.C. where it's not required ) Would like to find some open meadows and rolling hills, not just groomed trails. Where's the best place to stage for something like that or what area should I head towards? Judging by the pics on the net it should be a good time regardless. The worst day on snow still beats the best day at work i figure.
Summiteer
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If you have an ASA membership you already have a trail pass. If not, IGA is the easiest place to get to. $20.00 day pass or $70.00 ASA annual pass. Either Eagle River staging area or Groat Creek Staging area will get you out on the trails. From there it's pretty much up to you to find the powerlines and pipelines with snow. There is a PDF map that you can download to your smartphone on the trailblazers website Home of the Whitecourt Trailblazers
chevy371
Member
Anybody been out on the trails in the past few days ? are they still pretty good shape ?? I was thinking about going Sat or sunday this week
Summiteer
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Can't say. bad week for grooming because of warm temperatures. lots of rain and about 4" of snow yesterday. If it cools down, off trail areas are going to be crusty with about half the snow melted this past week.
Summiteer
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Just so you know there are trees down on various parts of the trail from the winds this week. Ride safe and if you come across a crew clearing the trail on their Saturday off for free, maybe stop and throw a couple of logs before carrying on. You have no idea how much that would be appreciated. Might not be a bad idea to pack a folding saw just in case.
Summiteer
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The section of trail behind Millar Western heading towards the Mcleod river crossing has washed out in the last few days, about 50' of bank has disappeared so far.
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duck
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Must be warm there..... how are the trails otherwise? I've been stuck up north working for the last month..... thanks
Summiteer
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getting a little rough towards carson cabin waiting for that groomer to be repaired. Not sure about west to Gundy cabin. Summit trail should have been good up until this weekend. It was mostly groomed on Wednesday. Not much grooming going on when the weather is warm.
tmo1620
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Lots of nice untouched to be found, had a great day west of town, found 4-5 feet of snow in most places we were, warm weather has set it up pretty good though, it was waist deep when u jumped off your sled but there is a 1.5-2 foot solid base still under your feet, i probed in a few spots just out of curiosity and got over 4 feet everytime
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