Mar 19

19 March 2023 Trails Update

Well, that’s another season gone by. Our trails, if you haven’t seen, are now closed. Thank you to our landowners, our permit buyers, and the volunteers who went above and beyond in supporting our trail network in this trying year. We look forward to seeing you on the trails again next season.
Always refer to the OFSC ITG at ofsc.evtrails.com or the Go Snowmobiling Ontario App for available trails.

Mar 08

BEAST Trails Report – 08 Mar 2023

It has been a challenging year for our volunteers. The big storms of the past year have caused most of our forested trails to be inspected and brushed at least 3 or 4 times before we even turned a wheel on the groomers. Early snows were nice to see but when it rained and melted took any frost and ice we had away.
Starting over. We got a couple good dumps of snow in mid January but again no frost in the ground and little to no ice to work with. The main high trails like the OVRT (A311E), TCT ( A and 200 ) and the E104A from Mississippi Lake to the TCT we were able to open without worry of wet areas. As February came and went yet another thaw. More ice lost. We received some consistent colder weather and some snow that we could do something with but any trails that are not open at this time will not be this year. Reason being is flowing water or very thin ice. This is particularly the case in the Richmond area. The 203 from Munster to Eagleson Road is a write off. Water flowed through many municipal drains and roadside ditches since the first thaw in January and hasn’t stopped. Efforts to build snow bridges over these proved pointless as the flowing water undermined the snow we tried to bridge with and made it unsafe to pass over. The 301 from Goodstown Road towards Kettles road is impassable due to trees down from the summer storms and not enough ice to support volunteers to remove these trees. The 302 to Moore’s camp has seen some sled activity but we can’t groom it until fallen trees and brush have been removed.
The long and short of this memo is to inform the membership that what you see on the ITG at ofsc.evtrails.com or the Go Snowmobiling App is as good as it gonna get for this season. Get out and enjoy what’s left of our sled season.
Please e-mail info@thebeast.ca for any questions.

Jan 28

Trail Update – 28 Jan 2023

The volunteers of the Beautiful Eastern Association of Snowmobile Trails hard at work for you!

Approximately 10 years ago, the 312 was rerouted along the 9th line of Beckwith from the Village of Ashton to Campbells Side Road due to loss of access to private property.  The approximate 3km reroute routinely was problematic due to road travel, flooding, drifting and/or early loss of snow. 

The volunteers of the Beautiful Eastern Association of Snowmobile Trails continued to search for a viable alternative route across private property and are excited to report with the gracious support of Cavanagh Construction Ltd, we have successfully negotiated access to this property once again!   A large portion of the existing trail was able to be reclaimed however improvements have also been made including creation of a new access to improve sightlines immediately West of the Village of Ashton. 

As you can imagine, re-claiming the trail which has not seen any maintenance for the past decade required a significant amount of work.  Our volunteers donated over 250 hours of clearing, brushing, and stump removal to not only re-claim, but improve the trail throughout this property. 

There are portions of this trail that either cross or travel adjacent to sensitive crops so we kindly ask all snowmobilers to stay on the trail. 

Please look for this and other trail improvement projects throughout our region this winter.  

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Jan 06

Trails Update – 06 Jan 2023

Trails Update – 06 Jan 2023
Hello folks,
Well, I don’t want to be a downer but Mother Nature has sure given us cause for concern. As I write this update we are into the 7th day of a weeklong warm up with more unsettled weather to come. Our hope was that you were able to get out and enjoy the limited trails we had available for a couple days last week and hopefully things freeze up sooner than later so we can salvage the rest of the season.
 
Going forward, the club would like to update you on our operational status.
 
The clubs trails have been compromised to some extent from the summer storms and the snow, rain, ice and snow storms we’ve seen over the past month. After 1,000+ hours of brushing and sign work this fall we have done as much as we could do to get the trails in good shape. However, the mild weather of this past week has taken any frost out of the ground and melted any ice in swamps. We cannot know the extent of the total damage to our trail system until we get a good freeze. This means a continuous cold snap for at least a week to be able to access these wet areas. This is only for access. We still need continuous cold beyond to thicken the ice before we even think of passing a groomer over it. If you as a passholder of the BEAST want to help clear a section of trail please speak with your sector Trail Director to proceed. All of our trail work requires landowner approval for access and work. This work must be coordinated with the sector Trail Director. We cannot allow volunteers to be on private land with chainsaws etc. without club permission. The club has many decades invested in relationships with landowners to have it jeopardized by volunteers, with good intentions, but no permission to be there. Another email and Facebook post will be forthcoming when your help will be required.
One of our 3 groomers has been out working on our rail trails this past week. There has also been a few new operators trained. This past summer the club was fortunate to be granted a new groomer and drag assembly from the OFSC. A Prinoth Husky groomer and Mogul Master drag is expected to be received by the club during the week of Jan. 9th. We will have pictures and a post about that in due time.
 
In conclusion we hope you had a good Holiday season and look forward to a better season going forward.
Ian Edwards, President
 
Sector Trail Directors
 
Southwest Sector: East of Mississippi Lake, Carleton Place South to Smiths Falls to Ashton
SW Trail Director: Brent Phifer, 613-222-9506, brentphifer@yahoo.ca
 
Northwest Sector: West of Mississippi Lake, Innisville to Lanark to Clayton, Carleton Place North to Almonte
NW Trail Director: Mario Tremblay, 613-880-6400, nwdirector@thebeast.ca
 
Southeast Sector: Munster to Richmond area.
SE Trail Director: Shaun Cunningham, 613-227-9445, cpl1@bell.net
 
Northeast Sector: Almonte to Stittsville to Munster.
NE Trail Director: Jason McKay, 613-227-9522, nedirector@thebeast.ca
 
Please email info@thebeast.ca if any questions.

Jan 01

BEAST General Meeting Notice

Our next meeting is Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. at Brent Phifer’s, 2021 9th line of Beckwith. Start time will be 7:30pm. Please email info@thebeast.ca if any questions.

Dec 30

Thursday Dec 29, 2022 – Trails Availability Update

Although we were able to open some trails on Tuesday, mainly the OVRT(A311E), and TCT, the weather is quite mild today and the forecast is for this mild weather to continue for the next few days, even overnight the temps will be above 0C. Any precipitation over the next few days will likely be rain.
In order to protect the trail base we have, and avoid trail damage, and for peoples safety, we will be closing all trails as of 10pm tonight. All trails will be again Red “Unavailable”, so please follow the trail conditions on the OFSC ITG at ofsc.evtrails.com/# or the Go Snowmobiling App.
Please stay off trails that are Red “Unavailable”, while we hope for colder temperatures. Travelling on closed trails is trespassing.
We will need some more sustained cold weather to freeze everything up, and probably more snow in order to open the trails again.
Thanks for supporting us.

Dec 27

Tuesday Dec 27, 2022 – Trails Availability Update

In consultation with our neighboring club West Carleton, there has been a decision to turn the OVRT A311E trail to Yellow “Limited Availability” starting this afternoon at 1pm. Please refer the OFSC ITG at ofsc.evtrails.com/# or the use ITG App, to monitor when the trail will turn from red to yellow.
The trail has been inspected for windfall but that was before Christmas. Since then other trees/brush may have come down. Use caution at all times.
Consult the ITG every day before you go out. The trail may turn to Red “Unavailable” at any time depending on weather and conditions. Most of the trail has at least 1 groomer pass on it so use caution at all times.
Only the OVRT, trail A311E will be open at this time and is Yellow “Limited Availability”.
(all other trails remain Red “Unavailable” due to low snow or swamps or wet areas not frozen and so on)
Please do not trespass on Red “Unavailable” trails.
 

Dec 16

Don’t Jump The Gun – What It Takes for Trails to be Ready

With the snowfall in the forecast, we know everyone it itching to get the sleds out. BUT, please follow the ITG(Interactive Trail Guide) at ofsc.on.ca or use the App for trail status. Never go if the ITG is showing RED. Riding closed trails is trespassing, please respect the land, the landowners, and the volunteers.
WHAT IT TAKES To Make Trails Ready To Ride…
8-10″ of packed snow base as a solid foundation that protects the trail surface and prevent damage to groomers and sleds.
Always check the OFSC Interactive Trail Guide (ITG) for the latest trail status before riding any OFSC trail and do not enter any OFSC trail showing RED.
 
 

Dec 06

BEAST News Update – 5 Dec 2022

Please click the following link to view the latest BEAST News Update.

BEAST News Update – 5 Dec 2022

Dec 06

BEAST General Meeting – Thurs Dec 8th – 7:30pm

BEAST General Meeting Notice!
Our next meeting is Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. at Brent Phifer’s, 2021 9th line of Beckwith. Start time will be 7:30pm. Please email info@thebeast.ca if any questions.