Nov 23

In Memory of George Laight

Sad news, George Laight passed away Friday Nov 19. George was a great friend to us all and we will miss him greatly. Our sincere condolences to Valerie Mullen and all of the family. Details available at following link.
In addition to him and Val snowmobiling with BEAST friends, one of his passions as an active volunteer was Trail Patrol and he was our BEAST Trail Patrol Coordinator for the past few seasons. He was also recognized at the District Level for this when he received the Upper Canada Snowmobile Region District Safety Ambassador award for 2019. George had also joined the BEAST board last season as a Director-at-large.
Shown below is George receiving the 2019 award, with UCSR VP Scott Buckley on the left, and UCSR President Bruce Robinson on the right.

Nov 18

BEAST News Update 17 Nov 2020

See the following link for the latest BEAST News Update.

BEAST News Update 17 Nov 2020

Nov 06

BEAST Trail Work Days, Saturdays Nov 21, 28, and Dec 5

Help us get the BEAST trails ready with signage and picketing for the 2021 Season!

BEAST has organized workdays that provide an opportunity to pitch in and help us get trails ready for the season. Often, we hear from people that they want to help but family commitments or their work prevent them from participating. We are offering three different choices again this season, but don’t let your unavailability on those specific dates stop you from volunteering to help. We do have some volunteers that work on the trails during the regular work week, which may be better suited for shift workers or people who have more time during the week than on the weekend.
Many hands make light work, so why not give our team a hand? We all seem to be able to make time in our plans to snow-mobile on the weekends after the trail work is done and ready to ride. We would appreciate it if similar planning could be considered to pitch in and help rather than leave it all to the few die-hard volunteers. I can assure you that you will learn a lot about the sport that you may not have known and you will have a lot of laughs with a great bunch of people.
Having assets like a chainsaw, an ATV or power tools are all great things but not absolutely necessary to have. All that is needed is to show up, and we will figure out a task for you.
Workdays usually start around 9 am with people meeting at a designated location a few minutes early so we can organize work groups. There are the usual meeting places to choose from, so pick the one closest to you and come on out!

Workdays usually start around 9 am with people meeting at a designated location a few minutes early so we can organize work groups. Pick the closest meeting place to you and come on out!

Remember that given COVID-19,  we will all have to follow public health guidelines, such as frequent hand washing or sanitizing,  social distancing, and wearing masks where appropriate. Also sanitizing of equipment and not sharing or handling the same equipment.

Note: Due to changing protocols for meeting and gathering during this COVID-19 pandemic, all dates and times could be changed, modified, or cancelled at any time. Please consult the website www.thebeast.ca and our Facebook page for up to date information.

South West: (New location) 2021 9th Line Beckwith,
Carleton Place Ian Myatt, 613-207-0708, info@thebeast.ca

North West: 1465 Wolfe Grove Rd, Almonte
Audy Bedard, 613-256-2973, jabedard@storm.ca

South East: Call or email for location
Shaun Cunningham, 613-227-9445, cpl1@bell.net

North East: Call or email for location
Blaine Johnson, 613-868-2164, NEDirector@thebeast.ca

Nov 03

BEAST News Update 2 Nov 2020

See the following link for the latest BEAST News Update.

BEAST News Update 2 Nov 2020

Oct 30

BEAST Newsletter Fall 2020

The BEAST Newsletter Fall 2020 is now available, click on the following link.

BEAST Newsletter Fall 2020

Oct 23

UCSR and City of Ottawa Reach Agreement for Use of City Land for Snowmobile Trails

Upper Canada Snowmobile Region and City of Ottawa Reach Agreement for Use of City Land for Snowmobile Trails
Trails within the City of Ottawa Will be Open Once the Snow Hits the Ground
(Ottawa, ON: October 21, 2020) – The Upper Canada Snowmobile Region (UCSR) is pleased to announce that a new License of Occupation Agreement has been reached with the City of Ottawa to allow the five snowmobile clubs [Beautiful Eastern Association of Snowmobile Trails (BEAST), Carleton Regional Snowmobile Club (CRSC), Osgoode Carleton Snowmobile Trails Club (OCSTC), Rideau Snowmobile Club (RSC), and West Carleton Snowmobile Trails Association (WCSTA)] continued seasonal use of City land for the 2020-2021 snowmobile season and through to the spring of 2025.
“The city was very collaborative in the development of this new five-year agreement which will see the five snowmobile clubs in and around the city of Ottawa being able to continue using important portions of City land within their trail network,” commented UCSR President Bruce Robinson. “Without the city’s keen attention to this file we could not have organized this agreement in the short time we did.”
“The City is pleased to have renewed this partnership to ensure snowmobilers can continue to use designated City lands and spend time outdoors. We recognize its importance in the community and appreciate the hard work by the clubs and the district to maintain the trails. We want to remind everyone to be safe, follow the rules and enjoy these less travelled parts of our City,” explained Derrick Moodie, Director of the City’s Corporate Real Estate Office.
“A special acknowledgement and thanks goes out to the small volunteer team representing the 5 clubs, our District Manager, the city staff for their professionalism and interest in snowmobiling, and Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) staff for their excellent support and advice over the summer to reach this milestone agreement,” explained UCSR Vice President Scott Buckley.
“Snowmobilers are reminded that a Ministry of Transportation snowmobile trail permit is required on all OFSC trails including those within the city,” said UCSR Trails Director Ian Edwards. “The continued use of the city’s land for snowmobile trails will only be possible if operators follow the Motorized Snow Vehicles Act and the snowmobiler’s code of ethics while being courteous for other users of the Lands including pedestrians, cross-country skiers, snowshoers and other users.” Read the latest Cascade Business News  articles to find out what is going on in the automotive world.
“Snowmobilers within and around the City of Ottawa can rest assured that snowmobile trails this winter will be open for use once the normal safety preparations, signage, and inspections are complete,” explains WCSTA President Paul McDonald.
Details on the license of occupation will be made available via club websites and social media platforms.
The UCSR and its clubs are committed to delivering the best possible trail riding experiences for snowmobilers around Ottawa and across eastern Ontario.
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The Upper Canada Snowmobile Region (UCSR), District 1 of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), is a volunteer led, not-for-profit association that provides the voice for organized on-trail snowmobiling in Eastern Ontario. The UCSR consists of 16 snowmobile clubs with over 3000 kms of groomed snowmobile trails managed by over 1,000 dedicated volunteers generating up to $70.8 million in economic activity (18/19 season) in eastern Ontario each year.
For questions, please contact Darin McRae, District Manager, at darinmcrae@ucsr.ca or by phone at 613-543-0374. www.ucsr.ca
 
IMPORTANT
Using Snowmobile Trails in the City of Ottawa.
Please read the rules for trail use at the following link.

Oct 16

BEAST 308 Project Fall 2020

Project 308
Earlier this summer the BEAST applied for OFSC TDF funding to refurbish a large portion of the 308 trail. If you are not aware where this is it is the connecting trail from 3 Mile Bay on White Lake to Clayton. The total distance of the trail is approximately 24km’s of the nastiest, stone infested, swamp straddling, beaver pond traversing, stumpy Canadian Shield Trail this side of Sudbury. No offence Sudbury. The extent of the work begins at Marshall Lake Road to the North to the start of “The Rocky Mile” approximately 15 km’s. The work on the trail began In early September with some grass cutting and brushing done by volunteers. After getting the green light from OFSC and our district the excavation work began on September 11th and finished up about Oct. 1st. The Contractor, Mike Truelove of Drummond Township, completed the work on time and on budget.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention a volunteer who spent many days working on and organizing work parties on this trail. Grant Penstone, a groomer operator, spent hours with the contractor and other volunteers clearing brush and cutting trees. All in all there would be more than 500 combined volunteer hours completed. One volunteer who was working on the second work Saturday commented that this trail is “gergis”. That is Grantspeak for great. The BEAST feels that these improvements will make that trail a must use this winter.

Many thanks must go to the landowners who allow us to use their land for our trail. There are a number of them all who completely supported the project and are grateful for the improvements made. It is definitely a winwin for all concerned.

Attached to this memo you will see a variety of pictures with captions describing the work. The pictures do not do it justice. The work performed is amazing.

As mentioned before the work performed is on private property. Access to this winter trail is by land use permission between the individual landowners and the OFSC. This is private property so access is only at the discretion of the landowners.

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Oct 11

BEAST News Update 11 Oct, 2020

See the following link for the latest BEAST News Update.

BEAST News Update 11 Oct 2020

Oct 11

BEAST Trail Work Day Sat Oct 17, 2020

I hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving weekend amid the latest Covid-19 restrictions. As you may or may not know the BEAST snowmobile club is working with Beckwith Township to extend the 4th line of Beckwith road allowance from Hwy 15, at the lights in Franktown, to the OVRT. This addition will help us in many ways. It will allow us to groom earlier because the trail will be clean of stumps and stones and also high and dry. The previous route (305) was through private property and it had two water courses that needed time to freeze up before grooming activities could proceed.
This new route is spectacular this time of year. The trail is cut through a maple bush and the colours this year are somewhat overwhelming. We think you will be impressed.
Anyways, the reason for this notice is to ask for your help with our final push to finish the work required with our agreement with Beckwith Township. All the chainsaw and equipment work is complete but we need to cleanup the brush that is leftover. We have arranged for the use of 2 wood chippers for Saturday October 17th. That is next weekend. What we need from you is manual effort to feed the chippers.
We will be attacking the work from both ends of the trail. If you are arriving by ATV you can access the work area at the OVRT. If you are accessing by car/truck you can access the work area at Hwy 15 at the traffic lights at Franktown. The gravel road west of the lights dead ends at the trail.
What you will need to bring, PPE such as safety glasses, ear protection, layered sturdy clothing, warm and durable boots and work gloves. Perhaps some water and snacks.
There will be food arranged at some point mid day compliments of the BEAST.
START TIME: 8:30 a.m.
If you can contribute some time for this please reply to info@thebeast.ca with the name(s) of people you will be bringing and how you will be arriving. ATV or vehicle.
Hoping to see many volunteers out to finish the work. Ciao for now.
Ian Edwards, BEAST President

Oct 01

BEAST News Update, 30 Sept 2020

See the following link for the latest BEAST News Update.

BEAST News Update 30 Sept 2020