What trip(s) have you cancelled so far?

SledTL

Active member
About to cancel trip to Iron River, WI for next week. Just had to cancel my trip to Cass County MN last weekend. Crazy part is that I went out and bought a new snowmobile this week. Got a great deal on a 2023 XRS 900R holdover.
 

ICT Sledder

Active member
I cancelled opening the shop door and riding across the street to hop on the trail here in NE MN. In said shop my trailer sits perfectly detailed with shiny tires and wheels, with sleds that are likewise detailed, greased and have full tanks of gas with stabilizer. Nothing has changed or moved in that respect since last spring. Until a few days ago we were did holding on to about 7-8" that fell early January, so local clubs and the state (DNR does main state trail corridors in MN) had been out out rolling and packing, but that's as far as it got. Right now we still have enough snow to cover the grass and look kinda like winter, but it's heated up, turned to mush and will probably be gone soon.

I'd be happy to take a half-day drive to the western UP, but their story as of today is obviously the same. No news there for anyone a poster here. Never would have guessed that one 10 day window in the western UP was the "sh*t or get off the pot" opportunity for riding anywhere remotely reasonable, geographically-speaking, from my home.

Pondering how crazy a Quebec trip by myself might be. Have always heard it is epic there, and they do have snow. Probably too far and too nutty of an idea, especially solo.
 

old abe

Well-known member
Totally agree no where to ride for next 10 days just wait it out and access again in 10 days but doesn’t look good at all anywhere in the Midwest. I never over expect because that leads to disappointment. Realistically we have a long way to go for good riding in northern WI or UP. February is my last month of hope going into March with current conditions with high solar angles, little snow , minimal ice on lakes ,wet swamps is a total bust. Maybe best to just put this season behind us and hope we never see another like this.
Sadly X 2 whitedust! Yeah, well, and there's not much hope for the late season UP March snows. The ground is too warm, wet areas not frozen, and absolutely NO BASE whatsoever to work with. :( I've had some awesome UP trips riding with my son in March. Some the later half of March too.. That was back when he was on college spring break, and 20 years ago. I don't remember but a few times since being like that? But it is not gong happen this year. Some weather services are saying snow, and cold last 10 days of Feb, and on into March? I'm not betting on that happening this year! It would be extremely hard for that to happen, with what conditions we are dealing with at this time. I can remember 40, 50 years riding in the Augusta, BRF, Sparta areas of West Central Sconny in March! That's not going to happen anymore either with the weather we have now days!
 
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timo

Well-known member
U guys are depressing. Things can change in a day. One week in Jan. this year i was staring at bare grass. Within 5 days had 3 snowfalls that totaled 28 inches. Trails were open for 14 days in SE Wis. this year. That is now considered an epic year.
 

SledTL

Active member
U guys are depressing. Things can change in a day. One week in Jan. this year i was staring at bare grass. Within 5 days had 3 snowfalls that totaled 28 inches. Trails were open for 14 days in SE Wis. this year. That is now considered an epic year.
Yes and no. If its plowed corn fields sure you can ride within 24hr of weather change. Woods and swamps need a good 2-3 weeks of building. Anything north of Madison area is subject to the swampy.
 

Magnumb

Member
I know where i'm going:)
Cost to ship Sleds= $4800 for delivery by 2/11
Cost to ship ourselves= $578


 
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mezz

Well-known member
U guys are depressing. Things can change in a day. One week in Jan. this year i was staring at bare grass. Within 5 days had 3 snowfalls that totaled 28 inches. Trails were open for 14 days in SE Wis. this year. That is now considered an epic year.
Just the facts, what is depressing is getting 57 to 60" in 10 days & have it get wittled to almost nothing 10 days later. It literally looks like the end of March out there right now. Will we get more snow? Probably, will it be too late? probably, just the way this El Nino has been for us all.
 

snoden

Active member
Headed to Fort Kent in Maine, waiting on a call to make a reservation for the 10th - 17th. Always wanting to go there so now is the time. Only down fall is a 17 hour pull but no different than going to Gaspe Peninsula, which I've done. Big wide and fast trails....made for the SRX to stretch its legs.
 

jr37

Well-known member
Speaking for WI, all that money goes into the segregated snowmobile trail aids fund.
Fall tasks involving brushing and signing still happened and get paid out.
There was a good amount of grooming going on in S. WI for the 10 days. Nowhere near the rate of clubs grooming in a normal N. WI winter though.
This will allow a lot more developmental grants available for clubs next year. Also funding new miles of trails.
It would also go to supplemental, but highly doubt we are getting into that this year!
It will be interesting to see how it gets split up. The snowmobile rec council decides these things, and then is presented at the AWSC meetings, and is available online.
As long as the Rec Council doesn't bomb again, like they did this year with 1 bridge.
 

Highflyer

Active member
I think they’re thinking after this warm weather they won’t be able to get thru swamps and low areas...with all the melting standing water etc. ..would need some bitter cold weather to freeze things back up before snow and not looking like that’s in the offering anytime soon(or is snow for that matter). Maybe they’ll groom/roll the areas they can and don’t open specific trails? That would be tough though..Don’t like it any more than you..
Any club that didn't go out on sleds to pack the swamps two weeks ago when it was cold just doesn't plan very well. At least in Northern Wisconsin.
 

hermie

Active member
I think they’re thinking after this warm weather they won’t be able to get thru swamps and low areas...with all the melting standing water etc. ..would need some bitter cold weather to freeze things back up before snow and not looking like that’s in the offering anytime soon(or is snow for that matter). Maybe they’ll groom/roll the areas they can and don’t open specific trails? That would be tough though..Don’t like it any more than you..
Pretty much every year this is what they do in the beginning of the season. They have turn around areas at all the wet areas not to bury groomer. Most likely if we do get any snow yet this year the swamp areas won't be groomed at all this season.
 
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wisco-mb

Active member
As long as the Rec Council doesn't bomb again, like they did this year with 1 bridge.
Looks like 20 bridge rehab projects? $1.1 Mil. Nothing new for bridges though. Was your club's bridge new or rehab? It does show some comments on the rehab requests,
A good snow season brings in a need of extra Supplemental funding. Plus add some storm damage also.
 

jr37

Well-known member
Looks like 20 bridge rehab projects? $1.1 Mil. Nothing new for bridges though. Was your club's bridge new or rehab? It does show some comments on the rehab requests,
A good snow season brings in a need of extra Supplemental funding. Plus add some storm damage also.
It is my understanding that they put $1M into one bridge and no new miles were approved. If that's true, that was a dumb move. I don't get all that info anymore, so correct me if I'm wrong.
 
I know where i'm going:)
Cost to ship Sleds= $4800 for delivery by 2/11
Cost to ship ourselves= $578


Think back to the winter of 2013-14. In general that winter featured a massive ridge in the jet stream going over Alaska and diving straight down into the eastern 2/3 of the Canada/US. That winter was one of the coldest and snowiest in memory for the northern plains/midwest, leaving Alaska with the opposite (warmth and dry). Check out this 2014 Iditarod video and you can see how little snow there was in Alaska that year.
This winter has largely been the exact opposite with the jet stream ridge over the heart of north america and a trough position just right to bring cold and stormy weather to Alaska.

 

wisco-mb

Active member
It is my understanding that they put $1M into one bridge and no new miles were approved. If that's true, that was a dumb move. I don't get all that info anymore, so correct me if I'm wrong.
I believe you're talking about the Dane/Sauk bridge over the WI River. It appears they put $500K in this year, and $250K in the next 2 years.
They still approved a lot of other bridge rehab projects though.

It appears they approved 336 new miles of funded trails. There wasn't anything added to the fund, but that new mile fund already had $186K in it.

I think all that is correct by looking at both the pdfs. A lot of money going to different places! A lot of people are probably not aware of all the behind the scenes of financials.
 

matti

Active member
Think back to the winter of 2013-14. In general that winter featured a massive ridge in the jet stream going over Alaska and diving straight down into the eastern 2/3 of the Canada/US. That winter was one of the coldest and snowiest in memory for the northern plains/midwest, leaving Alaska with the opposite (warmth and dry). Check out this 2014 Iditarod video and you can see how little snow there was in Alaska that year.
This winter has largely been the exact opposite with the jet stream ridge over the heart of north america and a trough position just right to bring cold and stormy weather to Alaska.


I remember that winter. I went to Finland on a work trip and folks there were asking about the Polar Vortex in the U.S. and how cold it must've been for us!
 
I remember that winter. I went to Finland on a work trip and folks there were asking about the Polar Vortex in the U.S. and how cold it must've been for us!
Don't get me started on that term... Funny thing is that Polar Vortex didn't drop down south until early January. I felt like that kid in the back of class trying to get attention of the teacher explaining to people down south how the "Arctic" Air had been feeding into ND/N MN/N WI/UP since early December.
The below average temps lasted trough March, 8' deep water lines were freezing with 2 feet of snow on the ground.
 
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