I can tell you from talking with many sledders over the last few years that Bad Grooming is why many folks have quit or are quitting sledding!
Way too many times that people ride trails with plenty snow & the trails are ****... If you want people to spend money in your area, Groom! Morning-Afternoon-Night!
If you don't want the sport to die, Groom! Morning-Afternoon-Night!
Most people only have so much vacation & plan for when there is snow, specially the last few years & get to their favorite area with pockets full of cash & in 1 day wish they hadn't came. It's not even fun for kids with good young bodies! Most people have other things they can do with the cash that sleds cost, trailers cost & the cost of a trip, so no enjoyment - no more snowmobiling!
It's been a problem in lots of areas in the UP for years, way before lack of snow was a problem & no one has fixed the problem, just keep saying the same o'l ****...
I've rode by many groomer sheds with trails beat to **** & no signs of a groomer being out. Morning-Afternoon or Night!
Sorry... But True!
I'm glad you wrote this and please know that I am not picking on YOU. This is the exact sediment that most snowmobilers have. It is the exact sediment that I had before getting involved in grooming. Unfortunately, it is not that simple and is basically wrong in its understanding and solution.
I have seriously thought about producing an essay on grooming. How it works, how it doesn't and what is to be expected from it. I don't have the time right now, but will give the condensed version.
When traffic is heavy, meaning you pass more than a dozen sleds in the course of an a hour or two of riding, the trails just do not hold up to grooming. In the high snow areas it is even worse. Here's why... The ONLY thing that creates moguls on the trails is sleds. Not the wind, not the weather and not the sun or lack there of. As each sled passes across the snow, it loosens it up. That lose snow is then worked more and ends up spinning out of the tracks of sleds. Over time, the loose snow ejected out of the back of the sleds starts to pile up. Innocently at first, but the more traffic the higher the bumps. Plus, the deeper the snow, the more there is to pile up into bumps. This is why areas that only have say 8-10" on the ground cannot produce 2 foot moguls. There just is not enough snow to do that!
So now we move onto grooming. It stands to reason that if you take a groomer down the trail with the drag properly set, the effect is to flatten out the moguls and leave behind a nice smooth snow surface. The problem is, that nice fresh ribbon of snow is still loose. So as soon as traffic hits it, the bumps start to form immediately. I have personally witnessed a trail go from 2 foot moguls to perfectly flat as the groomer went by and in
30 minutes the trail already had 1-1.5 foot moguls! 30 minutes! Imagine what a few hours more will do to a trail!
So the optimal time to groom is when traffic is at its lowest and temps are at their lowest. That allows the groomed ribbon to freeze up and harden and last longer against the abuse it takes from the sleds. This time is generally from around 1 am to 6 am. I will add that grooming during the day can help some. It will knock down the moguls and provide some with a smooth trail, but typically within a few hours of a day groom, it looks like the trail has not been groomed in days or weeks to the average snowmobiler. Again, this is for the busier times and only is worsened when the temps are mild (much like we have seen in many areas of the northern Midwest so far this winter).
I do realize that there are some trails that almost never get groomed and or not groomed enough- and that is a shame. However, I know from the majority of the complaints that I see, most folks think that the trail has not been groomed in days, when in fact, it was groomed very early that morning.
So what am I saying here? Well, in a nutshell, if you follow the herd (ride where everyone else is riding at the time they are riding), you will likely be smelling the rear of a cow your entire time. Think outside of the box. Go to places that are not packed to the walls with others riding sleds. Ride at times that traffic is low (Sunday-Wednesday). If you have no choice but to ride in the most popular places at the most popular time, then there really is not anything that can be done.
Until someone figures out a way that a drag will leave behind a hard packed (almost like concrete) snow surface, then trails are going to get bumpy.
Compounding the problems are the sleds themselves. The average lug height on a track has gone from around .50" in the early to mid 90's to 1.5"+ these days. HP has increased from around 90 HP to 145+. I am not faulting the long lugged tracks at all. They have as much right to be on the trails as anyone, but the truth is, they do more damage in a set period of time than a short lugged track.
I know our operations are doing all we can with the resources we have. Our club has an annual average of 36,000 + miles in a season. That is like driving a groomer 1 1/2 times around the globe, all at the blazing speed of 7 mph. All done from December 1 through March 31.
I really do not know what the answer is, other than more snow in more areas to spread out the traffic, but that is out of the hands of us humans and up to a much higher power!
-John
