Snowmobile club ready to ride with new trail



By Jamie Smith tbnewswatch.com

A local snowmobile club held its annual general meeting Thursday riding high on some added trails and increased numbers.

The Thunder Bay Adventure Trails Snowmobile Club, which has roughly 500 kilometres of trail between Kashabowie and Dorion, have been able to link their trail system East of Thunder Bay to the Nipigon trail system. Club president Marcel Gauthier said it’s the first time the trails will be linked since 2003.

"We’re hoping to make a bit of a ribbon cutting at Mount Baldy when the snow season starts to inaugurate the trail," Gauthier said.

Gauthier said he’s hoping the trail, which still isn’t connected through Thunder Bay to the western system due to a traffic law change in 2003, will get his club 200 permits this year. He said even when the trail was open briefly last season, his club sold 10 more permits than in 2007.

"It was the first time that we finally stopped going down and started rising in permit sales since 1996,"Gauthier said.

The club was the largest in North America in 1996 with 3200 members. In 2003, a highway traffic act law made it illegal for motorized vehicles to run along the Thunder Bay Expressway which severed the club’s East and West trail systems. While Gauthier said the city is in favour of a trail returning through the city, obstacles such as private property and routing make it difficult to become a reality.

"We may never be able to make it through the city," said Gauthier. "There are a lot of hurdles involved."

Seasonal permits are $200 if purchased before Dec.1 and $250 after that date. The club says permit fees are not decided by them but the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs.