The Salmon Arm Snow Blazers Snowmobile Club has lots to offer and can use your help.
Members have been hard at work getting ready for the season. The snow groomer is set to go and the club has also been installing signs, cleaning up the parking lot and the chalet, and stocking the chalet with firewood.
Because the snowmobiling area does not have steep hills and deep snow, the chance of avalanches is minimal, and the terrain is great for the family-type of riders. With about 200 kilometres of trails to ride on, there is a great change of scenery from lots of different vantage points. Looking from one area you can see the ski runs at Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops, from other spots you can see all the way to Sicamous, down the Salmon Valley and towards Salmon Arm.
Being a smaller hill, there’s less traffic than neighbouring hills in Sicamous and the North Shore, so the Salmon Arm trails are usually in better shape.
To continue functioning, the club needs to have members who are willing to help out with whatever needs to be done. The only money the club receives is through memberships and trail fees, which are the lowest in the area.
There is a high cost to keeping a snowmobile hill in top shape. Usually the biggest expense – aside from the snow groomer – are the repairs and replacement of such things as signs and poles that have been stolen and or shot up, as well as the large windows in the main chalet that have been shot up and/or broken out. New ones were installed two years ago.
Sledders are already going up for rides and reporting lots of snow and fun times. People can download now at the parking lot.
To keep the club going, it needs more members and riders who are willing to pay their to ride on a fantastic hill so close to downtown Salmon Arm.
Memberships are $80 for primary riders, $50 for secondary riders and $63 for seniors. They are available from Shuswap Xtreme Recreation (Arctic Cat) and Alpine Motorsport (Yamaha) or at the main parking lot.
The club’s next meeting will be on Thursday, Dec. 12, 7 p.m. in the back room of the Hideaway Pub in Salmon Arm. For more information, contact Robin at 1-250-838-2668, or Don at 1-250-675-2420, or via email at Snowblazers@hotmail.com.