As the snow flies here in southeast Saskatchewan, snowmobiles are hitting the trails enjoying the winter weather and all it has to offer. The Souris River Snowmobile Club is made up of volunteers who help maintain and groom trails and take care of the warm-up shelters such as stocking firewood.
Duane Walkeden is a volunteer and executive secretary with the club. He said it’s all been made possible for a long time entirely by volunteers.
“[The club’s] been in existence for, I bet, 30 years now. In fact, a couple of guys in our volunteer group and executive have been involved since the beginning of the club 30 some years plus."
"We have 203 kilometers of groomed trail, 22 kilometers of which goes around the city of Weyburn and then heads east to Griffin and Stoughton along the south side of the [13] Highway. We have four warm-up shacks, one just east of the city of Weyburn, one in Griffin, and then two beyond to the north. 100 percent volunteer.”
He said the club relies on volunteer labour and gets funding as part of the snowmobile licensing. Essentially, riders license their snowmobiles and there’s an initial fee that gets divided up and allocated to snowmobile clubs throughout Saskatchewan.
According to Walkeden, this covers about half of the cost of grooming and maintenance of trails, with the other half coming through sponsorship and fundraising.
“We do rely on the generosity of the landowners in around Weyburn and surrounding areas where we have trails established.”
“We have to have permission from the farmers for using that area, without it we would not have the snowmobile club. We’re very thankful for the landowners for letting us ride on their land. Secondly, for the sponsors for keeping us with funds to maintain the groomer and the equipment," he noted. "[Finally] our volunteers, there's about there's only about 15 of us, a core group, and it takes a lot of work. As a matter of fact, for those 200 kilometers of groom trails, we have almost 5000 signs that we need to put out.”
He recommends registering your snowmobile before taking it on the trails, so it’s legal; Always ride with someone, as even though the trails are well-marked it can be easy to get lost. There is also a Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association app to download that can provide information and your current location on the trails.
Make sure to respect the landowners and their land. With new trespassing laws being implemented, you must have permission from the landowner to go off-trail. Respect the shelters as well, they’re provided with firewood, cooking instruments such as pots and pans, garbage, and recycling cans to make for an easy cleanup.
The Souris Valley Snowmobile Club is always interested in new members. For more information on the club and how to sign up, check out their Facebook page and message them, or get a hold of either Duane Walkeden or Rick Hallberg.