From GBCTA: “To support our grooming operation, we are joining the big leagues with the purchase of an $180,000 Snow Rabbit! This is huge for us! Generous support from some major donors provides for a large portion of the purchase and key to giving us the confidence to commit to the purchase of this machine. But we need additional funds for the balance and so that we keep our finances strong.” Read more at this link…
Oct 30 Update on campaign to buy a Snow Rabbit.
Help us create the perfect ski track. PLEASE DONATE TODAY to help us reach our goal. Go to Bragg Creek Trails or find donation boxes at the trail head.
Comment from Tracksetter Jeff at Ribbon Creek:
“The rotor tiller and hydraulic tracksetters are a nice addition for grooming especially when the trails are icy. The real benefit for these machines is the all way blade. The blade moves snow from the edges into the trail, fills in snow shadows, reshapes hills after snow plowers concave the surface and helps to mix new snow into the old. Having a blade will improve the skiing conditions immensely well worth the money.”
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Lost and Found
LOST: a pair of men’s black ski gloves (eau claire?) at Little Elbow on Monday. Last seen on top of car parked just before the closed gate.
Volunteers required on Sat Oct 31
Shaganappi Nordic Operations requires volunteer help Saturday October 31st afternoon for winter set-up of the snow stakes and rope fencing around tee boxes at the Shaganappi Point golf course in Calgary. Click the link or email directly to shagnordic@gmail.com
I am not sure if this is a done deal or not and i dont want to discourage anyone but this looks like a very expensive groomer toy. There are many, many winters in wbc where the snow is thin at best and a machine this size will be of no use. Better to get more light weight equipment and train more people to use it. I am very happy to make my donation but I do not think this is the right direction.
Hi Greg,
I’ve been low snow grooming for 40 years. These machines with the right track set up only need 3 inches of compacted snow To set a decent track. Using skidoo’s ATVs and even the k trucks are easier to operate but were never really designed for the work we make them do. A place like WBC that has had an explosion of popularity that requires countless man hours of time plus an increased wear and tear on skidoo’s and ATVs to maintain requires grooming specific equipment.
The purchase of this cat will mean more fresh grooming less volunteer hours and an overall better product. Sled grooming is for small cross country areas that don’t have as many skiers as WBC. Eventually you have to get the right tool for the job.
thanks Jeff
I guess your 40 years trumps my 4 and i will not push this issue but that machine would have been grinding up mud from under our recent snowfall rather than packing over top.
maybe we will get so much snow in the future I will look the fool. I sure hope so.
My understanding from talking to staff at WBC is that the new machine effectively allows all of the necessary snow work for the local conditions and excellent track setting in one pass, vs multiple passes doing multiple stages given the limitations of the current machine relative to the snow conditions. This saves much time and labour as well as maintenance hours on the machine and the product is better for the conditions that have to be dealt with and the amount of use the trails get. Sounds like a wise choice, especially with 65+ km’s of trail. I’m sure boomer or Alf could add more if need be for people to understand the need. I always thought the track setting was great and never realized it could be better, or faster. Thanks for educating me on what it takes to make it great for our use and enjoyment.
The rotor tiller and hydraulic tracksetters are a nice addition for grooming especially when the trails are icy. The real benefit for these machines is the all way blade. The blade moves snow from the edges into the trail, fills in snow shadows, reshapes hills after snow plowers concave the surface and helps to mix new snow into the old. Having a blade will improve the skiing conditions immensely well worth the money.
The donation links are kind of buried in there. So here they are:
https://www.braggcreektrails.org/donate-now/
or directly:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/13948 (one time or recurring)
https://donorbox.org/gbcta-trail-donations (recurring only)
Check out Snow Rabbit manufacturer’s site: http://www.snowtech.co.kr/en/company/greetings/ “Snow is God’s most beautiful and romantic gift to man”.
Thanks, Peter. I updated my story with some of this info. -Bob
Donated!