The snowmobile trails have become a centerpiece of the city’s winter tourism. The Yorkton SnoRiders, who maintain the trail, have made a major investment into keeping those trails maintained, adding a third groomer to their fleet at a cost of $275,000.
Jason Popowich, President of the SnoRiders, says that the decision to buy the groomer came from the amount of trails that need to be maintained in the area – over 400 kms spread throughout the region – as well as the difficulty weather often represents in keeping them to the level of quality people expect.
“We found that we were grooming a trail on Monday or Tuesday, and all of a sudden the snow banks would blow onto a trail and our work during the week would be wrecked. We thought it would be best to have three groomers.”
The tractor is a John Deere model purchased locally at Maple Farm Equipment, and the grooming equipment was purchased through Gilbert out of Quebec.
“It’s a long term achievement that we have been working on.”
While a large expense, Popowich believes that the groomer is not merely good for the club, but good for the city as a whole.
“We feel that investing in a state of the art groomer will bring tourism dollars into Yorkton and area.”
Popowich says it takes a lot of people to make the trails happen.
“As a club, we want to maintain the highest quality and safest groomed trails that can be made. That’s a credit to our club members, our hard working volunteers, our gracious corporate sponsors, our hard work through the Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association working through SGI and the sale of license plates on sleds.”
The club’s work has already put Yorkton and area on the map as a sledding destination. The city was recently voted as the Saskatchewan award winner for the Sledtown competition at SnoRiders West Magazine. Popowich says that now they’re competing in the national competition, and Popowich encourages people to keep voting for the city. This can be done by visiting snoriderswest.com and clicking on SledTown Showdown.
“Let’s promote Yorkton.”
