Last winter was a short one for winter sports enthusiasts like ice fishermen and snowmobilers as warmer weather in December and January caused activities to be put on hold until later in the season.

Snowmobile trails didn’t open in earnest until about the middle of January, according to Roselyn Carter, who is in charge of publicity and advertising at the Pontiac Snowmobile Drivers Association. According to Carter, trails need about 10 inches of snow before they can be opened up for riding.

Carter added that trails have been open later in the season for the last few years, however, she can remember a time when . . .

snowmobiling in December was common.

“A generation ago we used to be able to snowmobile in December quite regularly. But that was when we were kids, not anymore,” she said.

However, once last year’s season did start, conditions were perfect for snowmobiling.

“Once it got going after the middle of January, the trails were really good,” she said.

Despite a few hiccups with maintenance equipment, Carter said the trails were well maintained throughout the season.

Carter said she was far less concerned about the weather causing problems for snowmobiling in the Pontiac than she was with snowmobilers who don’t follow the rules.

“Most of our members are quite conscientious about landowner properties,” she said. “But we fight this battle every year, we lose landowner permissions because people won’t stay on the trails and they go off riding on farmer’s fields, through fences and all over the place. It’s generally thought that it’s not our members that are doing it, but people that just don’t bother buying trail passes.”

She said property owners lose their patience after snowmobilers go off trails and don’t obey speed limits, which causes the association to lose trails.

Carter is also disappointed by the lack of support the association receives from municipal councils, despite all the people the trails bring to the Pontiac.

Overall she is concerned that if snowmobilers don’t do a better job they’ll lose access.

“We just really want to emphasize that riders have to obey the rules and stay on the trails if they want to continue to have trails in the future because it’s it’s a real problem”, said Carter.

Ice fishermen that spoke to The Equity say that this season was shorter compared to previous ones, causing them to tread carefully due to the thin ice. According to Ian Purcell, Pontiac ice fishing spots didn’t thicken up sufficiently until after Feb. 11.

Other fishermen agreed that this season was a short one.

“The season was a lot shorter,” said ice fisherman, Brian Duval. “I usually put up an ice shack every year but this year was my last as next year I will buy a tent to fish out of.”

The ice just wasn’t as thick as it was in previous years, according to Duval.

“The thickness of the ice never came close to other years, I’m talking two-threeyears ago, This year we reached a max of 12-14 inches,” said Duval. In other years we were at 18-24 inches.

Kevin Kluke, fire chief for both Bristol and Campbell’s Bay, said that while the ice on the Ottawa River has definitely been worse, it has also been better.

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