Conditions Report: Soft Opening Weekend
The snow is falling in Golden BC and a lot of people have snowmobiling on the mind. Usually we tell people that they should wait a bit longer and technically we can’t ‘recommend’ coming here to sled yet but the reality is that the bowls in Quartz are sledable. Therefore we’re please to announce that we are doing a ’soft’ opening this weekend at Quartz. This means that we will have gate staff at the kiosk in Quartz, where you are able to buy or pick up your memberships. We will also be accepting any donations you’d like to make towards our grooming costs.
Grooming
We’ve hit a couple hurdles in getting our grooming equipment up and running this season and we’re waiting on some parts to come in and some much needed TLC on our equipment to take place. We’re hoping to get things up and running by the last week of November. If you felt like make a donation this week at the kiosk, we will put it all towards the $10,000+ we’re spending on equipment repairs to get up and running.
Snow and Weather
It’s been a cold fall and we’ve seen the October snow stick around up high and the November snow has now made a base. It’s still really early season conditions up there but it is possible to sled. There’s approximately 10 cms in the forecast by Sunday and temps are staying cool.
Avalanche
Just because it’s early season doesn’t mean things can’t get spicy. Please use every precaution when traveling in avalanche terrain.
Glacier National Park is pumping out avalanche reports that are worth checking out https://avalanche.pc.gc.ca/bulletin-eng.aspx?r=3&d=TODAY
You can also check the MIN reports on Avalanche.ca https://avalanche.ca/
Trail Area Conditions Reports
Quartz Creek
Gorman Lake
Silent Pass
East Quartz
Old Man
Westbench Trail
2020 - 2021 SEASON
COVID and the Club
The Golden Snowmobile Club is working hard to ensure the health of our employees and members this season. As snowmobiling trends toward a solitary sport, you may not notice many differences, but then again, maybe you will.
Buying tickets and memberships – our gate kiosks and staff will be outfitted with protective equipment – masks, gloves and an extra window, and we ask that all riders please pay with credit card or debit, to minimize cash transfer.
Parking Lots and Gathering Zones – please ensure you’re observing social distancing by staying 2 metres away from other riders. While you may be comfortable with the risk, some of our other members are not so we ask that you respect their space. This includes line-ups for tickets, outhouses, and chilling outside the cabin.
Cabins and Shelters: we will be posting a maximum occupancy load for each of our two cabins. We ask that you respect these maximums and move outside once you’re warmed up so other can also access the heated indoor space.
Otherwise, we’ll do our best to keep all services, handles, etc clean, but please make sure you’re wearing gloves and not sneezing on surfaces that get a lot of hand traffic.
Highway 1 Improvement
The long awaited twinning of the “canyon” is still going to be “awaited” this year. There are no plans for construction closures beginning this fall or winter, although there may be some disruption starting in April 2021. We will keep you apprised of the situation via our conditions reports, with links to actual factual data and information, when it’s all available.
