Overflow is raising its ugly head through the snow again. Heavy snow on the lakes forces water up through the cracks.

Here are a couple of emails sent in by riders over the last few days…..

On Sunday I was on a small lake east of Walsh Lake with myself and another guy. I had my Skidoo Renegade and he had a Skidoo GSX, I have a big paddle on my track and he had a small paddle on his track. I was leading and when I hit the overflow I hit the throttle and skipped through it, he did not. We pushed pulled, said a few words we may should not have and went nowhere. The water mixes with snow, made a fairly solid block and the small sled cannot push its way through it. What we ended up doing was to run back and forth on the trail with the Renegade which mixed the snow and water and turned it into water. With the GSX pushing only water it was relatively easy to get out. When making the trail of water do not go slow, keep the throttle on. We were in a foot of snow and 5” of water.

Was out to Blatchford yesterday with a group. Left Reid campground by sled and went out. Lots of overflow about halfway up to the lodge and it just kept going. There was open water as well off of the tree marked trails on the lakes. Figured you should know. Very dangerous and rough after the halfway mark and on to Blatchford.

Hi Bruce

Just a heads up to your riders that JenneJohn Lake has overflow when you are heading south to the Defeat lake portage. I have heard reports of overflow towards Reid on JenneJohn as well.

Mervin Penny is going to run the Powerline loop this Saturday. He is going to meet at the Long Lake boat Launch at 10 and depart shortly thereafter.

This is the same route that we will be taking for the Making Trax Snowmobile Rally on April 1. More info on the Rally to come on Sunday or Monday but the Prizes for the Rally (10), the Silent Auction has about 20 items up for bid and there are about 26 door prizes to be awarded on the ride.

The odds of not winning something are slim. I would estimate the total value of prizes and silent auction items at a conservative $10,000, probably more.

Enjoy the weekend and ride carefully.

Bruce Hewlko, President

Please see the attached March 13th update on the Bullmoose-Ruth remediation project winter road

bullmoose-ruth_remediation_project_-_Winter_Road_Bulletin_#2017-06_March_13__2017

Please see the attached update from February 20, 2017 regarding the Bullmoose, Ruth Winter Road and remediation project.

BULLMOOSE-RUTH_REMEDIATION_PROJECT_February 2017

Coming across YK Bay last night in the dark I found what looks like a commercial blower (skid steer mounted snow blower) has cut 2-3 troughs across Yellowknife Bay in a SE direction towards Dettah between Mosher Island and Negus Point.

Part of it is road-width, the other two (sometimes one) is the width of unit, 6-8 feet. These are very dangerous because they are straight sided and there is little warning due to no evident snow-bank because the snow was thrown. Also, because of the narrow width, its difficult to cross, especially with a boggon.

Very negligent behavior. Someone unaware clipping along in the dark could find a snow packed vertical wall in their face.

Perhaps its better marked in other areas… but I didn’t see it.

There was a facebook post earlier this week from a gentleman who hit one of these unmarked roads resulting in a severely damaged snowmobile and broken arm!

Keep your speeds down and be aware at all times!

The Frostbite 50 is this Saturday – Mar. 18. The racers start at the ski club, across Back Bay to the Walsh Lake trail (not sure if the east or west trail) across Walsh to Prosperous to Cassidy Point, across Hwy 4 to the Hay Lake Trail and back across Back Bay to the ski club. If you are planning on using one of these trails please give the racers the right-of –way.

Overflow has been reported but I haven’t run across any. Lots of deep snow in the bush and off the trails. Also lots of UNMARKED winter roads. Although my road is marked it is blown in but still a good bump if you hit it at speed.

We tried out a drag pulled behind our snowmobiles this past Sunday on the Walsh Lake trail and the Walsh-Prosperous lake trail. It works okay but it does move some snow and helps smooth out the trail. It would have been better if we had started using it as soon as possible in the early winter as some of the dips are big enough to lose a small sled. We can use the drag from Ingram Trail through to Walsh and Prosperous, if we have time we will try it out on the Hay Lake Trail.

The Frostbite 50 is this Saturday – Mar. 18. The racers start at the ski club, across Back Bay to the Walsh Lake trail (not sure if the east or west trail) across Walsh to Prosperous to Cassidy Point, across Hwy 4 to the Hay Lake Trail and back across Back Bay to the ski club. If you are planning on using one of these trails please give the racers the right-of –way.

Attached is a poster for the Making Trax Snowmobile Rally. Please print-off a copy and post in your office, coffee room, company bulletin board and forward to friends and neighbours. As always Marg has done a great job of obtaining prizes for the event and for the Silent Auction. Grand Prize for the Snowmobile Rally is an Ice fishing set-up from Canadian Tire – I haven’t picked it up as yet so not exactly sure what all it contains. Lots of prizes along the trail and for the top Card Hands. Registration is $10 and you get one free card hand. Extra card hands are $10 each.

The Making Trax event will be held at the LONG LAKE BEACH KITCHEN at the east side of the beach. The ride will take place at 1PM on April 1, 2017, registration is open at 11 AM. chili and hot dogs, coffee and hot chocolate will be included in the registration fee. The ride will be along the Powerline Loop.

Ride Safe – Ride Sober.

Bruce Hewlko, President
Great Slave Snowmobile Association

We are happy to announce our Canadian Tire Making Trax Snowmobile Rally

This is the Great Slave Snowmobile Association’s fund-raising event for the year and we are pleased to announce that once again Canadian Tire is the premier sponsor.

Entry fee for this event is $10.00/person which includes your participation in the ride, one free card hand for the Poker Derby and chances to win some great prizes on the ride as well as the opportunity to bid on silent auction items. As in past, riders will have the option to purchase additional card hands for $10.00, there is no limit on the number of hands you can buy!

The trail ride will begin at 1:00PM at the Long Lake Beach Kitchen Shelter, Registration will start at 11:00AM. The ride will be along the Powerline Trail and will be approximately 40 Kilometers with three stops along the way.

This is a family event and kids are welcome with Chilli, Hot Dogs, Coffee and Hot Chocolate served at the end of the ride!

The Grand Prize this year is an Ice Fishing Package donated by Canadian Tire.

Please pass on to your friends/neighbors and co-workers…..the more the merrier!

We hope to see you there!

GSSA – Executive