Klondike Snowmobile Association Trail Grooming
One of our main activities at the Klondike Snowmobile Association is to groom multi-use trails for you. To see which trails have been recently groomed please visit our Current Trail Conditions page.
Trail grooming involves towing specialized equipment down a trail which cuts down moguls and wind drifts, fills in dips, processes the snow and pans it smooth leaving a firm and smooth trail base for snowmobilers and other trail users to enjoy.
All of our trail groomers are volunteer operated, and the operating cost is covered by a combination of donations, grants and annual membership fees. The grooming routes and frequency depends on snow conditions and volunteer availability.
Our current grooming fleet includes a Kubota RTV fitted with tracks, and two Ski-Doo Skandics, each one customized for towing groomers. Most of our trail grooming is done with our three Mogul Master multi-blade planer drags, however we do have several other types of groomers available for more specific grooming jobs.
Please use extra caution around trail groomers:
- All of our groomers are volunteer operated.
- Groomers may be out at any hour of any day, and are frequently out at night when volunteers are available and trail traffic is quieter.
- Always slow down and yield to trail groomers. Grooming machines are much slower, heavier and larger than regular snowmobiles and sometimes require the full width of the trail to maneuver.
- Our operators are trained to keep an eye out for other traffic, so please be patient and they will let you pass as soon as it is safe to do so.
- After being groomed a trail can be used right away, however the groomed surface will remain nice and smooth for much longer if the snow is left untouched for a few hours to “set” after being groomed. Because of this please do take the opportunity to pass the groomer when the operator signals it is safe to pass, and consider waiting a while before riding back on the same trail.
- Please avoid heavy on and off use of throttle on groomed trails, it causes moguls to grow deeper and faster than steady throttle thumbs.
- Please do not operate any wheel vehicles on the trails during winter, ruts in the snow are dangerous for other trail users and can take hours for our volunteer groomer operators to fix up, which of course means fewer trails will get groomed.
During the winter season the Klondike Snowmobile Association makes an effort to groom the following multi-use trails on a regular basis:
- Adit Lane trail
- Copper Haul trail
- Coal Lake trail
- Jackson Lake trail
- McLean Lake trail
- Mt McIntyre trail
- Mt McIntyre to Fish Lake trail
- Hamilton Blvd trail
- Hamilton Blvd through tunnel to airport
- Upper and lower trails from Porter Creek to the Copper Haul
- Porter Creek to Hamilton Blvd via Kopper King
- Whistle Bend perimeter trail
Other multi-use trails are also groomed by request if volunteers are available.
In addition to grooming the above multi-use trails, the Klondike Snowmobile Association also partners with the following local groups to provide trail grooming support for skiing, dog sledding, fat biking, and various other winter activities…
- City of Whitehorse
- Chadburn Lake Ski Trails
- Contagious Mountain Bike Club
- Yukon Rendezvous
- Yukon Quest
If you are interested in volunteering your time to groom multi-use trails or your group is looking for trail grooming advice or support please do contact us any time!