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Fish Lake Grooming?

P

PowderMiner

Well-known member
Does anyone know why the grooming is not getting done? Is there a location to find out what is going on and possibly help?

Is grooming managed by the State Parks?
Who decides the distribution of the allocated hours for each contract?
Looking for solutions.

There is X amount of money available from the tabs and gas tax for grooming.
A certain amount of that goes to each grooming contract.
That equals a certain amount of hours for grooming per season.
Someone determines how that is spread out or extra grooming is paid for or even allowed.

Lake Wenatchee area, including: Fish Lake, Mad River, and Eagle Creek has an extraordinary amount of sleds around the holidays and the weekends around them. It is a problem every year and one that has not been addressed adequately. This New Year day was very bad. There has to be some way to increase the grooming rate during this time; which means more money and a willing contractor. What would it cost for full coverage every night between Christmas and two days past New Years? Is there a place that has statistics on snowmobile visits or hot spots that would help provide information for needed "extra" grooming funds. There are ways to do this; grants, fundraisers, donation, volunteering, etc...
 
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Following are contacts for various parts of Kittitas county to either volunteer to help out with tree removal or report areas that a groomer cannot get through because of downed trees.

For I-90 Crystal Springs to Easton – Jim Sternod (206) 948-2946
For Cle Elum Valley – Tim Penelerick (509) 649-2686
For Teanaway Valley – Richard Low – (206) 300-9562
For I-90 south (Easton to Elk Heights) – Dan Johnson (253) 606-0108
For Kachess area (N side of I-90) and Blewett Pass/Table Mtn/Red Top – John Simon, jksimon@fs.fed.us
 
We couldn't make it, I woke up with a terrible sinus infection...spent all day today in the ER getting meds :face-icon-small-sad

I cant believe they aren't grooming...its usually the best maintained system in the state?

Maybe there's too much traffic tearing it up between grooming cycles?
 
Vincenthdfan said:
We couldn't make it, I woke up with a terrible sinus infection...spent all day today in the ER getting meds :face-icon-small-sad

I cant believe they aren't grooming...its usually the best maintained system in the state?

Maybe there's too much traffic tearing it up between grooming cycles?
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that, hopefully you can make it over soon.
I agree it is usually the best... mater of fact i was doing cartwheels and praising the people who got the contract on this site a few years ago. That is why i would like to figure it out or help if i can.

As mentioned before maybe we could switch to a system where the fees are paid to the local contractor each trip or on a season pass to help ensure coverage at an appropriate per sled trips.

I don't now anything about grooming, so it may be that conditions are bad or there is some other factor that is happening the last few days.
 
Thanks for the well wishes.

Anyway, perhaps if you call Fatty K's (the post I linked above), you could tell 'em you'd like to offer your assistance?

At least that way, when you seem more helpful rather than angry, they'll probably be more forthcoming with information on why they're unable to keep up?

I'm sure there's been just a huge butt load of vacationing sledders over there tearing it up faster than the trails can even get set up overnight.
 
I'll check it out... also know some folks that know the groomers and they are going to ask too. The only reason to be mad, for me, would be that if the grooming effort (timing and routes) was focused not on use but rather personal benefit. The complaints were very prevalent today, not just me. It is very cold over here, 5.3 degrees this morning, i would think that it would set up fast? There are probably riders going until 2 am though. We left at 7am on Thursday and were on a fresh groom, for 1/2 mile and not tearing it up... also figured the rest of the trail would be done when we came out of the woods; never was. Maybe the groomer broke.

I think the rec club used to raise funds for helping the groomers. We have packed a saw and cut trees on the bad years, usually coordinated with someone at the rec club.
 
Pacific Mountain Services is listed as groomer. Think that info is old...

Wenatchee River Ranger District
509-548-6977
 
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We rode out toward Trinity on Dec 27 and the groomer was in his machine doing something on the trail near the end (we turned around since it was clear the trail was blocked past that point).

I think it might just be two trillion sleds tearing up the trails about an hour after they are groomed?
 
yes there is grooming and notification, but...

The issue is that the grooming that is being done is severely inadequate. The trails should have full coverage every night surrounding new year.

I assume that this would cost more money than currently allocated. This is what i want to find out. How much does it cost and how to raise the money. If the money could be raised can the contractor perform the work? Would it require the contractor to make an investment (workers/equipment) that is not practical.

The snow conditions are good this year and i am sure there was an unexpected amount of sledders over here. Whatever the situation the trail grooming could have been quadrupled given the situation. I would like to know how much money was left on the table last year since it was a very bad year? I have an incline that it was used. I would like to see an effort made by an organization (rec club?) to work with the groomer contractor to help coordinate fundraising and volunteer help.

http://parks.state.wa.us/FormCenter/Winter-Recreation-9/SnoPark-Onsite-Evaluation-Form-68


I will call the FS this week to see who the contacts are and try to see if i can help.
Correction:
Any questions or comments on grooming should be directed to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Winter Recreation Program by going on-line to winter@parks.wa.gov. You will find phone contact numbers on this site if you need to talk with someone.
 
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PowderMiner, To get your answers you should be able to talk to the Lake Wenatchee Rec Club.

I am not from that area but involved in my local grooming council in the SE corner of the state in Dayton. Each grooming program has a grooming contract either private or state owned. Each program has a grooming council with a coordinator and a council chair and the councils are supposed to hold monthly meetings which in your case should be the Lake Wenatchee Rec Club. This way local snowmobilers help figure out a schedule for the groomer to run on. The coordinator is a local snowmobiler usually who should be making the call.

Each grooming program has a list of trails and mileages and frequencies that they will be groomed throughout the winter. This has pretty much been frozen at the current level for several years due to budget constraints. This is flexible but a guideline to help get through the winter season and this is what helps establish how much money each area is going to get. Again if you are interested in any changes then you are going to have to contact the Lake Wenatchee Rec Club and become involved to have your voice heard.

As far as any money left on the table from last season does not automatically go back to that club plus the next years amount. Leftover money goes back into the whole state snowmobile account to help determine the overall budget to be redistributed the next year. It stays in the snowmobile account, it just doesn't all go back to that one club.

Now my observation to grooming in my area that is no where near your area. We got a lot of snow in a short period of time. One time over does not set a great base to work from. It does take several passes on hopefully the same level to establish a base. If you add a couple feet of new snow before the next pass then you are starting all over again so the grooming will not hold up so well with several inches of snow on top of the old pass as it would if the next grooming was at the same level as the last pass or with only a couple inches of new snow.

As far as costs it varies on conditions so will just throw out a generic number of say the groomer gets $150 per hour and operates at 5 mph then the cost would be $30 per mile traveled. Again equipment and trails and situations vary everywhere so it could be less or it could be more because some areas may have to figure in hauling their groomers by truck if they are contract grooming.

To get your best answers though would be to attend one of the monthly grooming council meetings so contact the Lake Wenatchee Club for details. I hope it does get better for your area. It is great to see all the snowmobiles out and hopefully they are all registered to help with the budget for next year.
 
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I was up there most of last week and caught the groomer out grooming Saturday morning and afternoon. We were first tracks from the Fish Lake Sno Park Saturday morning to French Corral. That being said, the trails were pretty beat up but it is to be expected with the amount of traffic last week.
 
Well if no one else minds then I will fill out a form and drop it. I rarely spend much time on the groomed trails. I will skip registering the 5+ sleds next year.
 
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