The Ski-Doo Spring Fever promotion deadline is tomorrow (April 16) and I’ve made my decision! Last winter I rode the Ski-Doo GSX SE 800R E-TEC pictured here, but next season I’m switching to a spring order only 2013 Renegade X E-TEC 600 H.O. on the new XS platform with rMotion suspension. I rode rMotion on a short track MX Z when it came out a year or so ago and was very impressed. Colleagues who have tried it on the Renegade say it works even better on the long track and I can’t wait to ride it all winter. I hear it even comes with snow!!!!

It may not look like it from the photo above, but Old Man Winter really screwed us big time this winter. Many traditional snowbelt regions were skunked, while others suffered less snow than normal. Still, if you searched for it and were prepared to go where and when it was, there was some great trail riding to be had. I found lots and the articles will appear next season in Snow Goer Canada magazine…

My season started between Xmas and New Year’s when I put on over 500 “break in kilometres” on my new Ski-Doo GSX SE 800R ETEC at Ontario’s Northern Corridor. The first week of January, I towed my Triton trailer to Quebec’s Saguenay region to ride almost 1,200 km in the Monts Valin area. Mid-January, I staged out of Northern Ontario’s Kirkland Lake into the Abitibi-Témiscaminque region of Quebec for another 800 klicks or so. I wrapped up the month with a three-day junket to Ontario’s Ottawa Valley, staging out of Renfrew for almost 600 km.

By the beginning of February, I was riding in Eastern Ontario for over 1,000 kilometres, followed by a 2-dayer out of Haliburton, Ontario for another 600. After racking up more distance on several days trips, including the 1st Ontario Snow-cial Ride, it was off the New Brunswick for a 2,100 kilometre tour that finished the first week in March.

Who was to know that the end of my trail riding was co close when I set out for Quebec again to do over 1,400 km in the Quebec, Saguenay and Charlevoix regions in mid-March? Now I’m off to finish up my winter at Crowsnest Pass, having put on a respectable, but low for me, 8,500 kilometres. Oh well, there’s always next winter…

The 1st Ontario Snow-cial Ride took place Tuesday, Feb. 21 and Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Muskoka’s premier JW Marriott Rosseau Resort – and I guess Mother Nature was afraid to get bad press, because it snowed most of the time! Or maybe she rented it from Muskoka Sports & Recreation. We rode local MSR trails on Tuesday and then sampled Almaguin trails Wednesday. It snowed all day!

The Ontariol Snow-cial Ride brought together a bunch of guys who really live and breath snowmobiling - Claude Aumont, Mr.Snowmobiling for Ontario tourism; John Arkwright, touring editor from Supertrax International Magazine; Jeff McGirr, extreme sledder for Lucrestyle Productions; Josh Grills, social networking guru from the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs; and the popular “Groomer Guy” Luc Levesque from Dubreuilville. And of course, yours truly Craig Nicholson, The Intrepid Snowmobiler. Motorcycle maven Mike Jacobs had his debut ride on a sled without hitting a tree! Video thanks to snowmobile.com and photos by Virgil Knapp.

It’s rare that such a group of avid riders can coordinate their busy winter schedules to be at the same time and place, so it speaks to the importance each of us places on working together to promote Ontario sledding. Check out all of our sites for more about the Ontario Snow-cial Ride and if you’re into sledding and social media, stay tuned for the 2nd Ontario Snow-cial Ride next February!

Did you know that the same folks who forecast the economy also predict the weather? No wonder we can’t count on anything…

To date, Old Man Winter hasn’t cooperated in the Great Lakes region of North America. Regardless, I’ve managed to find some great trail riding and have racked up just over 3,000 kilometres in place like Saguenay–Lac-St-Jean, The Northern Corridor, Abitibi-Temiskaming and the Kirkland Lake area.

In my recent travels, I notice that the snow line in Ontario is moving inexorably southwards and from what I can see from the highway, the trails look good in the North Bay area and the Almaguin Highlands. Also the RAP (Ride Around the Park) Tour is open and and doable. And don’t forget to visit Luc in Dubreuilville!

There’s also good riding in the Ottawa Valley and into Eastern Ontario. Their trails are hard and a bit icy now, but some snow in the forecast for the next couple of days should put them back in top shape real quick – and that’s where I’m headed next week!

The big question is: where’s the lake effect snow? Those Great Lakes are just sitting there open, relatively warm and laden with moisture just asking to be turned into snow, but so far it’s a no show. It’s just not possible that Central Ontario’s traditional snowbelt regions can go much longer without a major dump, so bring it on! Meanwhile, there’s great Ontario trail riding to be had – you’ve just got to trailer to it!

Check out my new article on High Tech Sledding in Ontario!

by Craig Nicholson, The Intrepid Snowmobiler

 Many snowmobilers ask me what language challenges to anticipate while touring Canada’s numerous Francophone regions. Suddenly being immersed in an unfamiliar tongue may be a little uncomfortable at first. But the hospitality, charm and desire to help that characterize the Québecois, Acadian and other Francophone communities soon put one at ease. Tourism operators usually have at least a smattering of English, while many others have heard enough from touring snowmobilers to comprehend most basic needs. After all, gas is gaz, and every snowmobiler needs the same things.

Generally, the further one travels into the hinterlands, the scarcer English becomes, but not the welcoming smiles. If you are flexible and patient, and have a sense of humour and adventure, you will do just fine. Some visitors wonder if they will need an interpreter. On several snowmobile tours, a bilingual buddy named Jean has accompanied me. But his proficiency was not the perfect solution I had envisioned. 

Jean tells an amusing anecdote that pretty much sums up our interlocutory experiences. His English-speaking companions got in the habit of deferring to Jean for translation while ordering at every Québec restaurant on their tour. On the last day, they sat down to eat again. When the waitress inquired: “What would you like?” his buddies automatically turned to Jean for the language conversion. “What part of that English question didn’t you understand,” chuckled Jean, “We’re back in Ontario now, guys!”

Translation isn’t necessarily the solution. Frequently, I will ask Jean to get the answer to a question. He will converse back and forth interminably with a group of locals, amid much gesticulation and facial animation, then turn to me and say: “Yes.” By that time, I don’t even remember the question anymore!

Or sometimes, while speaking with fluently bilingual Francophones, their conversation will interchangeably slip in and out of English and French so seamlessly that I’m convinced a new language is being invented. Gathering my courage, I’ll try to follow suit.  I’ll string a few French words together with no context of verbs, tense or adjectives. Then I’ll throw in English wherever my French is deficient. My whole concoction will be phrased with a bogus French accent reminiscent of a B movie actor in a WWII resistance film. Invariably, I will receive a prompt and courteous answer, but never know for certain a) if I understand it properly; b) if it is the answer to the question I have asked; c) that either any of us had any idea what we are talking about; or d) why Jean is laughing so hard.

Lunching in a restaurant one day, I wanted to ask for a trail map in French. I queried Jean for the proper word. Thinking studiously for a moment, he solemnly replied: “Map.” A few minutes later, I asked him to order a hamburger for me. He asked for a “hamburger.” “Wait a minute”, I inquired, “how come you can order successfully using English words, and I can’t?” Jean explained that certain ubiquitous terms had become generic, but they must be pronounced properly. “Like ‘hot chicken’ or ‘grilled cheese’, ” he continued, pronouncing each, once in English, then again with a Frenchified inflection. “That sounds like a Chinese accent to me!” I rebutted. Jean replied with a Gaelic shrug and a French phrase that may have signified “Whatever works”, but could just as easily have meant “Make mine rare”. Now I can always eat Chinese food — even if it isn’t what I really ordered! 

I’ve toured comfortably throughout the Francophone regions of Québec, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Manitoba. Whenever riders inquire about my language adventures, I assure them that they too will rise to the occasion, just like my friend Jean.