SUMMERSTOWN, Ontario – The Friends of the Summerstown Trails (FOTST) are looking forward to an even better winter season this year.
Through an in-kind donation from Minimax and a grant from the United Counties of SD&G FOTST have acquired two new groomers for the trails.
“First, a “roller” was built in the Minimax Express welding shop, using a culvert donated by Lin Scott Drainage of Alexandria; this is the second groomer that Minimax co-owner and FOTST member, Yves Poirier has built for FOTST. Rather than using the snowmobiles, this roller will be used to pack down the snow after heavy snowfalls to prepare the surface to do the tracking for the classic skiers and even out the trail for the skate skiers,” reads a statement from FOTST.
The second groomer is a tenderizer acquired through the grant from the Counties.
“The tenderizer will help us in breaking up hard, crusty snow which we have had frequently in the past couple of seasons due to more numerous thaw-freeze cycles occurring, and with more to come with the changing climate. In past years, we sometimes had over a foot of snow on the trails, but too hard and icy to be able to work with and groom. Minimax also had a hand in this one, taking care of the delivery all the way from Wisconsin (U.S.A.),” FOTST state.
The official opening day for the trails this winter is Sunday, Jan. 5. On that day equipment rentals will be free from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
