Tag: cottage snowmobilers

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Cottage Life

Polaris issues snowmobile recall due to fuel tanks catching fire

The Indy 120 is just one of the snowmobile models that has been recalled by Polaris. Photo by Polaris

You may want to double-check your snowmobile’s fuel levels before heading out this weekend.

Off-road vehicle manufacturer, Polaris, issued a recall for several of its snowmobile models after discovering that operating the vehicle with a low fuel level after long-term storage could cause the fuel tank to explode and the snowmobile to catch fire.

“[It] could create an increased risk of an electrostatic discharge (spark) inside the fuel tank. If this happens, vapours may be ignited inside the fuel tank, and the tank could rupture,” the company said in the recall announcement.

In Canada, 60,904 snowmobile units are affected by this recall, including the 2019-2023 models of the Indy snowmobile, the 2016-2023 models of the RMK snowmobile, the 2013-2019 models of the Rush snowmobile, the 2016-2023 models of the SKS snowmobile, the 2013-2023 models of the Switchback snowmobile, the 2018-2021 models of the Titan snowmobile, and the 2018-2023 models of the Voyageur snowmobile.

The company issued a similar recall in the U.S. last November for its Matryx, Axys, and Pro-Ride snowmobiles. In that instance, there were 30 reports of fuel tank ruptures, including 16 fires and one injury.

If you own one of the affected models, Polaris said you should immediately stop using the snowmobile and not attempt any repairs yourself. Instead, contact Polaris to schedule a free repair at an authorized Polaris dealer.

If you need to start the vehicle to get it onto a trailer to transport it to a dealer, Polaris said you should ensure the fuel tank is full. If it’s not full, fill it up with fresh gasoline.

To schedule a repair, you can contact Polaris at 1-800-765-2747.

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Cottage Life

‘No ice is safe ice’: OPP reissues warning after snowmobiler dies falling through lake

Photo Courtesy of the Ontario Provincial Police

Ontario Provincial Police are reminding snowmobilers who are anxious to get on the trails that recent weather has made trail conditions unstable. They are asking riders to exercise caution when heading out on the water. The reminder comes in the wake of a snowmobile incident on Six Mile Lake over the weekend that left a 59-year-old man from Scarborough, Ont. dead and another injured after their snowmobiles went through the ice on Six Mile Lake in the Township of Georgian Bay.

“Right now, we’ve not had a deep freeze, like some very cold nights, that gets you that ice thickness. So, although it appears that there’s ice in most places, it’s been unpredictable, and it makes the conditions very poor,” said Const. Aaron Coulter with the OPP.

A mild winter has caused snowmobile trails to remain closed. As an alternative, Coulter says some snowmobilers are driving on waterways. “It’s just not safe,” he says. “Our message is always going to be to stay off the ice unless you’re very confident that there’s the thickness there. But no ice is safe ice.”

A 58-year-old from Toronto was also involved in the accident on Six Mile Lake, near O’Leary’s Island on Sunday morning, however, he survived.  A cottager spotted the two men struggling in the water and called emergency services.

Members of the Southern Georgian Bay Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detachment, OPP Aviation Services, Georgian Bay Fire Department, and Simcoe County and Muskoka Region Paramedics arrived on the scene, taking over for residents who were attempting to rescue the snowmobilers.

Six Mile Lake
Photo Courtesy of the Ontario Provincial Police

Emergency services managed to remove the 58-year-old Toronto man from the water and transport him to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries. The 59-year-old, however, had gone under the water and wasn’t found.

The OPP brought in their Underwater Search and Recovery Unit to look for the man. Members of the recovery unit found the man’s body at 2:35 p.m. on Monday afternoon.

Six Mile Lake
Photo Courtesy of the Ontario Provincial Police

If you witness someone fall through the ice, Coulter says it’s useful to have supplies, such as a rope and floatation device, on hand. But walking out onto the ice could put you in danger. The first step should always be to call emergency services. They have the equipment and training to rescue someone who’s fallen through the ice.

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Cottage Life

Northern Ontario lodge’s abrupt closure puts snowmobilers in a lurch

Photo Courtesy of Halfway Haven Lodge Facebook

Northern Ontario snowmobilers have found themselves stranded after Halfway Haven Lodge, a local accommodation and fueling spot for riders north of Sault Ste. Marie, announced on February 24 that it was closing for the remainder of the season.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, we regret to announce the immediate closure of The Halfway Haven Lodge for the remainder of the snowmobile season, effective February 24th, 2022. There will be no fuel, accommodations, or food services available, therefore we do not advise travelling the snowmobile trails to the lodge for safety reasons,” Halfway Haven wrote on Facebook.

The lodge is located smack in the middle of the Canadian Shield wilderness, accessible by car only through a 60 kilometre logging road off of Highway 101. Despite its isolation, Halfway Haven plays an integral role in the snowmobiling ecosystem of northern Ontario. It acts as a halfway point on trails connecting Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa and Chapleau, both towns that depend on snowmobile tourism.

Without Halfway Haven as a fuel stop, the machines that groom the trails aren’t able to make the full trip, meaning snowmobile trails leading to Halfway Haven have had to close.

“My groomer takes 360 litres to make it to Halfway [Haven]. He can’t carry enough fuel to return home,” explained John Breckenridge, president of the Sault Trailblazers snowmobile club. “I need fuel there, and I need a place for my operator to spend the night.”

The trips from Halfway Haven to Wawa and Chapleau are both over 100 kilometres. With trails closed due to lack of grooming, snowmobilers who headed out for a ride on February 24 found themselves stranded. Ben Pehlemann was one of them. He took to Facebook to ask if anyone had a truck that could transport six snowmobiles from Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa after the trails closed on him.

The lodge’s abrupt closure was due to Halfway Haven staff, who live at the facility for three months of the year, quitting without notice. “Unfortunately, they decided for whatever reason that they were no longer interested in being there at the lodge,” says Dan Hollingsworth, a spokesperson for Halfway Haven. The lodge did put a call out for new employees, but considering the how late into the season it is and how remote the location is, there were few applicants.

Breckenridge, however, says he heard the staff were unhappy with on-site management and that’s what prompted the walk out. In an attempt to get the lodge running again, the Sault Trailblazers have scheduled a conference call with Halfway Haven to see how the club can help. “It affects our whole district,” Breckenridge says.

At 24-years-old, the lodge’s structure is makeshift at best. Built as a hunting cabin, it runs on a diesel engine that costs $400 a day. This combined with its remote location makes staffing and upkeep difficult. To ensure the longevity of The Halfway Haven, Hollingsworth and his team at N1 Solutions are working on behalf of Korey Wischmeyer, a Michigan-based businessman who owns the lodge, to create a plan to redevelop the property.

“Our plan is to continue to work with Korey and his team to build out what we feel is a feasible new design for the facilities. We’re looking at completely modernizing and redeveloping the site, looking at reconsidering the staffing model, and then building out a feasibility study,” Hollingsworth says. “Then we’ll present the case to Korey to make a further investment into the facilities.”

As part of the plan, Hollingsworth says they’re looking at increasing the operation time to eight or nine months a year; introducing adventure-type activities, such as kayaking, canoeing, sport fishing, and improving trails for ATV use.

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Cottage Life

Property owners threatening to revoke access to Ontario snowmobile trails

Photo by Sean Donohue Photo/Shutterstock

Ontario’s snowmobile season is in full swing and Family Day is is one of the most popular weekends for riders. The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs says this year has been one of the most popular years on record with just over 100,000 people purchasing snowmobile permits. Yet, despite the growing interest, the OFSC is concerned that future trail use may be in jeopardy.

At the end of January, the OFSC launched its Save Our Trails campaign after landowners, who voluntarily provide parts of their property for snowmobile trail use, stated that they would restrict access due to negative interactions with riders. The federation has established a network of 30,000 kilometres of prescribed trails running across Ontario, 60 per cent of which fall on private land.

“Largely, it’s trespassing,” says Ryan Eickmeier, CEO of OFSC. “It’s leaving marked trails.” An example would be going into a farm field off of the trail or accessing the trail during times of the year when it’s not permitted.

There isn’t a concrete number on how many trails could be pulled, but with 18,000 partnered landowners, Eickmeier says it’s an issue affecting all 16 of the federation’s districts.

When access to a trail is revoked, it interrupts the OFSC permitted trail network, making it more difficult for snowmobilers to get to their desired destination. “You can only reroute in so many places,” Eickmeier says. He adds that it can also cause snowmobilers to lose access to a town they may have relied on for gas, food, or accommodations—in turn, impacting the revenue those businesses earn from snowmobilers.

To avoid this, the OFSC is asking snowmobilers to stay on the marked trails and to respect the rights and property of landowners. “I would reasonably say that some people do not understand the full significance of going off-trail,” Eickmeier says. “It may seem harmless, it may seem like something that they’re just doing and it’s not going to impact anyone. But it does.”

The OFSC has introduced an educational video about trail use that every snowmobiler must complete before being able to purchase a trail permit. Eickmeier says the federation is hoping that between the video, provincial radio PSAs, and their group of volunteer ambassadors, people will get the message.

“I think that the group that’s going to be most influential is the 100,000-plus permit buyers who literally count down the days before permits go on sale and watch weather forecasts for their first time out,” he says. “They’re the ones that are going to lose the privilege of accessing this land because a handful of people have decided that they’re above the rule of law.”

Law enforcement is patrolling trails and has been very active this year, Eickmeier adds. If a snowmobiler is found off-trail on private property, the landowner can press trespassing charges.

“We want to ensure that this incredible 30,000-kilometre network of trails that our clubs roll out each and every year is going be around for the next 50 years.”