Memberships/Trail Passes
https://albertasnowmobile.ca/ . Stay tuned for info on buying your 2025/2026 passes!
What's Happening Now!
Another winter of sledding has come to a close with the good news being that we were much closer to a normal snow year than experienced the previous couple of winters. In particular, the weather was mild and there was reasonable snow to allow for sledding during the Christmas/New Year time frame. I hope you were able to take advantage of this opportunity as I was. The purpose of this email is to share some of other positive outcomes for our Club over this last season:
- All trails were cleared and ready for use prior to the Christmas/New Year time frame with additional contracted services utilized due to limited volunteer availability.
- Concept approval from the primary stakeholders was received for the proposed Harmon Valley Trail. An initial layout has been proposed and will be reviewed with all stakeholders shortly; barring any unanticipated concerns being raised, the plan is to be ready for development at the start of next season.
- The Club’s legacy trail, Osmond/Getaway Cabins Trail experienced several successes:
- Approximately 12 km at the north end of the trail was mulched prior to the start of the season.
- Approximately 5 km on the east side of the trail to the north of the Leddy Lake was cleared on a trial basis with a brush mower. It is expected that this process will be used where appropriate going forward and will assist in reducing costs of trail maintenance.
- Only minor work was required this past season in order to allow access in the slide area on the south side of the Whitemud River.
- Approval was secured for a new rest area at Driftwood Lake which is where the trail terminates at the north end. All items for the rest area have been secured and will be installed prior to the start of the next season.
- This year's Poker Rally was held on the west side of the Peace River, and for the first time utilizing the staging area and loop at the east end of the Zavisha Smith Mills Trail.
- The Club’s website was updated and the Facebook page, which had a duplicate was reduced to a single site and update as well, thanks to the assistance of Dianne Lavoie. Both sites had increased traffic indicating increased interest in the Club in spite of the previous two winters which provided poor sledding conditions.
- The Club sponsored three groups on trail tours with one related to stakeholders/Trail Sponsor and the other two related to Mighty Peace tourism both of which have provided increased visibility for our Club. The Club also was a sponsor/participant of the Grand Opening of Phase 1 of the Hines Creek Park Project which provided an outdoor skating rink and sliding hill at the west end of Main Street.
- The early years of the Club saw the Club struggling constantly to secure the funds required to operate the Club and in particular to develop and maintain the trails. This is no longer the case with the Club now challenged to identify development and maintenance projects to appropriately utilize the funds. These funds have resulted from:
- Increased memberships in the form of ASA Trail Passes – 2024/25 156 annual and 42-day Trail Passes.
- Poker Rally proceeds and donations – Thank you to all participants and to those that provided cash and in-kind donations for this event.
- Increased sponsorships – R. Osmond Tree Services Ltd., Baytex Energy Ltd., Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (in association with the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta) and Zavisha Sawmills Ltd. (in association with the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta).
- Casino proceeds - Alberta Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Commission.
- General donations to the Club – Vision Credit Union.
- Government funding – The Province of Alberta via the Alberta Snowmobile Association which has been appointed the Trail Operator for all snowmobile trails in the province.
Thank you to all who contributed to these successes of our Club this past season. Please know that work has already started in regard to improvements for next season. The Club in conjunction with the Alberta Snowmobile Association is aware of the short comings associated with the online system for the purchase of Trail Passes last season and hence you can expect the following:
- Corrections have been made to allow the purchase of multiple Trail Passes online under one email address, which is a change that will especially be welcomed by families.
- Trail Pass sales will be available both online and in paper form next season. Although you will continue to be encouraged to purchase Trail Passes online, you will again also be able to purchase Trail passes from local dealerships or Club Executive members.
As you can see our Club is active, financially secure and focused on the future however one area of concern exists that we need your help with. The Club was unable to fill two of the Executive positions last year. We are thankful to Dianne Lavoie for covering the work of the Secretary position and I was appointed to the Publicity position at the November 24, 2024 Executive meeting, in spite of having little for qualifications and being away most of the winter. Although all of the Executive positions are only elected for one year terms, we are especially concerned as we are aware that additional positions will be vacated by current Executive members. We are asking that others consider accepting an Executive position which would start following the Annual General Meeting in October 2025. Should you wish more information on the vacant positions and/or a description of the role, please contact Brian Montgomery – Vice-President, who is also Chair of the Nomination, at 780-219-1874 or montybc@telus.net.
Enjoy your summer and we will be expecting you on the trails this coming season!!
Dwayne Buchholtz
Director/Publicity
Peace Valley Snow Riders
Cell 780-618-1504
Thank You!
Our club would like to thank everyone that volunteered with trail preparation and maintenance and all that sponsored or contributed equipment or time to make our trails what they were this year.
And I would like to thank all the people used our trails and bought passes to support the club.
THANK-YOU.
And to all future trail pass purchasers next year.
If you want to help the CLUB by volunteering, please contact myself at number or email below or CLUB members you know on how and when to help us.
We thank you for your help and see you soon on CLUB trails.