THUNDER BAY — It's taken two years to undo the extensive damage that a rain, snow and ice-storm did to the snowmobile trail network in Northwestern Ontario.
Trees and branches were knocked down across about 900 kilometres of trails.
Adrian Tessier of Thunder Bay Adventure Trails says "It's been a long, uphill struggle, but it's nice when you get to the top of the hill and you can look back to see what you did. It's a great feeling."
Tessier, the groomer coordinator of TBAT, also serves as president of the Northwestern Ontario Snowmobile Trails Association.
He said volunteers, helped by donated or discounted equipment rentals from local suppliers, were able to reopen about two-thirds of the trails in time for last season.
The remainder will be cleared up in time for the upcoming snowmobiling season.
"It was a huge job. You have to really consider the volunteers who are out doing this. Some of us are retired. Those who aren't are giving up their evenings and weekends to do this for the snowmobiling public," Tessier said.
He's hoping good snow conditions this winter provide a boost to trail permit sales.
As of Monday, barely 100 permits had been sold for the upcoming season.
In the late 1990s, Tessier said, annual permit sales totalled about 3,500.
Thunder Bay Adventure Trails even had signs made up, he said, advertising itself as the biggest snowmobile club in the world.
All the funding for trail maintenance comes from permit revenue.
Over the last couple of years, some sections of the regional network have been re-routed to circumvent swamps and areas more severely damaged by the 2017 storm.
On Tuesday, a work crew will head to a trail west of Lake Shebandowan which connects with Atikokan.
They'll have to clear a four-kilometre section by hand, because the equipment they had planned to use isn't immediately available.
"It will take a couple of days, depending on how many people show up," Tessier said.
