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The massive snowfalls of late have seen a boost in the number of memberships with the Yorkton Sno-Riders organization.

“I haven’t seen snow like this in 25 years,” said Jason Popowich, former president of the Yorkton Sno-Riders who now spends part of his time grooming trails for the organization. “The memberships are coming with the new snowfalls.”

Popowich, who served as president of the Sno-Riders for 15 years, told Yorkton This Week, “You have to be registered to ride the trails. The registered sleds are essentially what fund the grooming of the trails.”

The club operates three groomers to cover the almost 400 kilometres worth of trail.

Situated at Yorkton, Good Spirit, and Invermay, each machine is responsible for the grooming of trails in their respective areas.

“We promote safe family riding, offering the highest quality in groomed trails using the latest in technology,” said Popowich.

It wasn’t always a case of having groomed trails avaialble.

“Back in the 80s you’d go sledding through a field and hit a rock or some other obstacle. Groomed trails are safe fun for families and signed to industry standards,” said Popowich.

The work doesn’t stop at grooming the trails, members of the club volunteer their time to maintain the many warm-up shelters located along the routes; supplying them with firewood for the stoves and general upkeep.

“We have a lot of long-term members who work incredibly hard. So many who are passionate about their support,” said Popowich, adding, “we’re always looking for new members.”

In the summer, when the trails aren’t operational, the club continues to maintain them.

“We cut the grass in the summer and mow the trails in the fall to provide a high-quality trail for the winter,” said Popowich.

The trails run through the city as well, offering snowmobiling tourists’ food, fuel, and lodging.

“The city has been very supportive,” said Popowich, “Over the years we’ve had to make changes to the trail system and the city has accommodated us.”

Snowmobilers are an important part of winter tourism in the province.

“Yorkton is a major snowmobile hub because of the Sno-Riders,” said Randy Goulden, Executive Director for Tourism Yorkton.

“We’ve worked closely with the club over the years and we were the first city in the province to incorporate groomed trails so snowmobilers could access city amenities.”
 “Tourism has an unloading site for sleds,”she added, “The City of Yorkton is an active partner in bringing snowmobile tourism to the city.”

"There aren’t too many cities that allow snowmobilers to come in to them,” said Popowich.

For additional information on snowmobile tourism and how to become a member of the Sno-Riders visit the Yorkton Sno-Riders Facebook page.