View Full Version : Hoodoo
Went up last Saturday 5/3/2008. Still good (Snow Cone) snow. South sides of some buttes are getting thin however the other sides are in great shape. This was my first trip there. Can't wait till next year to try it with real snow. Great area.
sorry to bring up an old thread but its easier than starting a new one.
anyways has anyone tried to ride at hoodoo yet this season. looks like it has been continuously dumping up there for a few days now. i am thinking about trying to go up there on sunday. just wanted to see if anyone else has been up there yet.
Ryan4432
12-22-08, 07:19 AM
so did you go up sunday? if so how was it? i think i'm gonna head up there soon, maybe wednesday!
no we ended up not going.. still about 8 inches of snow here in salem. we are waiting for hoodoo to get just a little more snow. so we can actually ride like we are used to... if you go up keep us posted on how it is
Went up near Hoo Doo last Saturday. Turned out to be a short ride do to one of Kelsey's 827 engines blowing up. The pow was deep with no bottom lots of snow over the hood. Just road riding yet but lots of fun (while it lasted).
Tim
Ryan4432
12-29-08, 01:21 PM
does anyone know if benson has been groomed yet?
my3rvrs
12-29-08, 05:30 PM
It was not groomed as of Sat.
That is why I quit that club. They don't groom on a regular basis.
i am a member of mt jefferson and also part of the grooming group. if you have any questions or concerns about how the grooming is going up there please let me know and i will either answer them or try to get it handled the best i can.
but just as a heads up our groomer was off the mountain all summer long and had some very severe and extensive work done to it by a handful of members of Mt. Jefferson. the groomer wasnt even on the mountain till about a week ago. now that we have a bunch of snow and the groomer is up there and working better than new, the trails will be groomed regularly.
also this summer we did a ton of trail work and opened up a lot of trails. this year there is going to be many more miles of groomed trails.
also please remember that grooming is on a completely voluntary basis. members volunteer time out of their personal riding time to sit in the groomer for hours to make the trails amazing to ride. i think that everyone that grooms should get a big "thank you" from everyone that rides the trails.
this post is not directed towards anyone personally, but I just hate hearing how we dont groom the trails often. the past few years we have been dealt a really bad hand with groomer luck, but this year will be much much different.
Those that gripe that the trails are never groomed are never in line to drive the groomer, are they. Pity. We can use all the help we can get.
Ford428CJ
12-30-08, 07:13 AM
Those that gripe that the trails are never groomed are never in line to drive the groomer, are they. Pity. We can use all the help we can get.
I don't gripe.......BUT I need to join!!! LOL ;)
I like to boondock when ever I can LOL
The nice thing about this forum is that we can express and see both sides of an issue - and believe me I have been there myself.
There have been times where I have just been trying to get somewhere that requires hitting a trail for a mile or two (along with everyone else) and it has been so beat up it takes forever and is almost painful. When you’re in the middle of that it is easy to get discouraged or frustrated about grooming operations.
At the same time, I have seen how hard the clubs work to keep things in good shape and realize that all kinds of factors (increasing traffic, resources, time, weather, equipment, etc.) affect grooming. During those moments, I remind myself that most grooming operations are done on a volunteer basis and people are doing their best to keep things as smooth and clean as possible. They do this while balancing various priorities, issues and dynamics. The people doing the grooming are riding the same trails, which may give them a little advantage in that they know what kind of shape the various parts of the system are in. Another good reason to volunteer I guess.
Yes, sometimes the trails suck and kind of make your day less than perfect. However, a big thanks to the clubs and volunteers who are doing their best to make it as perfect as possible.
I appreciate people’s courage to speak up here and raise an issue, even if it is perhaps unpopular. As long as things remain civil and we respect each other’s opinion, we can have some good dialogue.
Ben
I got tired of seeing this happen all the time on SW. One guy states his opinion and then everyone starts bashing him. Never happened to me before but I guess there is a first time for everything. So about me; I am a firm believer in joining clubs and doing whatever you can do to protect the sport. I was a member of Mt. Jefferson club for 3 years. I have continued to be a member of OSSA, WSSA and usually two Oregon based clubs depending on where we ride the most. Now my buddies and I ride mostly Mt. Adams or Crecent. I got my family into the sport about 7 years ago and every year we paid our dues to Mt. Jefferson club and even went to some meetings. Every year our money went to the church group that was suppose to groom the trails. On very few visits we were fortunate enough to enjoy some groomed trails. I asked and they just explained it as an old machine with a lot of mechanical issues. On a few occasions they groomed the main road and then pulled tubes and sleds behind the groomer which rutted the road. All the poor trails and rutted roads finally took its toll on my wife and two daugters, so they no longer ride. When I was a member of Mt. Jefferson I did offer to do some grooming but it wasn't their groomer. Believe me, I do appreciate all of the volunteers who give their time and money to keep the sport going. I wish that everyone who rides would join a club. That would be a very big bonus and necessary move to protect this sport. So in closing I am sorry if I offended anyone. I hope this site doesn't turn into a bash the other guy.
THANK YOU TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT VOLENTEER THERE TIME TO PROMOTE AND PROTECT OUR SPORT.
Tim
I got tired of seeing this happen all the time on SW. One guy states his opinion and then everyone starts bashing him. Never happened to me before but I guess there is a first time for everything. So about me; I am a firm believer in joining clubs and doing whatever you can do to protect the sport. I was a member of Mt. Jefferson club for 3 years. I have continued to be a member of OSSA, WSSA and usually two Oregon based clubs depending on where we ride the most. Now my buddies and I ride mostly Mt. Adams or Crecent. I got my family into the sport about 7 years ago and every year we paid our dues to Mt. Jefferson club and even went to some meetings. Every year our money went to the church group that was suppose to groom the trails. On very few visits we were fortunate enough to enjoy some groomed trails. I asked and they just explained it as an old machine with a lot of mechanical issues. On a few occasions they groomed the main road and then pulled tubes and sleds behind the groomer which rutted the road. All the poor trails and rutted roads finally took its toll on my wife and two daugters, so they no longer ride. When I was a member of Mt. Jefferson I did offer to do some grooming but it wasn't their groomer. Believe me, I do appreciate all of the volunteers who give their time and money to keep the sport going. I wish that everyone who rides would join a club. That would be a very big bonus and necessary move to protect this sport. So in closing I am sorry if I offended anyone. I hope this site doesn't turn into a bash the other guy.
THANK YOU TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT VOLENTEER THERE TIME TO PROMOTE AND PROTECT OUR SPORT.
Tim
Hi Tim
I appreciated both your posts. I (and others) know that you are a committed member of the sport, and this forum. I think it is good for people to air their opinions, and for others to respond. This gets things out in the open, and perhaps some good will come of it. There will be no bashing here - and it will never be like SW.
Keep up the good work.
Ben
oregunrmk
12-30-08, 10:03 PM
Hello everyone. I happen to be the grooming chairmen for the Mt. Jefferson Snowmobile club. I will attempt to shed some light on our club and grooming in general. First of all, our club put in over 200 hours working on the groomer and attachment this summer/fall. In addition to that we had four work parties to work on the trails and also cut a new trail in to be able to groom to Little Nash snow park from Ray Benson via the "a" loop. During the 07/08 season we groomed over 800 miles, 06/07 which was our first season as a grooming club, we groomed a little over 600 miles. Previous to that, the grooming was contracted out and we had no control over how much or what was groomed. We are grooming starting tomorrow or Wednesday and will have the trails in great shape for the New Year weekend. Remember, Ray Benson was one of the busiest if not the busiest sno-park in the state last year. With that kind of volume the trails leading out of the park will get moguled up in a single day easily. We need to be able to groom and let them set up for 5-8 hours in order to restore the groomed trails when they are beaten up. I encourage anyone who has a question or would like to volunteer to get a hold of me and we can discuss this. Remember if all we do is pay our dues nothing will get done.
Also, to groom you must have first a base of 36" and snow that is not to wet or heavy. Taking the groomer out in warm wet snow will only cause big ruts and make the trails worse. We are late getting started this year strictly because of conditions like these. We are looking forward to a very good and productive year and I will report on conditions throughout the season. hope this helps, Don.:)
Hello everyone. I happen to be the grooming chairmen for the Mt. Jefferson Snowmobile club. I will attempt to shed some light on our club and grooming in general......
Thanks for the great info. There is a thread on what it takes to be a volunteer groomer in the "general snowmobiling" forum. It would be awesome if we could get some people with experience in this area to join in on the discussion.
Thanks again,
Ben
Ryan4432
12-31-08, 06:57 AM
[QUOTE=oregunrmk;2329]Hello everyone. I happen to be the grooming chairmen for the Mt. Jefferson Snowmobile club. I will attempt to shed some light on our club and grooming in general.
Thank you for this info. i do appreciate it! And a big thanks to all you help for what you do to keep the trails groomed and cleaned up.
Keep up the good work!, Ryan