Brian Browning demonstrates the Snow Dog Trail Groomer for Mayor Alan Harrison. (City of the Salmon Arm / Facebook)
The unique snow groomer prepares the Salmonarm cycle paths for winter activities
With the success of the first, Shuswap Cycling Club is raising funds to buy a second groomer.
For those in Salmon Arm and Shuswap who cycle all year round, including on snow, a dream comes true.
On February 18, the city showed Salmon Arm a new machine used to groom trails in the community as Shuswap Cycling Club is raising funds to buy another.
Mayor Alan Harrison was thrilled that winter users can now enjoy groomed trails from the starting point of 10 Ave SE.
Read more: The proposal to prepare South Canoe Trails for ‘fat bikes’ is approved by the council
Read more: Study investigates flood hazards in Columbia Shuswap
Brian Browning, owner of Center Point Automotive, bought the cleaning machine for the cycling club in late January. He said the machine, called Snow Dog, was built in Russia, but it was introduced across North America to groom trails for mountain bikes with fat tires in winter.
The machine is a small tracked vehicle that tows a maintenance platform behind it that compacts the snow. Browning said it had proven very capable of grooming the South Canoe trails and its width was suitable for the narrow mountain bike trails.
Browning said the Shuswap Cycling Club has been debating the possibility of maintaining trails in South Canoe for years. He said the groomed trails left behind the machine turned out to be wonderful for hikers, snowshoe hikers, and runners, and created a good surface for the fat motorcycles they were originally intended for.
The cycling club is raising funds to buy a second grooming machine and cover maintenance costs through a GoFundMe page and by encouraging people to join the club or upgrade their membership.
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Mountain biking
Get local stories you won’t find anywhere else straight to your inbox.
Login here
