Track Setters

Prinoth Bison2024 Prinoth Bison X
Liaison Director/ Contact person

Main contact – manager@skilarchhills.ca

Day Groomers Coordinator
PB Edge and RTV grooming

George Jackson

Backup Day Groomers Coordinator

David Millard

Small Equipment Coordinators
Snowmobile and RTV grooming

David Millard

Track Setters and Support Volunteers

Al Hardy, Bent Kristensen, Bill Prytula, Craig McBride, Dave Brubaker, David Maxwell, David Millard, Ernie Whitehead, George Jackson, Jeremy Ayotte, Jerry Hutter, John Thielman, Mike Dobbin, Phil Wallensteen, Kari Wilkinson.

Volunteer Tracksetters

The above noted Tracksetters are a dedicated and talented team of volunteers who are out every day of the week using either the snowmobiles and/or the new 2024 Prinoth Bison.

Our Track Setters of the Day are responsible for the operations on their day.

The Small Equipment Crew are volunteers who assist with the maintenance and grooming of our trails using snowmobiles to groom the narrow trails.

If you are interested in helping
  • Mechanical interest, driving skill, and the ability to work in a team environment are needed.
  • Cross Country Ski experience and a flexible schedule are also desirable.
  • The time commitment is a minimum of one day a week during the ski season.
  • Schedule adjustments can be accommodated, as we are all volunteers, and can be flexible.
  • Training records and logs on all machines are maintained.
  • To use a chainsaw as a volunteer, you must have taken a chainsaw course and wear safety equipment
  • Some track setting is done every day to ensure people have a freshly groomed surface if that is what they wish. This means, we rotate from the Central trails to the North and to the South with at least one-third of the system being done each day.
  • Dead-end Trails such as South Canoe, which is a multi-use area, the Far East, and the Thielman Ski Out are done only after the major loops in the Central, North and South are completed.
  • New in 2012 was the conversion of a short existing, fairly level trail, Sunshine, to an out and back trackset Canine trail from the Parking Lot. The old non-trackset canine trail half way up the Hill is still used and several skiers use multi-purpose South Canoe for skijoring or for skiing close to Salmon Arm.
LHNS Snow Grooming Equipment
Prinoth Bison X

The club is excited to have the new addition to Larch Hills, especially with all the wide trails the area is known for.  A few of the new accessories with the Bison include a Power Tiller and Nordic Liner, which guarantees cross country ski trails that meet Olympic standards. The four track setting plates and the track tillers can be used independently. They adjust position and surface pressure depending on the requirements and condition of the trail. The Skating finisher has a smaller profile than an alpine tiller, which produces a finer, narrower corduroy finish – ideal for a smooth skating glide.

The LHNS tracksetter replacement committee selected the Prinoth Bison snowcat for its performance and efficiency — it is also built in Canada. The Power tiller was built in Germany. The total cost of the new snowcat, tiller, training, delivery and taxes is approximately $630,000. LHNS President Suzy Beckner expressed the club’s gratitude to all of the community members that donated to this initiative.

The new Bison X has impressively low emissions. The machine meets the world’s highest emission standards—Euromot Stage V. In addition to diesel, it can also run on HVO, GTL or BTL without any modifications needed to the engine. This means LHNS can stick with standard diesel or explore alternative fuels to help minimize CO2 even further.

An exhaust treatment system with SCR catalytic converter, oxidation catalyst and diesel particulate filter reduces emissions to a minimum. These upgrades make the Bison the cleanest snow groomer in its class and also meet the clubs goals to minimize their carbon footprint.

Scandic Snowmobiles

Bought in 1996, this light, fast, wide-tracked 1997 snowmobile has been a workhorse. Now used primarily as a medical emergency machine with our first aid toboggans, it has also been used for a hauling a sled, tracksetting, early packing, and in a support role for Club Events where it moves people and items around the trails.

In the Fall of 2008 a bigger, stronger 2009 4-cycle Scandic was bought and paired with a Ginzu Groomer to set a surface for classic or skating. It provides a backup for the PB and also allows us to groom the narrower trails such as Town View and Tom’s Shelter.

In the Fall of 2014, a third snowmobile, a 2015 4-cycle Scandic, was purchased which allows us to have 3 machines out at once. This enhances the safety of our operators and allows for quicker grooming.

In 2015 two more snowmobiles were donated to LHNS consisting of a 2006 2-cycle Scandic and 2008 4-cycle. We will use these machines as training and special event transportation units.

LHNS Tracksetter History

Our trails are maintained by the Larch Hills Nordic Society (LHNS) and the Shuswap Outdoors Club! (SO!) through agreements with Forestry and Recreation and BC Parks.

  • Logging roads and skid trails have been the base for our trail system since the beginning
  • Approximately 50K of trails is machine track set and approximately another 100K is non-trackset
  • SO! started skiing in Larch Hills in 1973-74 and organized the first actual paid trail work in 1976-77.
  • In 1980-81 SO! helped purchase our first machine, a Twin Track Alpine. From the beginning, people volunteered themselves or their equipment to work on our trails.
  • In 1997 Erik Olson donated one day’s cat work to provide more skating trails.
  • In 1998 woodlot owner Glen Ritchie provided us with the South Loops.
  • In 2003 a Forestry Initiative grant through Federated Co-op provided $10,000 for Larry Scott, a cat operator, to begin major work on our trails. In 2005, LHNS widened trails for the new Pisten Bully and now has a yearly budget for trail work.
  • In 2005 the first snow shoe trails were started and they now extend to both Bogs and to Cec’s Cabin about a 4 hour round trip on snowshoes.
  • In 2009 Curt Olson, owner of the neighbouring Woodlot, assisted us by providing machine access out to Town View, and down to South Canoe in 2010.
  • In 2012 Tolko logging provided a connection to the Far East and in 2013 created new roads and views beyond the North Hub. Approvals for connections to existing back country trails are in progress.
  • In addition to our budgeted maintenance, LHNS programs such as Adopt-a-Trail, Take Back the Hills, yearly clipping and pruning, mowing by Caretaker Pauline, and more recently, High Branch pruning, all help to keep our trails in good shape.
  • The Shuswap Trail Alliance maintains a trail issue reporting system to help us keep on top of trail problems.
  • Since 2009 BC Parks and the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources has been working with LHNS and SO! and the Shuswap Trail Alliance to control summer access to sensitive habitat through gates, stiles and concrete barricades
Acknowledgments

Many thanks to our members, to our fund raisers, to our individual donors, and to our Treasurers and Executives who ensure our equipment is kept in good repair and can be replaced when needed! We are also grateful to the Trimmers who help keep branches and bending trees off our trails.