The head of South East Sno-Riders expects it will be a few weeks yet before they can begin grooming snowmobile trails. Dave Boutang says the biggest need right now is at least a foot of snow. He adds, "Right around Christmas time we usually get a pretty good dump. A few years we went between Christmas and New Year's but, generally, the first week in January or so is when we get going."

Boutang says the current cold snap is good for freezing up bogs and other wet areas and they expect to be able to groom the entire network of trails this winter. Last winter, due to mild, wet conditions they were not able to open the Can Am and Tin Pan Trails. But it as much drier this fall. He notes, "We were able to go down the Can Am trail this year, just about all of it, when cleaning debris from the trails, and that's almost unheard of. We plan on opening everything up as soon as we can, but, again, we need snow and some more cold weather to drive the frost down. Other than that we're in very good shape."

Boutang adds there are an unusually high number of beaver dams along the trail system this year and they may need to set up detours around some of them.