to ontario riders

[kyzer]

Totally agree with you Sasquatch. The idea here is to get more people riding on the trails. The more people riding the more it helps Dealers, gas stations, restaurants, hotels, of course the OFSC and it's clubs! The fact is a lot of people don't find the value in riding the trails. Add the price of the sled, equipment, insurance, permit, gas etc.etc. at the end of the day it all adds up..

Because of my busy schedule I rode the trails twice last year, just day runs. Maybe 120kms. I spent $300 Insuring my sled, $250 for my permit, maybe $20 in gas, one lunch $16 and one supper $18. $600 for a half a days riding !! My schedule is busier than last so do I pull the insurance on my sled this year and not buy a permit?

The point is permit sales are down, the future does not look any better. You can jack the price of a permit to $600 and it wouldn't help. Need to find a way to get more people on the trails, and with the price of permits not exactly helping. The vintage permit is a good step in the right direction. Need smart business and marketing decisions to help increase permit sales...

 

[Irv]

So you need the sticker but its free?

This is where I was reading about it...

http://ontarioconditions.com/forums/ind ... e__st__125 Post #147

Sasquatch, I guess I should have said don't need to pay for it then?

No its been free for years but that has little to do with trail passes. If you introduce a fee across the board for trail passes collected when the sled is registered it will apply to all even us Northern Ontario riders. It was the lobby that we in the North put forward to the AGM and were turned down! It is the only thing in my mind that will keep the trails open in the North. Regional passes is something that will work as well, anything to reduce the price of a trail pass. We need more people buying passes to keep the system alive. 210 dollar passes are killing it!

Now the pay to play mentality of those that buy is great and I understand it but its not those people we need to buy passes, we already have them even if the passes hit as some say 500 bucks. Its all those who have quit because of the price of the passes that we need back.

Unfortunatly the pay to play people right away jump on anyone who brings up the price of a pass and get all in your face about it. Great to see the loyalty to the trail system but it is not the solution to the problem of huge reductions in trail pass sales. Getting in someones face about their not having a unquestionable loyalty and willingness to pay whatever is asked just helps to drive riders away. Vinegar and honey idea. If a regional pass at 125 bucks doubles my trail passes sold I'm money ahead.

I'm more then willing to and can think of many ways to push a regional pass and make it work, then to continue to try to convince people here that they can trailer 12 to 16 hours (after of course most buy a trailer) to ride trails around Barrie, North Bay or Renfrew just because their pass gives them access to those places. There is 2,200 sleds registered in this area and just over 200 passes sold. That leaves a lot of room to double the trail passes sold and still be at less then half the passes sold only a few short years ago.

99% of the people just open the garage door and fire up the sled to hit the trails in the North. Its you people in the south east that should trailer up here to this winter wonderland and ride the wilderness trails we have. The OSM magazine riders where most impressed with this area and recommended it as a must ride area. Let me know your coming I'll tour ya around in my retirement!

So hate me if ya think I'm whining about trail passes and attacking your beloved trails but I like to think I'm trying to keep that system alive and heathy for the next generation by pointing out there is a problem lets work together to fix it.

I agree with some of what you have written and I like the idea of the Regional trail passes as I think that is a step in the right direction, but I also believe that the price of a permit is still one of the cheapest parts of sledding but people have got on this "price of a Permit band wagon" and it is still snowballing!

Hard to believe your motion was turned down at the AGM as it is a solid suggestion and one that I think would help out immensely. What was the reason(s) for it being turned down?

Personally, I believe work is needed in a lot of areas to try and get people back buying permits, and educating them that $210 is still a pretty decent deal considering what they get for it.

Like I mentioned earlier, I don't believe permits have even kept up with the price of inflation over the last 10 yrs?

To me, it has a lot to do with the economy and the crappy winters we have had the last couple/few years.
I say if things pick back up and we get some decent winters like we use to have, and we educate people further on how good of a value the permit is, then I think we will see a turn around?

I also agree we "ALL" need to work together to try our best to keep this great sport alive in Ontario!

 

[SledFreak]

So you need the sticker but its free?

This is where I was reading about it...

http://ontarioconditions.com/forums/ind ... e__st__125 Post #147

Sasquatch, I guess I should have said don't need to pay for it then?

No its been free for years but that has little to do with trail passes. If you introduce a fee across the board for trail passes collected when the sled is registered it will apply to all even us Northern Ontario riders. It was the lobby that we in the North put forward to the AGM and were turned down! It is the only thing in my mind that will keep the trails open in the North. Regional passes is something that will work as well, anything to reduce the price of a trail pass. We need more people buying passes to keep the system alive. 210 dollar passes are killing it!

Now the pay to play mentality of those that buy is great and I understand it but its not those people we need to buy passes, we already have them even if the passes hit as some say 500 bucks. Its all those who have quit because of the price of the passes that we need back.

Unfortunatly the pay to play people right away jump on anyone who brings up the price of a pass and get all in your face about it. Great to see the loyalty to the trail system but it is not the solution to the problem of huge reductions in trail pass sales. Getting in someones face about their not having a unquestionable loyalty and willingness to pay whatever is asked just helps to drive riders away. Vinegar and honey idea. If a regional pass at 125 bucks doubles my trail passes sold I'm money ahead.

I'm more then willing to and can think of many ways to push a regional pass and make it work, then to continue to try to convince people here that they can trailer 12 to 16 hours (after of course most buy a trailer) to ride trails around Barrie, North Bay or Renfrew just because their pass gives them access to those places. There is 2,200 sleds registered in this area and just over 200 passes sold. That leaves a lot of room to double the trail passes sold and still be at less then half the passes sold only a few short years ago.

99% of the people just open the garage door and fire up the sled to hit the trails in the North. Its you people in the south east that should trailer up here to this winter wonderland and ride the wilderness trails we have. The OSM magazine riders where most impressed with this area and recommended it as a must ride area. Let me know your coming I'll tour ya around in my retirement!

So hate me if ya think I'm whining about trail passes and attacking your beloved trails but I like to think I'm trying to keep that system alive and heathy for the next generation by pointing out there is a problem lets work together to fix it.

I agree with some of what you have written and I like the idea of the Regional trail passes as I think that is a step in the right direction, but I also believe that the price of a permit is still one of the cheapest parts of sledding but people have got on this "price of a Permit band wagon" and it is still snowballing!

Hard to believe your motion was turned down at the AGM as it is a solid suggestion and one that I think would help out immensely. What was the reason(s) for it being turned down?

Personally, I believe work is needed in a lot of areas to try and get people back buying permits, and educating them that $210 is still a pretty decent deal considering what they get for it.

Like I mentioned earlier, I don't believe permits have even kept up with the price of inflation over the last 10 yrs?

To me, it has a lot to do with the economy and the crappy winters we have had the last couple/few years.
I say if things pick back up and we get some decent winters like we use to have, and we educate people further on how good of a value the permit is, then I think we will see a turn around?

I also agree we "ALL" need to work together to try our best to keep this great sport alive in Ontario!

There is no value in the permit, when they advertise for 210.00 you get to run 37000km of groomed trail. That is TOTALLY FALSE. You will be lucky if a 1/3rd ever get opened and that is on a good year. In fact I can bet that its been about 8-9 years since they have all trails across ONT have been opened. Plus, The once a week grooming does not = good value. It needs to be cut in half at a min or everyone that registers a sled, pays the regular license fee. That would put more people on the trail. More money for groomers and grooming. I believe its all because they want the governmnet money, but without there involvement. They are doomed if they don't do anything.

 

[YammyRX1]

Another thing that I think is strange is that they make me pick one club to receive a portion of the funds when I buy my permit but I might ride in three or four areas. In fact, I buy my permit at a local business because it is so convenient but he only sells them for one club so I don't even have a choice unless I buy it from a less convenient source. Shouldn't we get to direct the funds more easily or split it amongst all clubs if we choose?

 

[Irv]

Another thing that I think is strange is that they make me pick one club to receive a portion of the funds when I buy my permit but I might ride in three or four areas. In fact, I buy my permit at a local business because it is so convenient but he only sells them for one club so I don't even have a choice unless I buy it from a less convenient source. Shouldn't we get to direct the funds more easily or split it amongst all clubs if we choose?

You can choose your club of choice buying on line if you would rather go that route?

I also suggested in the past that the OFSC should post the clubs that are struggling so that sledders, even those that have never ridden their trails, could purchase a permit fromt them in an effort to help them out, but it was quickly brought to my attention that not all people or clubs are honest

Also, I believe the current Matrix pays out money towards struggling clubs with money obtained from higher successful clubs so even if one club was getting the majority of permit sales, the excess money is pooled and doled out.

Not sure how successful that is as I have heard issues, but unless someone can come up with a better plan and present it to the AGM then nothing much will change.

 

[YammyRX1]

You can choose your club of choice buying on line if you would rather go that route?

I think I was going to buy online one year and realized that there was an extra charge to do so (which makes no sense to me) and I just tried the OFSC website now and even though it says that you can buy starting today the link was not active (http://ofsc.on.ca/permits/buy-online.html). Also tried the link to find district members in charge of volunteering and it was a broken link (http://ofsc.on.ca/district-contact-information.html). I realize that they might be a little behind in getting things rolling and there are probably other ways to find out about volunteering but 0 for 2 is a bad score for trying to do things online and if the first two things that I tried don't work, how many other things are broken?

 

[Irv]

You can choose your club of choice buying on line if you would rather go that route?

I think I was going to buy online one year and realized that there was an extra charge to do so (which makes no sense to me) and I just tried the OFSC website now and even though it says that you can buy starting today the link was not active (http://ofsc.on.ca/permits/buy-online.html). Also tried the link to find district members in charge of volunteering and it was a broken link (http://ofsc.on.ca/district-contact-information.html). I realize that they might be a little behind in getting things rolling and there are probably other ways to find out about volunteering but 0 for 2 is a bad score for trying to do things online and if the first two things that I tried don't work, how many other things are broken?

I have heard of issues with the site in the past Yammy so it's not surprising but it may also be because it is still early in the year and they are just getting up running?

Also, I believe there is currently a $5 discount when buying on line, I just don't know when it ends?
Plus, have you ever gone to ontarioconditons.com or freedomsledder.com? There are peeps on there who are probably a lot better than I am answering your concerns.
Just be cautious with freedomsledder as it is an UN-moderated site and everything goes, especially in the CE section, but the Ontario section isn't too bad.

Good luck, and post any findings/info you come up with.

Thanks

 

[YammyRX1]

The OFSC website has been changed to say that you can buy permits online starting October 3rd. The costs are $210 for earlybirds, $260 after December 1st and it does not say anything about discounts or extra charges to buy online but that might only happen when the link actually works and you can see your shopping cart.

 

[thor452]

wow the price of your permit combined with the reports of over active police force is exactly why I dont come up to sled ill stay stateside and go out west with my money. just my two cents.

 

[YammyRX1]

wow the price of your permit combined with the reports of over active police force is exactly why I dont come up to sled ill stay stateside and go out west with my money. just my two cents.

Everything costs more here....just my 5 cents worth.

 

[Irv]

The OFSC website has been changed to say that you can buy permits online starting October 3rd. The costs are $210 for earlybirds, $260 after December 1st and it does not say anything about discounts or extra charges to buy online but that might only happen when the link actually works and you can see your shopping cart.

Have you received your new Go Snowmobiling Onatrio/Supetrax magazines yet?
In the GSO mag it says, Save $5! Buy a 2013 Seasonal Permit online on or before Dec1, 2012 and save the $5 standard shipping fee!

Buy Permits online www.ofsc.on.ca

 

[thunderbolt]

yeah really when did a stamp hit 5 bucks LOL, I know canada is going up too but 5 bucks to mail a permit really , I too was at the AGM and the OFSC needs to wake up ! their pricing themselves right out of buisness

 

[Dano]

I need 3 permits. 5 bucks for each induvidually and stuff in one envelope. I'll buy offline again. Sounds like an egg management fee to me.

Dan

 

[thunderbolt]

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyup

 

[scott32]