Geraldton Snow Club pushes permit sales with lower price

The group that grooms and maintains snowmobile trails around Geraldton, Ont. is getting creative when it comes to selling trail permits.

The Geraldton Snow Club hopes by selling permits online, it can sell passes to more than just local snowmobile enthusiasts.

Club president Michel LaFrance said some people have chosen to support the club, even if they don't live in the Greenstone area.

"Some of them are American people, American friends that come up riding in our area,” he said.

“Others are people that are down south [who] just want to make sure the snow clubs around in these parts of the woods will survive."

Making club 'sustainable'

LaFrance said his group needs to sell 50 trail permits this year to remain in good standing with the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs.

"The market for snowmobiling has dropped the last couple of years across Ontario,” he noted.

“One of the main factors with loss of permit sales is loss of revenue. So it makes it harder for the smaller clubs or any club to survive, because there's a lot of maintenance costs involved in keeping a well-groomed trail system in place."

LaFrance said the area's dwindling middle class has taken away from the club's membership.

“We're struggling [in the Geraldton area]. There's not a lot of activity in the forestry and mining industry,” he said.

“I'm trying to make sure that our club is sustainable until mining and forestry take off again.”

The cost to buy a permit online before Nov. 8 costs $180 — a 30 per cent discount from the regular price.