The Green Lake Snowmobile Club (GLSC) is unique in British Columbia. Where other clubs enjoy an emphasis on mountain riding, our members look to trail riding and exploration of the area most of us live in. We are a community club and have a clubhouse at 176 Green Lake South Rd. where the club holds social events.
About the club
The GLSC, which maintains 90 kilometres of trails, provides members with organized club rides twice a week — usually Wednesdays and Sundays - depending on snow and weather conditions.
Some of the longer rides are to destinations such as the Iron Horse Pub in Lone Butte for lunch or to the Warming Hut near 83 Mile House on the Gold Rush Trail (GRT).
Club president John Sullivan notes members have easy access to the beginning of the GRT and the club has had rides to 100 Mile House, with an overnight stay and then travelled back to the clubhouse via a different route.
There are a lot of shorter rides to Jeep Lake, Jim Lake and other nearby destinations that offer different scenery. Riders bring a lunch and they go back to the clubhouse or home by different routes.
Members also have the option to go on self-guided rides. The GLSC trails have signage and map boards, so riders know where they are and the different trail options available to them.
Social aspect
Club members also enjoy many social events throughout the snowmobile season, including potluck dinners. Some are themed, including Halloween and Christmas and dances, a Pig Roast, a Snowarama Poker Ride, as well as card nights. (All social functions since March 2020 have been paused until we have the “all clear” from the province.)
Members can also rent the Clubhouse for a nominal fee for their private events.
Clubhouse upgrades
In 2019, GLSC completed $55,000 worth of renovations thanks to funds from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the Northern Development Initiative Trust.
The club upgraded the kitchen with new appliances and counters and installed new flooring and windows, a forced-air heating system, and a water filtration and purification system. (These upgrades have made using the club for the social functions much easier for those organizing the events.)
Membership is vital
The GLSC has a contract with Recreation Sites and Trails BC to maintain the trails for the general public.
The local trails are used all year round by walkers, bikers, cyclists, quad riders, snowmobilers and other users.
When weather and snow conditions are favourable, club volunteers, who are also quad riders, groom the trails when they’re bumpy in the winter. They also clear the trails of downed trees and debris during fall.
Some clubs charge for access to their trails, but the GLSC pays for this through club memberships.
If the trails are important to you, please join the club and become a volunteer. It’s a great way to meet new friends. (Donations to the club to help with this maintenance are always greatly appreciated.)
BC Snowmobile Federation
A club membership also includes a membership in the BC Snowmobile Federation, which provides a number of discounts for stores, accommodation, trail fees and workshops.
The volunteers in provincial clubs negotiate with government and work hard to meet the ongoing requirements of all the agreements in their riding areas.
There are many well-funded groups advocating to have snowmobile riders removed from the backcountry, so we need to stay prepared, have strong membership numbers, and support the volunteers who keep this all going so the people who just want to ride, can.
Check us out
For more information on the Green Lake Snowmobile Club and what we do (see our newsletters) and how to become a member (membership), go to greenlakesnowmobileclub.ca.