The Mica Mountain Riders Association is holding their 10th annual fundraiser at the Iron Horse Pub on Feb. 9, starting at 6 p.m.
Last year’s fundraiser allowed them to purchase a new plow truck.
“We did come up with the money. We raised the money to add the additional plow truck to plow our way in a little closer to the mountain. We did this obviously for safety reasons - being able to drive that much closer is definitely beneficial if someone gets hurt… and just everybody hates riding on the bumpy old trail going in on the road. We wanted to try to minimize that,” said Brian Henderson, president of the Mica Mountain Riders Association.
He added the truck has been working out well but has needed some fine-tuning.
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Last summer, the association also received some funding from Parks BC, allowing them to widen out their parking spot with added outhouses, garbage cans and it is now a designated recreation site.
This year, the funding will be replenishing the account and put some money back into the club.
“There’s a lot of costs we have to endure in order to keep that area open up there, right,” said Henderson, listing maintenance, fuel and insurance costs.
He said another main goal is to keep the membership of the club growing.
Henderson said they are sitting at about 85 members, up from ten last year.
“Which is great, obviously we would love to peak 100 members one day but baby steps, I guess,” he said.
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The next big step, he said, was getting a safety shelter on top of the mountain, adding that people have been stranded on the mountain before.
There will also be lots to talk about at the fundraiser, such as the caribou population and closures on Mica Mountain.
“It’s an ongoing battle that has to be openly talked about. We’re actually one club in B.C. that is actually trying to work with the government to basically show that snowmobiles and caribou can coexist together. Snowmobiles are not the cause of the decline in caribou habitat.”
According to Henderson, there is a herd about 45 caribous on Mica Mountain.
Avalanche and general safety and preparation practices will also be brought up.
There will be a silent and live auction, 50/50, raffles and games. The dinner has been switched to a roast beef buffet dinner, rather than the standard burger and beer.
Henderson said the auction items aren’t solid yet but they are looking into a 2,000-watt Honda generator, power tools, and a houseboat trip for six people for the Shuswap.
As for games, Henderson is not sure they will do the beacon check (where they hid the beacon) but they will most likely play a game where they fill a shovel with a bunch of coins and everyone guesses how much money is in the shovel.
Tickets are $40, which covers the buffet, a drink and dessert. They can be purchased at the Performance All-Terrain, South Cariboo Motorsports and Exeter Forest and Marine.
There will also be a safe ride home available.