Glen Ell loves grooming trails—so much so that he's being doing it for over 20 years. Ell, who lives in Manitoba, used to groom for the Springfield Pathfinders, of which he was a founding member. He is now a groomer for the Springhill Trailblazers and has a passion for making trails for the sledders that enjoy them. In 2010, Ell was recognized for his efforts by being awarded Groomer of the Year by Snoman (Snowmobilers of Manitoba).
"I enjoy grooming actually more than I do sledding," said Ell. "Driving along, you get a thumbs-up from all the sledders out there. Making a nice trail for them makes you feel good. It’s peaceful in there too. You are basically only thinking about the task at hand, concentrating on the snow and the drag—whether you should lift it up or lower it and keep it flowing. You're constantly using the front blade to push down drifts and stuff like that."
How it all began
Ell is a self-employed interior woodworker—or finishing carpenter—and works for a builder in the town of Oakbank. He's been at his trade since 1972. He started a club in Oakbank in 1993, bought an Alpine groomer and started with that. At that time, the club had only 29 kilometres of trail. In the winter of 1996, the area received so much snow that the Alpine couldn't get the job done. Ell remembers heading out to the trails to plow them out with a snowblower. It was shortly after that gruelling night of snowblowing until three in the morning that the club purchased a bigger machine with a front blade.
A day in the life
Ell now grooms the trails for the Springhill Trailblazers once a week. He gets up early and drives to where the groomer is located. He does a bit of paperwork, checks the entire groomer to ensure nothing is in need of repair and heads out.
"There's a lot of things involved with being a groomer," said Ell. "If you get lots of snow, you can find buried signs. You have to lift them out so sledders can see them. If you go across approaches, do highways and road ditches, you can’t put snow in front of those, otherwise you get complaints from Highways or residents that we’re leaving snow on the highway. That's standard for every club. If you have heavy snow, you sometimes have to go over things twice to make a nice, flat trail.
"After a day of grooming, I bring the groomer back to the shed. I then record everything. We have a GPS, but we also write everything down by hand just in case the GPS falters in any way. You record what trails were groomed, what section, conditions and any problems you encountered. You then park it, let it cool down, clean it up and then head home."
Part of a dedicated team
Although Ell said how often grooming is done is very dependent on the weather and snowfall, he goes out on average once a week. The Trailblazers have three groomer operators and a total trail system of about 100 kilometres. One operator takes the groomer out for 12 hours, Ell does six to eight hours, then the third groomer does about five hours.
"It's been fun," said Ell. "I really enjoy it as long as I don't get overworked. I'll be doing this for a while yet, for as long as they let me run it."
Although Ell spends a lot of time grooming, he still manages to get out on his own sled, a Ski-Doo Grand Touring LE 600. He already has 1,400 kilometres logged on his sled so far this season. Ell said he loves going out on a Saturday, and he'll put anywhere from 150 to 350 kilometres on in a day.
