I posted earlier today on Trailconditions.com (please go to that site to see my post) about my experience with 102 from Highway 105 south to the balls. Have been told that the club that takes care of this section is now defunct. Who has been taking care of that section if this is the case and why did I find the section from the top end of the Rt 1 loop south to the balls plowed off yesterday????? To say that this trail was bad yesterday is a complete understatement!!!!!!!

http://www.hardcoresledder.com/forums/inde...0348&hl=102

Thanks Hilltopper,
I just called Vast to hear what they had to say, they gave me a similar story. They also told me that they have been having trouble with someone vandalizing the groomer. The operator was stuck out on the trails all night the other night ( 3:AM to 10:AM). As most of you that use this trail know, cell phones don't work in most of this area.

102 between Stone Dam (VT Hwy 105) and EX40 (the north end of the 1 trail and foot of Madison Brook) is groomed by the Connecticut Valley Sno-Riders. 102 south of EX40 to the balls is groomed by an operator selected by the VAST board of directors. As was mentioned in a seperate post, the CTVSR's PB200 had mechanical problems near EX49 on Monday. It has now been repaired and ready to resume grooming on Friday. The air temp along with the snow texture makes for difficult smoothing. All the snow does is ball up in the back of the drag. Cooler air and snow temps will aid in better packing. As for south of EX40 you should stay in communication with VAST this year. It's unfortunate if the former ATR PB200 is being vandalized. Maybe it should be parked near a building instead of beside the trail.

I can't imagine who would want to vandalize a groomer that is parked next to a trail!!! If I caught the SOB I would run him over with my studded track then piss and crap down his throat!!!

Conn Valley Sno Riders care for the section VAST 102 (DC Line) between VT route 105 and EX 40 (intersection of 1). The Sno Riders usually have very good trails so I checked with some folks who would know and here is why the section from 105 to Bloomfield was rough:
The trail was being groomed as scheduled Monday morning but the trip was only about 1/3 accomplished when the unit threw a track and a front idler, climbing a steep hill off a sharp corner (just beyond EX 49), falling victim to one small worn part and several feet of snow.
A CTVSR crew went in to get the operator and evaluate the situation Monday afternoon. Then ordered a couple of special bolts from Kassbohrer, who got them to Colebrook very early Tuesday AM..and they were then relayed to the repair crew; 3 CTVSR members, brought parts, tools some 5 miles into the woods and started working on the unit (Apparently the other track had to come off in order to make the repair) They were then joined by 2 members of the Lunenburg Polar Bears and a bit later the Kassbohrer Tech finished his Colebrook call and went to Maidstone for a scheduled diagnostic test on the same, He join the 5 man crew at the site, assisted getting the unit repaired adequately to get in back home Tuesday afternoon. Plus he did the diagnostic work. Following that; upon his return to Kassbohrer shop in Maine he put up an order for the additional parts needed and got them to UPS so that they were delivered Wednesday...!! HOW's THAT FOR GREAT SERVICE!! Thursday AM the unit was back in service. The trail from Guildhall towards 102 was groomed early, before the snow warmed up. They had to wait till the the temprature droped before continuing. 102A and 102 (from EX40) was groomed last night.. starting at 11 AM .. ending around 6 AM today.... the worst section going into Bloomfield and 102N to Stone dam are scheduled for an additional pass tonight.....!!

So you thought your ride was bumpy! This is the behind the scenes stuff that keeps the trails in top shape. TEAM WORK!! Trying to get a groomer fixed on the side of a mountain...now that's BUMPY!! The CTVSR indicated that they were sorry you hit their trails at a bad time... come back again...they are usually better!!

this sounds like a real club working together thanks so much for your efforts!!!!!!!

There is never a reason for ctvsr to apoligize as their trails have been great all year and to get their groomer repaired on the trail is just great effort and working with the polor bears just shows how vt. trails systems are the best in new england, and that not only goes for the clubs mentioned above i am talking about all the vt. clubs derby,brighton,lyndon caledonian , newark,cannan,danville all of the grooming is well worth the vast reg. it is much appreciated from my side of the hill(concord vt.) all the way to the border.
Thanks for a great year!!!if i don't get to ride again this year , it has been the best in my last 10 years of riding

I passed that groomer monday, he was headed north and I south. He was pushing a pile of wet snow while dragging as well, and in the process he scraped down to the dirt in many places, I couldnt beleive what I was seing. Even after he passed, the bumps were so big we were slowed down all the way to the balls. The snow was in no condition to be groomed that day, but`the trail was so bad that something had to be done. It has been mis-managed all year, and evidence of this is clear as EVERY OTHER TRAIL nearby has been in excellent condition. Hopefully, next year, they will have this ironed out.

BAD57
I think it was great the way these people came together to help with the broken groomer, I hope that my comments were not taken the wrong way, I am quite thankful for all the volunteers that give their time so selflessly. I do understand that grooming is a VERY time and $$$$$ consuming task. I too am VERY active with my club and in fact do put in time on the small groomer we have that does the smaller trails in our system that the trucker can't fit down. Serbie was absolutely right in his post, the section that the Thunder Riders used to groom has been plagued with problems this year and I only recently learned why, as I had posted earlier. As it turns out I came through the section that had been plowed off and not groomed and I could not understand why this was the case. Rt 102 is THE major north-south route in the NEK and as such does take quite a bit of abuse and I'm sure is difficult to keep smooth. My mistake was that I thought that only one club groomed all the way from highway 105 down to the BALLS. I now know that I was wrong and I apologize to the members of CTVSR, please pass along my thanks for their efforts, it was NEVER my intent to bash any club.