Nearly 75% of sledding trails open in Simcoe County
Nearly three-quarters of the snow sledding trails are open in Simcoe County.
"It's been frustrating, but we got out, so we are happy now," said Peter Tsitsopoulos, Waubashene snowmobiler.
Mild temperatures and a lack of snow have held everything back this winter, just like the ice fishing season.
However, it's good news Wednesday for those who ride the trails.
Kevin Hagen, Mid Ontario Snowmobile Trails manager, said there are a lot of trails to choose from.
"I have over 1000 kilometres of trail open in my area, and I'd say I have 75 per cent of them open at this time," Hagen said.
"Last weekend, we were probably at 25 per cent, so we've had a big jump this week with this cold and little bit of fresh snow."
Having more trails open is also great for businesses, including Geoffrey Greasley, who owns several of them along the trail in Victoria Harbour.
"It was actually the poorest year on record. January was a complete washout," Greasley said.
"This is great sledding weather. We're happy right now finally having the chance to sell some gasoline to the sledders."
Hagen said the trails usually close in early March and warns riders to expect early-season riding conditions because the base for riding isn't there like in year's past.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

BREAKING Amber Alert issued for missing 2-month-old girl in B.C.
An Amber Alert has been issued province-wide in British Columbia as Surrey RCMP search for a two-month-old child they believe has been abducted.
BREAKING Dodgers beat out Blue Jays, sign coveted free agent Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani agrees to $700 million, 10-year contract with Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mideast ministers in Ottawa to discuss Israel-Hamas war with Joly, Trudeau
A group of foreign ministers from the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye are in Ottawa today for a quietly planned meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to discuss attempts to end the Israel-Hamas war.
A pregnant Texas woman asked a court for permission to get an abortion, despite a ban. What's next?
Kate Cox, a mother of two in Texas, became pregnant again in August but soon after learned devastating news: Her baby has a fatal condition and is likely to either be stillborn or die shortly after birth.
Thousands of revelers descend on NYC for annual Santa-themed bar crawl SantaCon
Here come Santa Clauses. Again. Throngs of people dressed as jolly Old St. Nick descended on New York City for the annual SantaCon charity pub crawl on Saturday.
Extremely rare white alligator is born at a Florida reptile park
An extremely rare white leucistic alligator has been born at a Florida reptile park. The 19.2-inch (49 cm) female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of a few known leucistic alligators, Gatorland Orlando said Thursday.
Minnesota grocery store clerk dies after customer impales him with a golf club, police say
A Minneapolis store clerk died after a customer beat him and impaled him with a golf club, police said. The 66-year-old clerk was attacked Friday at the Oak Grove Grocery, a small neighborhood store in a residential area near downtown Minneapolis. A 44-year-old suspect is jailed on suspicion of murder.
A Soviet-era statue of a Red Army commander taken down in Kyiv
City workers in Kyiv on Saturday dismantled an equestrian statue of a Red Army commander, the latest Soviet monument to be removed in the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.
Ibrahim Ali found guilty of killing 13-year-old girl in B.C.
A jury has found Ibrahim Ali guilty of killing a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a Burnaby, B.C., park in 2017.