It looks like it may be time to tarp up snowmobiles in the Portage la Prairie area for the season.

The recent warm spell in the region that brought several days above 0 C last week caused snowmobile trails at Club Snow to break down, forcing the closure of its routes.

Many Club Snow-maintained trails are covered in water and icy, and they've hardened with the freeze-thaw cycle since the warm-up. There are also areas of exposed ground on the trails.

“We've had to shut them down for that reason,” says Club Snow president Tony McIvor. “It could be a potential hazard and we just don't want to take the chance. We'd rather have people safe.”

“Although we'd like to have our season extended, that's just not possible this year,” continues McIvor. “Unless we get a good amount of snow in the near future ... but at this point, we're not anticipating that.”

McIvor says conditions over the winter for snowmobilers who used Club Snow trails were not too bad, but were hampered by rainfall in January after a high amount of snow in December 2016 to start the season.

"At least we all got to get out and ride," he adds.

Club Snow is a snowmobile club that maintains a section of trails in southern Manitoba. It provides trail maintenance, installs signage for direction and speed limits, and keeps warm-up shelters stocked with firewood.