The TOC needs a new groomer for its winter trails!

The Tamworth Outing Club needs our help!

The Tamworth Outing Club needs to replace the 20+ year old snow grooming equipment it relies upon to maintain its five-mile network of cross-country ski and snowshoe trails at Ferncroft in Wonalancet, New Hampshire.  These ski and snowshoe trails are available for anyone to enjoy, free of charge. 

TOC volunteers also use this snow grooming equipment to pack and groom the 12-mile trail used for the annual Sled Dog Races held on and around Chocorua Lake.  Drawing about 600 to 700 spectators per day, this sled dog race is hugely popular with both nearby residents and tourists. 

So I've started this GoFundMe campaign with the goal of raising the remaining $10,000 the TOC needs to buy new grooming equipment.  This is my first attempt at a GoFundMe campaign and strongly feel the TOC is a very worthy recipient.  The TOC is a wonderful, all-volunteer nonprofit that has done so much for the Tamworth community over the past 85 years. 

Nancy and I have donated the first $1,000 towards this $10,000 fundraising goal in the hope our gift will inspire others to also donate.

The Tamworth Outing Club was recently awarded a generous grant from the Tamworth Foundation and received a $5,000 gift from a local donor towards this project, but it still needs another $10K to buy the equipment needed to properly maintain its network of ski and snowshoe trails and dog sled trails.

If you've ever enjoyed watching the dog sled races on Chocorua Lake, or like cross-country skiing or snowshoeing on nicely groomed trails, I hope you will join Nancy and me with a generous gift to this GoFundMe fundraiser and help the Tamworth Outing Club achieve its fundraising goal and purchase new grooming equipment. 

Above:  One of the x-country ski trails in Wonalancet groomed by the Tamworth Outing Club

Background:  For the last 20+ years, the TOC volunteers have done all of trail grooming using a snowmobile pulling a four-foot drag groomer that levels snow and sets tracks. This current machinery and grooming equipment is getting old, needs frequent repairs, and is not adequate for safe and efficient grooming of TOC's trail networks or sled dog race trails.  The snowmobile lacks sufficient power for pulling the grooming “drag” up hills and is difficult to turn, maintenance issues with the outdated drag have recently been extensive, and its narrow four-foot width makes grooming the system extremely time-consuming. 

Above:  The Tamworth Outing Club's current grooming equipment, which was purchased in 1999

The Tamworth Outing Club plans to purchase a UTV (Utility Task Vehicle) and a wider and more capable drag groomer. The UTV groomer set-up has the multi-season advantage of driving with tracks on the snow, with or without the drag in tow, and converting to wheels for trail maintenance access during the Spring, Summer, and Fall. 

With this improved grooming system, TOC will be able to widen its 5 miles of x-country trails to improve ski conditions and offer a better skiing experience to the community, possibly expand the trail system in the off-season, and properly manage the Chocorua Lake sled dog trails.

Above:  A Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) and drag groomer like the one the Tamworth Outing Club needs to purchase

You can contribute to TOC here via this GoFundMe campaign.  GoFundMe does not charge any platform fees for online donations other than a standard credit card transaction fee.  The Tamworth Outing Club  is a 501(c) nonprofit organization so your gift is 100% tax-deductible. 

Or you can mail a check to:

                Tamworth Outing Club
                PO Box 311
                Tamworth, NH 03886

Please donate as generously as you are able.  A gift in any amount is greatly appreciated! 

For more information about the Tamworth Outing club, please visit www.tamworthoutingclub.org. 

I hope you are able to join Nancy and me and support the Tamworth Outing Club with a gift to this campaign.

Thanks so much!

Alex Moot (and Nancy Roosa)
Chocorua NH & Medford MA

P.S.  Other programs run by the Tamworth Outing Club include:  a Junior Ski  Program , which has provided free and affordable skiing and snowboarding instruction to school children for over 75 years; a Youth Baseball Program  for children ages 6 through 15; and a monthly Square / Contra Dance , a tradition since 1937 making it one of the oldest dances in New Hampshire.

Above:  Action from the 2015 edition of the Tamworth Sled Dog Races, which the TOC has helped organize since 1937.

Above:  A sled dog team competing at the Tamworth Sled Dog Races on a trail groomed by the Tamworth Outing Club.

Above:  Nancy cross country skiing on a TOC-groomed trail at Ferncroft in Wonalancet in February 2021.