The President of South East Sno-Riders is all smiles following last weekend's snowfall.

Mitch Gobeil says the dumping of snow in southeastern Manitoba has allowed them to open up more trails in the region. And he says sledders are loving the conditions.

"In South Junction on the weekend they were raving about the trails," notes Gobeil. "The ones that are groomed with the fresh snow they said (were) fantastic."

According to Gobeil, the club grooms nearly 550 kilometres worth of trails. He guesses about 80 per cent of that network is now open. And with their groomer running 24 hours a day, Gobeil suggests they could have 95 per cent of the trail system open by the weekend.

He notes one area that could still use more snow is the stretch from Friedensfeld to the Frantz Motor Inn, east of Steinbach.

"We definitely won't be (grooming) that this week, there's just not quite enough snow for that little portion," he explains. "But if things go according to plan, everything else should be open by the weekend."

Gobeil says volunteers have been able to fix two crossings that were giving them grief earlier in the month. They had a couple of trouble spots with creek crossings along Trail 29, north of Whitemouth Lake. Those crossings were in rough shape because of the water freezing at a high level, before dropping. Gobeil says they have been able to fix those crossings.

Meanwhile, Gobeil is urging sledders to respect the rights of landowners. He asks people not to ride across open fields. Due to the wet fall, there are many crops left on the fields and Gobeil says snowmobiling across could damage what is there.

"Reminding the snowmobilers to stay on the groomed trails when you are coming by an open field," he says. "If it looks inviting, and I can understand that, but you got to respect the landowner's rights."