Snow is falling on the mountains around the Shuswap and die-hard riders have already kicked off the snowmobiling season.
Gord Bushell of the Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club said that while most sledders get started around Dec, 1, there are already snow-seekers driving 15 to 20 kilometres up into the mountains before unloading their machines. He said the snowfall is already looking encouraging, with four feet having fallen in some areas that the club maintains.
Bushell said the snowmobilers starting earlier makes things easier for the snowmobile club when their snow cats begin grooming because trails are already packed down.
The club added another snowcat to their fleet, an acquisition which Bushell said will improve safety because they no longer have to move a cat between hills.
The club now has four snowcats, one for each of the trail systems they maintain: Owlhead, Queest, Blue Lake and Eagle Pass.
According to Bushel, the Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club groomed more than 10,000 kilometres of trail last season.
Bushell said that while the new cat, which the club acquired from California over the summer, is an older machine, it is lightly-used and still solid.
Related:Heavy snow brings risk and reward for snowmobilers
The groomed trails are a major draw to the Sicamous area, Bushell said. He added the snowmobiling areas in the Shuswap are known for their diverse conditions, ranging from trails that are family favourites to more extreme terrain.
“Not a lot of places have that trail riding unless you’re down in Kelowna,” Bushell said.
Bushell said Sicamous’ proximity to Salmon Arm and other well-maintained sledding areas makes it a favourite destination for many snowmobilers from Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Membership in the snowmobile club has risen sharply in recent years as has overall usage of the trails they maintain. Bushell said membership in the club had stayed steady at approximately 220 for most of the time he has been involved before rising to 400 over the past few years. Along with members, Bushell said the number of trail passes issued rose by more than 2,500 last season compared to the prior season with 19,214 passes issued in total.
Sicamous is once again in the running for the honour of being B.C.’s favourite sled town in the 2019 SledTown ShowDown, an annual contest hosted by SnoRiders, an online snowmobiling magazine.
Sicamous edged out McBride, last year’s winners, in the opening round of voting, putting it in a round- two bracket alongside Revelstoke, Kelowna, Tumbler Ridge, Blue River, Valemount, Merritt and Smithers.
Sicamous proved more popular than Smithers in the second round of voting, which concluded on Sunday, Nov. 11.
In the B.C. semifinals, Sicamous is up against Valemont, while Revelstoke and Tumbler Ridge are on the other side of the bracket.
The voting is hosted at: https://snoriderswest.com/sledtown_showdown/britishcolumbia/2019.
@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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