The snowmobile - perhaps Canada’s most quintessential invention. Created in 1952 by a then-fledgling company called Bombardier to help people in northern climates cope with the dreaded winter doldrums, the snowmobile has become a ‘must have’ item for those living in higher latitudes. Not to mention winter fun-sters. Recreational snowmobiling is prohibited in the Canadian Rockies’ national parks but, once outside the protected boundaries, snowmobiling is a pastime thousands of Albertans enjoy from November to May every year. If you have your own snowmobile, ZeeLINX will help locate the best areas to explore, from the Rockies to Revelstoke, British Columbia. We will also help connect you to vital avalanche information, such as where to rent or buy avalanche transceivers, shovels and probes and where to sign up for courses to learn how to stay away from avalanche terrain in the first place. If you’re new to snowmobiling, ZeeLINX will sign you up with one of several tour operators in the region who’ll gladly take you out for a spin in the snow.
Some operators provide transportation from Banff or Canmore to places such as British Columbia’s Purcell Mountains. Once there, professional snowmobile guides will instruct you how to handle one of their 205-kilogram (450-pound), $6,000 machines. They will also help you suit up, fit you with a helmet and demonstrate how to operate the dashboard’s critical knobs and switches. Then, you’re off. Your first movements might be a little jerky as you sort through the throttle range. But after a few practice laps on flat ground you’ll be ready to play ‘Follow the Leader’ up a snow-covered fire road. Tight corners, uphill sprints, bouncy straights, banked curves – snowmobiling might be more exercise than you’d expect as you work your upper body throwing yourself from one side of the machine to the other. Your legs can get a workout too, as you work to keep your feet from slipping off the running boards. It’s bumpy and noisy and smells of gasoline but, hey man, snowmobiling is fun. Bring your camera along. Many tours include high lookout points from which to gaze across endless snow-covered peaks. Guided snowmobile tours cost from $179 per person for a half-day to $239 for a full, six-hour day, including a trailside lunch. Many outfitters will include the requisite snowmobile suits, mitts, boots and helmets to protect you from cold and injury. The terrain you explore might range from valley bottom trails to untracked snowfields as high as 2,750 metres (9,000 feet).
For a complete winter getaway, some outfitters include trips into remote backcountry cabins where, after a full day’s riding in the snow, you can indulge in a barbecue steak dinner, then settle in by a cozy fireplace and sip a warm drink. Tours are often graded for beginners, families and advanced riders.
