Hiway16 Magazine... about people and places in north-central British Columbia, Canada

PAGE TWO
OF THREE

Blazing Through Powder and Politics

Besides opening trails that have overgrown, the Club acquires permits to make new trails when necessary. Bulldozers are hired to clear as much as possible. The rest is cut by volunteers using their own chainsaws and four-wheelers. Each trail is cleared to ten feet wide. This will allow two snowmobiles to safely pass one another.

The Club has three areas of trails that it maintains. The largest, the Telkwa Range uses "the Bombi." In the winter, this big packer drags a 10' wide and 12' long "groomer" that cuts the snow with sharp blades, funnels it, then flattens the snow.

The Bombi packer with groomer attached

Each weekend, a volunteer will drag this groomer for at least three hours, costing the club about $150 . A smaller unit works at the Sibolas while the Dungate Meadow trails use a Bear Cat snowmobile as a workhorse to drag a groomer. This takes close to 6 hours to cover the 100 plus kilometers.

As a member of the Club, you are welcome to use one of the cabins stationed at each area. Although overnight use is discouraged, the wood stove, table and benches are available for day or night rides when its too cold to sit around a bonfire outdoors. The cabins also work as "emergency shelter" for anyone needing protection from the elements.

The Telkwa Range cabin before the new tin siding was added

This is avalanche terrain. People have been buried and unfortunately a few deaths have been recorded (although not for a few years).

About that phrase I mentioned... "High Marking" is a popular past time. To High Mark, a rider drives his machine straight up an embankment, as far as it will go without flipping. The aim is to make the highest mark in the snow before having to circle back down. Its all in fun, with no winners or losers. Unless, of course, the snow beneath you begins to slide!






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