You are miles from a town centre, your home and your job. You are surrounded by sweeping, majestic snow-covered hills and fields.
It is -20 degrees, but you are sweating as you lean first one way, then the next, manoeuvering down slopes, the heat of an engine warming your face.
It may sound like a James Bond movie, with 007 zigzagging down a mountainside, partially concealed by spraying snow, but there is nothing far-fetched about the scene.
Scores of Barrhead snowmobilers plan to hurtle along trails and through fields in the coming months for no other reason than they enjoy it.
Only one thing will stop them – lack of snow.
Each winter the Northern Lights Snowmobile Club offers Barrhead enthusiasts of different ages and skill levels the chance to explore hundreds of miles of trails. The club ensures there is plenty of lodging, food and gas.
Sledders have multiple options before them. One is to go north out of town towards the Misty Ridge Ski Hill, travelling over the frozen Shoal Lake. They can then either visit the ski hill or head towards the Goodridge Cabin.
Experienced sledders can spend a day travelling up to Athabasca or Swan Hills, or going towards the Flatbush Cabin.
For vice-president Gary Belanger, snowmobiling defines freedom.
He first got involved when he was 18 living in Vermont, where he was working on a dairy farm.
He played on an old snowmobile, which gave him a taste for the sport, something he never lost even in the years he did not do it.
Fast forward to his 40th birthday and Belanger decided the time was right in his life to resume snowmobiling.
“It’s the freedom of playing in the powder, it’s so beautiful,” he said. “It’s the only time I escape my work and get to really relax. I’ve also made some great friendships. There is a real camaraderie among snowmobilers.”
The first time Belanger went out again he was operating a machine designed for trail riding. He found it difficult to manoeuvre properly and after 20 minutes was exhausted.
He managed to cover eight kilometres in three hours after repeatedly getting stuck.
It was a tough reintroduction and showed him that snowmobiling in deep snow required a lot of practice and respect.
Using your weight and strength to carve through the snow standing up, and being able to balance were difficult lessons.
“You have to be fit for deep snow, it’s very physical,” he said. “Trail riding is quite easy in comparison.”
One of those snowmobiling with him persuaded him to join the NLSC. He also bought a new machine.
Although he has never suffered a serious snowmobiling incident, Belanger has had some uncomfortable moments.
“A couple of times I’ve become disorientated,” he said. “I tend to use the sun to guide me, but once that goes and darkness begins to close in it can be very difficult.”
Belanger said snowmobiling has all the ingredients to appeal to young people and he encourages more to join the club.
“I would be willing to introduce anyone to the sport and mentor them,” he said. “There is an enormous sense of freedom. It’s very liberating. I’ve never been cold on a snowmobile, even when it’s minus 30 degrees. I’m always shifting my body weight and am quite often sweating.”
For the more adventurous and athletic sledders there were competitions, said Belanger, which featured breathtaking stunts including high jumps and backflips.
“I would encourage anyone who likes the outdoors to give it a go, whatever your age,” he said. “We have some members in their 60s.”
For president Alan Breitkreitz the sport provides a chance to view stunning scenery.
Breitkreitz first start snowmobiling in 1983 because it was something to do in the “long, cold winter.”
A friend had a snowmobile, so he decided to get one was well. Since then he has owned six snowmobiles.
It opened up so many opportunities – exploring, playing, jumping, riding down trails, crossing rivers and lakes.
Inevitably, Breitkreitz has had his share of scrapes and near misses. In one of the worst incidents he twisted his knee when the snowmobile flipped.
When Breitkreitz became president in 2006, club membership was much lower than today.
He set about boosting membership and developing a new trail system. The club has been successful in connecting the Trans Canada Trail and now has more than 160 kilometres of trails.
This involves a lot of maintenance, and unfortunately the bulk of work is carried out by a hard core of seven or eight members – a predicament facing too many organizations in the area.
“It would be nice to see more people active in the club,” he said.
Anyone wanting to join the club can contact Darren Strawson, owner of Barr-head Motor Sport, at 780-774-4600.
