Snowmobiling more than a joyride
- Claire Ottaviano
- Feb 11, 2016
- 3 min read
This week we added snowmobiling to our conquered list of Canadian winter activities!
Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted, if you didn't hear I was in bed for about a week and a half with Pneumonia. Most sick I've ever felt in my life, and luckily I only had type A Pneumonia, or walking Pneumonia, which is the better kind to have. On the fifth day of being bed ridden I headed to the docs and sure enough I had a slight crackling in my chest which indicated Pneumonia. After a week on the antibiotics I started to perk up and head back to work.
I stayed away from the cold outside world for another week to make sure I was all clear so you can imagine how excited I was to get some blood pumping.
The Wet N' Wild bus picked Mark and I and six of our work mates up at 9.15am in Lake Louise and headed towards Golden.
On arrival we were quickly fitted with locator beacons, boots and helmets. They also had neck scarves and other warm items if necessary and even GoPro attachments for the helmets.
After that it was a quick induction, eccelerate to go, brake to stop, with the addition of two rules, have fun and be safe.
We started slow to get used to the momentum of the machines but it wasn't long before our whole group got the swing of things.
Our cheerful guide Jim navigated us through the magnificent Rockies for about half an hour before we made our first stop. He cracked out the hot chocolate and cookies while telling us a little about the area. He asked us all where we were from and where we were headed next on our travels. Jim pointed to a section of mountain across the valley from us and said "that's where we're headed next!"
We jumped back on the snowmobiles and headed down the track where we began another ascent. I was surprised at the number of different trails we took all with different scenic viewpoints and terrain challenges.
It was about another hour or more before we stopped at Dawn's Grill for lunch. We were greeted with warm cream of mushroom soup, burgers with onions, cheese and bacon, hot dogs and finished off with s'mores over the fire.
Just half way through the day and I was already thinking how worth the experience was, but Jim had much more in store for us for the rest of the afternoon!
Away we went again and up into the mountains. After some more trails we stopped atop a peak where one of our party bravely joined Jim on the back of his snowmobile and disappeared into the trees.
Cameras pointed in all directions we waited, and secretly, but not really, fearing for our friend's safety, wondering where they would emerge.
*spoiler alert*
There! At the top of the ridge! and down they came, Kerstin, and Jim, arms in the air as the snowmobile came over and down the crest.
We all had a ride and took the opportunity to take some happy snaps and headed back down the mountain.
We had all gained our confidence now as we teared over the familiar territory and took bumps with ease. Our group of eight never strayed too far apart or came off the track which meant we never stopped long to wait for anyone to catch up.
The most beautiful part was right at the end on the 'Cougar Trail', the trail was so green it gave me a glimpse of the forest in spring.
The trail had low hanging trees and narrow tracks to manuvour.
At the last stretch we really let rip and tested the speed of these things through some straight stretches and then sadly we reached the end!
It was a great day ended with a beer and some deer!
Overall I was very impressed with Wet N' Wild Adventures. The staff were super friendly and treated us like VIP's. We were given a great lunch to split up our day and spent a decent amount of time on the snowmobiles (and the hand warmers on the handles of the Skidoos were awesome too). Could really tell Jim loved his job and who wouldn't, spending everyday amongst the amazing Canadian Rockies ripping through beautiful terrain that offers something different everyday.
Would highly recommend spending the dough on this awesome full day adventure.
Full video to come!
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