The area around Sicamous offers some of the best terrain and winter riding anywhere in B.C. I have covered many kilometres and seen a lot of different spots in B.C., but the Queest area is, by far, the greatest place to ride on sunny or white-out days.
My very first ride ever in Sicamous was in the spring of 1977. I was seven years old. My cousin’s grandfather, Clarence Martin, took some members of my family to the Queest Chalet. As the story goes, Clarence was responsible for building the Queest Chalet in 1976. Though I do not have audio from that memorable day of my first ride, my dad (Walter Block) recorded it on an eight-millimetre movie camera.
It began with Clarence putting his truck in the ditch at the three-kilometre corner on the T.F.L. road just outside of town.
The movie shows Clarence’s frustration as he stomped his red plaid hat into the snow realizing the old Ford and trailer were buried axle deep. The hat, I remember, doubled as a helmet.
In those days we had to dig out the truck and trailer all by hand as no one would likely be on the road for days.
No tow truck would even go out; nor were they affordable. I can remember my dad commenting on Clarence driving off the road and how if he had been driving we would never have been stuck. It seems that my brother Dale and I still have that same conversation annually about driving our trucks—35 years later! At least once per season, one of us is stuck in our truck in the snow.
Returning to a favourite spot
It was not until the return trip the next day that we rode up to the Queest Chalet. Though my memory is foggy, I would still recommend the ride. Although it was only 24 kilometres to the chalet, it took all day to get there and back with me as a passenger on one of the three Olympics and two Élans. Since that distance would be 48 kilometres round trip, it would have made for a very long day on those machines.
I still remember that first view from the chalet deck looking out at Shuswap Lake in the bright sunshine. It was breathtaking.
My son Jackson, who turned seven years old this past season, has enjoyed some 300 kilometres of trail riding on his Mini Z, and most recently, an ATV ride to the old Queest Chalet to help the local club with some long overdue maintenance.
Although the view has changed—the trees have taken over and you can hardly see the lake—the beauty of the Shuswap still takes your breath away.
