Since 2006, Williams Lake riders Jared Sales and Derrick Hannas have planned an out-of-town sledding trip with a group of fellow riders; for their 2010 trip, Sales, Hannas and their friends hit the Internet and stumbled across Sicamous as the ideal destination for that year.
“In Sicamous, whether early or late, snowing or sunny, the riding always seems to be awesome,” said Sales. “It doesn’t seem to get the icing hard pack in the later part of the season; it stays nice and fluffy.
“We were blown away by the riding there and how close all the riding areas are from town. Incredible areas are literally across the road from the gas station where you fuel up and grab lunch from the Subway next door; you can be riding within 10 minutes of grabbing the go juice. The farthest area is under 20 minutes.”
Hannas was appreciative of the local club’s efforts.
“The riding areas are close to town, which is nice,” said Hannas. “The people are friendly, the conditions are spectacular, and the sledding club there does a top-notch job of keeping the trails groomed and the cabins stocked—truly a world-class operation.”
According to Sales, each of the easy-to-access riding areas has its own unique draw.
“Of the four major spots, I’d say Queest would have to be my favourite,” said Hannas. “It’s close to town, has good access for truck and trailer and offers a spectacular view from above.”
Sales, who is waiting on a snow-checked Polaris Pro RMK 800 and is the self-professed “fire starter” of the group, adds that the Eagle Pass riding area is a must for riders looking for an adrenalin rush.
“Eagle Pass is a hillclimber’s dream. It’s a huge, steep alpine, challenging for the best of us, not recommended for the kiddies,” he said. “Owlhead and Blue Lake are awesome too. There’s nothing better than scattering four or five sleds wide down an untracked ravine, getting to the bottom, turning and trying to pull a crazier line than the guy coming up right beside you. Sicamous definitely delivers on this one, and each mountain has its unique version of this.”
Sales said that his best ride ever was probably last year at Blue Lake.
“(It was a) day of just fresh tracking into sketchy ravines and crazy hard pulls to get back out, side by side with your buddies,” he said. “What else can a bunch of haywire adrenalin junkies with gasoline in their veins ask for?”
