Rob Alford is a professional snowmobiler currently living in Revelstoke and running a business called Rob Alford’s Mt. Mackenzie Log Chalet—all while being one of the biggest commercial riders for Ski-Doo.
“I actually have been doing a lot of work with Ski-Doo, working with Carl Kuster, doing riding and stuff like that for ads for their sleds,” said Alford. “We basically go out and do commercial stuff—you’ll see their ads for new sleds or their videos and it’ll be me and Carl riding for a lot of it.”
Tumbling down Whistler
In his history of professional riding, Alford has managed to get himself into some rather sticky situations. He shared with us the painful story of one of the worst crashes he’s had.
“I actually had a really bad one when I was in Whistler,” he said. “We were filming for the new Slednecks video, one of the biggest stunt video companies of the time. I was sitting in this big jump, ready to go, and I hadn’t really been looking over the sled for maintenance, you know, I’d basically just been riding the hell out of it.
“So I went off this jump, probably about 100 feet plus in the air, and the handlebars fell off. So I’m suddenly in the air, no attached handlebars and no way of controlling the sled. I landed and the skis turned and caught, and I slipped over the bars. I must have flipped over a hundred times rolling down that hill. I was honestly just like a ragdoll. And of course, since it had been for a video shoot, they had it on film.”
The incredible part of the whole fiasco was that Alford walked away relatively unscathed—well, as unscathed as you can be after free-falling 100 feet.
“I walked away from that with just a broken wrist and some stitches,” he said, “and at the time, I hadn’t even thought my wrist was broken, just sprained.”
Talk about nerves of steel.
Can’t kick the habit
The crash didn’t prevent Alford from continuing to ride, though. He got right back in the game and continued to pursue his exciting career—and the excitement and risk is exactly what keeps him coming back for more.
“I like that it’s kind of like an adventure,” said Alford. “It’s a really exciting sport, and you get to see all these cool areas. You even need a helicopter to get into some of the spots. I used to do a lot of backcountry skiing, and without the helicopter you wouldn’t be able to get there. You get to go through untracked powder and unexplored areas, and it’s all just so much fun. It’s kind of like an addiction,” he said.
When asked about what he thinks makes the best ride, Alford said that a combination is key.
“I like doing downhill descent, through the trees and stuff like that—it’s kind of like skiing, but just on your sled,” he said. “I like the challenge of breaking a trail, of getting into the deep powder and getting into somewhere that’s hard to get into. I also like doing jumps and cliff drops. If I can combine all of that into one day’s ride, I’d be happy.”
Rider specs
Name: Rob Alford
Age: 35
Been riding: 18 years
Association: Slednecks, Ski-Doo
Current location: Revelstoke, B.C.
Previous location: Whistler, B.C.
First sled: 583 Summit
Current sled: 2014 Summit 800 XM 163
