Chris Brookes, the executive director of the Alberta Snowmobile Association (ASA), has a lot on his plate for the coming sled season. As the ASA prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2011, host the International Snowmobile Conference in June and hold its annual Edmonton tradeshow in October (the largest sled and ATV show outside Toronto), they are also dedicating time and resources to promoting safety in several ways. Their flagship initiative is Sled Smart, a youth program that is presented at schools around the province.
“We’ll have three instructors roaming the province this coming year presenting our Sled Smart program,” said Brookes. “Schools phone in and book the instructors. We reached (out) to every corner of the province and presented to almost 16,000 students last year. We teach proper riding habits, environmental respect, respect for the machine, ice and avalanche safety—everything the junior rider should be aware of when they’re off the road on a machine.”
Now in its 10th year, Sled Smart is targeted at students in grades 7 through 9, though it has been shown to a variety of ages. Offered free of charge, the program covers issues as basic and important as wearing a helmet. Other topics include riding an appropriately sized machine, and safe riding locations. It is a program that has been growing slowly but steadily since its inception; Brookes said that knowledge of the program’s existence via word of mouth has helped it grow.
The ASA takes its education programs from the grade school level up to post-secondary. At Portage College, located in Lac La Biche, Alberta, the ASA supports a “train the trainer” program. Industrialists can send their educators and safety co-ordinators for lessons in how to instruct staff on safe snowmobiling. This partnership has been going on for the past seven years.
Outside of the schools, the ASA partakes in media campaigns and has safety demonstrations at its trade shows in Edmonton and Calgary. Brookes said that the ASA wants its message of safe riding to reach as many sledders in the province as possible.
“We (had) close to 4,000 members last year that we reached through our meetings, shows and messaging,” he said, “but we feel part of our mandate is to promote safe riding in general, to the public. There’s over 30,000 registered sleds in the province, so there’s a lot (of riders) who aren’t members.”
As more and more Albertans head to B.C. for mountain sledding, there has been a stronger focus on avalanche awareness. Brookes notes that there is a split between those who enjoy Alberta’s 5,500 miles of groomed trails, and those who head to Revelstoke, Valemount or other B.C. destinations for the mountains. In order to reach travelling sledders earlier, Brookes said that the ASA is working on developing safety materials that could be presented when the sleds are registered.
Though several high-profile incidents have put avalanches in the spotlight, Brookes said that the number one cause of snowmobile fatalities in Canada is ice accidents. Like avalanche awareness, education is key for ice safety; crossings, trails, open water and other conditions all give clues about ice thickness. Brookes said that prairie riders often travel at higher speeds than mountain riders. Sledders should exercise caution and keep speed to a controllable maximum. Wherever the snowmobilers head, though, the message from the ASA will remain constant.
"Our mandate is safe, environmentally sustainable riding," said Brookes.
