Tim Hurst, a full-time ATV and snowmobile guide for Toby Creek Adventures near Invermere, B.C., has always been a sledhead at heart. He was raised in Oshawa, Ontario, and spent his days on his old 1978 Ski-Doo Citation. Days turned into months and then years. Hurst was hooked.
“To be honest, I rode every day all winter long for my whole life,” said Hurst.
When Hurst got a little older, he decided to try his hand at snocross. While he only raced competitively for one year on his Ski-Doo 1998 MXZ in the 440 open class in Ontario, he learned a lot and decided to move to British Columbia to turn his passion into a real job.
“When I moved to the mountains it really became a job,” said Hurst.
Initially, Hurst wanted to be a ski bum in B.C.—and once that wore off, he wanted to be a ski guide. Eventually, he found his way to Toby Creek Adventures, where he has been guiding for the past nine years. Now, Hurst can snowmobile every day, just like he did when he was a kid.
“I worked a bunch of different jobs,” said Hurst. “I (did) construction at Whistler and I was a dishwasher in Banff. I did all the usual transient gigs and I was also running tree-planting projects. One summer I made enough money so that I could go to school for mountaineering in Canmore. Afterwards, I got hired at a bunch of places for ski patrol and . . . at a few snowmobiling outfits, and this was the job that seemed the best.”
Hurst said that learning to snowmobile in B.C. was a lot different than learning to snowmobile in Ontario. As Hurst was coming from quite the sledding background, he was confident that he had all the moves. Although he was mistaken, he learned quickly and is now a skilled and confident rider and guide.
“We rode up in cottage country, which is north of Toronto,” said Hurst. “I did not learn how to ride in deep snow or big hills until I moved out west. I kind of had to re-learn how to ride. When I first came down here I was pretty cocky, thinking that I could ride in the mountains, but I learned quickly.”
