Oak River man dies in snowmobile crash

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This article was published 13/03/2018 (2965 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man from Oak River died Sunday night after driving a snowmobile off an embankment along the Little Saskatchewan River, dropping 20 metres.

Local emergency personnel spent approximately 45 minutes trying to save the 29-year-old snowmobiler, who landed atop the frozen river, said Rivers-Daly fire Chief Richard Brown. The man was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Brown went to Rivers Collegiate with the snowmobiler.

“It’s very sad for the whole community and all the family and everybody involved. It’s a terrible situation,” Brown said. “I kind of get choked up talking about it.”

Police indicate the man was travelling north when, it appears, he drove over the edge of a ravine bank after 5 p.m., approximately 15 kilometres southeast of Rivers near Provincial Road 270.

He was wearing a helmet at the time. It is unknown if alcohol or speed was a factor in the collision, police say.

Brown credited local snowmobilers for their assistance. A group riding in the area was alerted to the incident by emergency personnel and asked to locate it, since it was inaccessible by road.

“We ended up using our own snowmobile and our toboggan to get down there, but without the snowmobilers who are on scene we wouldn’t have been able to find it so easily,” he said.

Ted Krahn, president of the Valleyview Sno-Riders Inc., was among the group of snowmobilers who searched for the rider, who was travelling that day with a friend.

“We tried to do what we could,” Krahn said. “It’s so disappointing and so discouraging. It’s just really sad.”

Krahn was not aware of another snowmobile fatality near the river in his more than 40 years riding in the area.

Snowmobilers are enticed to the area’s varied topography of hills and curves.

“It always has little trails and offshoots here and there that we’ve investigated and explored for years, so it’s always appealing,” he said. “You’d rather go there than across a barren field, for instance.”

Snowmobile riders around Rivers have made their own paths this winter, as sanctioned Snoman (Snowmobilers of Manitoba) trails, groomed by Valleyview Sno-Riders Inc., did not open this year due to the minimal snowfall, which was only recently mitigated.

The site of the incident was two miles from the closed Snoman trail, Krahn said.

Alan Butler, the Foxwarren-based president of Snoman, said it is harder to recognize the contours of the land after last week’s snowfall.

“The landscape looks very, very non-distinguished, if you will, and it’s very difficult to see the differences in terrain because you almost got a white-out condition,” he said.

“You’ve got to be very careful when you’re out there.”

Speed has been the common denominator in several snowmobile fatalities that occurred in Manitoba over the last two months.

In all, there have been six deaths relating to snowmobile accidents since Jan. 20 — including two fatalities this past weekend.

On March 10, a 33-year-old Winnipeg man died in a snowmobile crash northeast of the city. Powerview RCMP said the man was driving his snowmobile on Snoman Trail #220, about 45 kilometres north of Broadlands Road in the RM of Alexander. It appears he lost control of the machine, veered off the trail and hit a tree.

RCMP spokesman Paul Manaigre said there were no fatalities until Jan. 20, in part, because of the lack of snow.

Although the number of fatalities this winter remain the same to date as last year, Manaigre noted that the province is averaging almost one a week since late January.

“The biggest issue is speed and lack of knowing the terrain you’re driving on,” he said.

Yvonne Rideout, executive director of Snoman, agreed that speed continues to be the root of many deaths.

Rideout said her organization is currently developing a poster campaign — slated to begin next winter — with the slogan, “Speed does not always take you home.”

“And we’re going to have a very graphic poster,” she added, noting it will include an image of a snowmobile accident and a family dinner where one seat is left empty.

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