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FUN WITH THE FAMILY: Karen and Lee Kersch have had some memorable times snowmobiling with their daughters, Jennifer and Julie, in the Crowsnest Pass.

GOOD TIMES: (L to R) Jennifer, Lee and Julie Kersch had fun on a sledding trip to Parson, B.C., in December 1999. —Karen Kersch photos

Sledding has played a major role in shaping the lives of Karen and Lee Kersch. In fact, it was their passion for the sport that brought the couple and their daughters, Jennifer and Julie, to the Crowsnest Pass.

“When the girls were young, they would ride on the back with us,” said Karen. “When they got old enough, we bought a four-place trailer to tow behind our motorhome along with two more sleds. We did a lot of sledding in the Crowsnest Pass . . . We would make a camping trip out of it with all of our great snowmobile friends. We had so much fun sledding in the Crowsnest Pass that we bought a place there.”

Although Karen works in Calgary, she spends her weekends in the Pass, where Lee lives and works full time.

“It is a wonderful destination for summer and winter,” said Karen. “It has rid-ing for everyone. There are beautiful groomed trails and warm-up shelters on the north and south sides that the clubs and many volunteers built. And there are beautiful mountain bowls to play in the powder snow.”

Longtime enthusiasts
Both Karen and Lee got into sledding at a young age. For Karen, it was her father, Ray O’Neill, who introduced her to the sport.

“We had a ’68 Olympic Ski-Doo that my father raced and we rode at the family cottage at Grand Beach (Manitoba),” said Karen. “We called that sled The Harley because it had so much compression for a single-banger.”

O’Neill used to work for Bombardier Recreational Products and he competed in nearly every power toboggan race held in Beausejour and Carman, Manitoba, from about 1966 to 1973. Karen would always watch her father from the sidelines and she loved to help him work on their sled.

“I spent hours in the basement shop with my dad while he ported and polished the engine to get it ready for the next race,” she said. Away from the races, the O’Neills liked to snowmobile together at their cottage in Grand Beach.

“Even at -40° F, my dad, Uncle John, brother Kevin, Mom and I would pack a lunch of perogies and a frying pan and head out,” said Karen. “I would ride on the back with Dad—Mom and Kevin would sit in the caboose and Uncle John would lead. We had so much fun.”

Growing up in the world of snowmobiling has been rewarding for Karen.

“If I had not spent all that time at the races and learning about engines, I would not be in the career I currently am in now,” said Karen, who manages WestJet’s quality assurance audit department for technical operations/aircraft maintenance.

Unlike Karen, Lee was the only one in his family who was sled crazy. As a kid in Hussar, Alberta, he would walk a mile to watch the local snowmobile races in the late ’60s. Lee’s first sled was a 1970 Snow Cruiser. The engine in it was blown but Lee’s father helped him restore it back to working order.

Sledders for life
Karen and Lee are actively involved in snowmobiling in the Pass and they enjoy riding with other members of the Crow Snow Riders and friends from the Calgary Snowmobile Club. Jennifer and Julie, who are now in their 20s, live in Calgary but they like to visit the Pass for the fine sledding this area has to offer.

With more than 1,200 kilometres of groomed and ungroomed trails, the Crowsnest Pass is the ideal snowmobiling community for the Kersches. Karen views each ride as an opportunity to get close to nature and share new experiences with family and friends.

“It (snowmobiling) is a way to learn, grow and challenge ourselves,” she said, “and spend quality time together as a family, enjoying nature.”