Photos: Mark Gauthier Sleds, sleds & more sleds: over 7,000 sleds in varying conditions grace 4.5 acres of Rimbey, Alberta. Welcome to sled heaven! In search of a rare snowmobile part, Rick Descoteaux turned a hobby into a thriving business. It’s true all good sleds do go to heaven — Snowmobile Heaven that is! The company is probably Western Canada’s largest re-conditioned and salvage snowmobile dealer. Snowmobile Heaven is owned and operated by Rick Descoteaux (pronounced Dakota) and is located in Rimbey, Alberta. Rimbey is in central Alberta, 22 miles west of Ponka and seven miles east of Rimbey. The 4.5 acre site houses over 7,000 sleds in varying conditions. There are about 2,300 used intact snowmobiles and over 5,000 stripped down models. The enterprise started 11 years ago when Descoteaux went looking for a secondary clutch for an Ariens Arrow. “I had this Ariens Arrow snowmobile and my search for a clutch went from a hobby to business,” says Descoteaux. “Seven thousands sleds and years later, I finally found the part I needed. In the meantime, I had launched a company that became Snowmobile Heaven.” The company is now open year around and employs three or four people and up to eight when things get busy in the winter. The company has sold and shipped parts to every corner of Canada including the Northwest Territories, the U.S. and even to Europe. In addition to a huge selection of current machines from main stream manufacturers like Arctic Cat, Ski-Doo, Polaris and Yamaha, Snowmobile Heaven has an extensive array of machines from yesteryear like Ski Roule, Harley Davidson, Eskimo, Ski Daddler, Snow Hawk, Viking and SnoScoot. “It’s not uncommon to have 500 people wandering throughout our yard on a winter afternoon,” says Descoteaux. “Some days it gets so busy that we can hardly handle it.” “We also specialize in re-conditioning snowmobiles. Somebody can buy a sled for $500 and we will totally re-condition it with everything from new pistons and rings to a new seat. The customer ends up with a ‘brand-new’ second hand machine for probably under $1,500 complete with a 30 day 100 per cent warranty.” When Snowmobile Heaven started out almost a dozen years ago, it would re-condition over 200 sleds a season. That aspect of the business has been scaled back to a more manageable level of about 40 or 50 re-conditioned sleds a season. Descoteaux has a dream! He envisions the day, maybe five years down the road, where his business will expand to include a snowmobile museum plus expanded storage and shop facilities which will all be located on a spacious quarter section of land. Prompted by two consecutive low snow years, Snowmobile Heaven has diversified into offering used parts and reconditioned quads, bikes and even golf carts but snowmobiles continue to be the company’s bread and butter. Next time you find yourself in central Alberta, you may find yourself asking a local, “Is this Rimbey?” and getting the answer, “No this is heaven — Snowmobile Heaven.” So remember when you’re looking for that hard to find sled part or a re-conditioned machine, head for the pearly gates of Snowmobile Heaven or call on its heavenly hotline 403-843-3654.