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VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Coasting off the coast
Vancouver Island offers much more than just sun, sand and surf
by TANYA LAING MOORE
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A VIEW OF ETERNITY: With a view that extends for miles and perpetual powder-punching potential, Vancouver Island offers some of the best riding available.
—photo by Dave Donaldson |
I bet you think Vancouver Island is a great place to spend your summer holidays, but there’s not much there to appeal to snow junkies. I bet you think it’s full of artisans and hippies, mainland vacationers and sushi restaurants. I bet you think it’s not a place to get your heart racing in the winter months.
I bet you’re wrong.
Vancouver Island has some of the most stellar snowmobiling to be found in B.C., according to North Island Snowmobile Association president Dave Donaldson, but you’ve got to be ready to give it your all to get there.
“We’ve had an amazing amount of snow up top,” said Donaldson. “You have to be a fairly aggressive driver to get right to the top . . . but most of the guys make it. There are even a few ladies who make it up there.”
Donaldson said the riding around Campbell River can easily stand up against more popular regions such as Revelstoke.
“We didn’t go (to Revelstoke) for the last two years because we had better snow here,” he said. “They were coming here.”
There are definite benefits to being a club member; the best riding in the region is accessible only to members or day-pass holders.
“It’s a privilege—not a right—to ride in this area and we’re very protective of it,” said Donaldson, who added that the wilderness area is protected from damage in the off-season by banning quad use.
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