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The fast paced winter is coming to a springtime finish and this last month has proven to be the most fluctuating rollercoaster for snowboarding and traveling. One of the highlights of the last four weeks occurred with my snowmobile in Canada.

At the end of February I drove the 20 plus hours to Whistler, BC from Mammoth Lakes, CA and spent about eight days up in the backcountry. Each day we would leave the house at around 5:30 am, stop at a gas station, make our way to the trailhead, unload the snowmobiles, and head out on an adventure to the wilderness of towering peaks. We would then return to our trucks around dark, head home for dinner and crawl into bed about 11pm. This cycle would continue as long as the weather was on our side. Towards the end of the eight days, the long days started catching up with me and I was crossing my fingers for a down day.

On the 26th of February, the mountains were socked in with weather and instead of calling it off we headed out to see if we could find some features in the tress to hit. We followed the same morning routine, but about two miles down the cat track I came to a screeching halt because my snowmobile burst into flames. By the time I jumped off, the flames were hip high and the snowmobile was doomed for destruction. My fellow snowboarder tried to help me put the flames out but the sled had already decided that the 26th of February was the last day of its life.

My crew and I had to sit on the cat track and watch the snowmobile burn to the ground for a long two hours in the rain. Once the flames were out on the ash pile that used to be my snowmobile, we started transferring the pieces back to my truck. The good side of this whole situation is that I had insurance on this piece of machinery; the only irony is that I was going to have to drive the singed pieces of metal across the border of Canada in order to show the insurance company that the remains were unsalvageable.

Sure enough, on the 27th of February, I drove across on the border and only got a “poor girl” look from the border agent. I finished my two-day drive with ash slowly blowing out of the back of my truck. I had that snowmobile for almost three years and now that chapter is closed. Two weeks after this snowmobile burnt to the ground I was able to buy a new one and my adventures continue throughout California.

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