Photo U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest Region, Public domain.jpg){kind=link}
Snowmobile travel
Getting in and out of the country on a machine in winter, and what to carry when it quits miles from the truck.
What you need
- A helmet, goggles and a face cover, plus a spare pair of mitts
- A spare belt, plugs, the plug wrench and a tow strap
- A shovel, an axe or saw, and a fire kit in a dry bag
- Extra fuel, and oil if the machine takes it mixed
- A sleeping bag or bivy on the rack, in case you spend the night
- A charged phone in an inside pocket, and a beacon or satellite messenger
- Ice picks around your neck any time you cross a pond or a river
How
- Leave a trip plan with someone at home: the route, the ponds you will cross and the time you will be back.
- Warm the machine up and check the lights, the brakes and the throttle before you pull out.
- Travel with a second machine whenever you can. One machine gets two people home. Two people with none walk.
- Keep to known trails and packed routes, and go slow in fog, flat light and blowing snow.
- Cross ice only where you know it is sound, one machine at a time, at a steady speed, and never stop out on it.
- Watch your fuel. Turn for home when the tank is half gone, not when it is empty.
- If the machine quits, stay with it. It is bigger and easier to find than you are.
Do and don't
Do
- Carry enough gear to spend a night out, even on a day run.
- Dress for walking out, not only for riding. Boots you can walk in, layers you can open.
- Check the ice the way it says in Travelling on snow and ice before you cross.
Don't
- Do not drink and ride.
- Do not run a pond or a river you have not seen tested this winter.
- Do not ride alone at night or into weather that is closing in.
Watch for
Danger
- Moving water under ice, at inlets, outlets, narrows and around rocks, stays thin all winter.
- A machine through the ice sinks in seconds. Get off it and away from it, and use your picks.
- Wind chill at speed freezes skin fast. Watch each other's faces for white patches. See Frostbite.
- Deep snow off the trail can bury a machine and wear you out digging it free.
Notes
A snowmobile gets you far into the country in an hour. Walking back out can take a day or more. Plan every trip around what happens if the machine stops.
The rules for registration, trail permits and where you can ride change. Check the current ones for the province before the season starts.
Updated 2026-09-28
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