Sicamous’ sledding organizations are moving towards changes that will unite them under a new brand.
In a recent presentation to District of Sicamous council, Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club general manager Gord Bushell gave an overview of the past sledding season, some of the things the club and the Eagle Valley Snowmobile Grooming Society was able to achieve, as well as some insight as to how the related organizations plan to improve upon their operations and the industry as a whole.
One of the things the club and society are looking at is amalgamation. Bushell said they already share the same board of directors and the hope is amalgamation will help streamline operations and reduce paperwork.
The organizations are also looking at rebranding and marketing, for their benefit, as well as promoting the industry within the region.
“We’re having problems when we go to a show and we say Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club, and people look at you and wonder if you’re from just south of Regina, or they’re not sure where you’re from,” said Bushell, explaining the need to rebrand. “So we’re looking for the name Sicamous. We’ve been kind of going with Sled Sicamous lately.”
Bushell also stressed the need for a similar marketing strategy.
“We’re not just competing with Enderby and Revelstoke anymore, we’re competing North America-wide for the tourism dollars,” said Bushell. “I kind of feel we need to work closer together with the chamber, the travel info centres, the District of Sicamous, and the different clubs and organizations to try to come up with a logo… We need to work together to get everyone on the same page.”
For the 2013/14 season, Bushell said the number of riders using the local trails was up by 918 over last year. He noted, however, that the increase in overall ridership was quite a bit less from past years. He attributed this to highway closures and logging on three of the groomed sledding areas resulting in temporary trail closures.
The society was able to add a third snowcat groomer to its fleet. The club also finished building a cabin at Eagle Pass and a trail system connecting the Owl Head and Blue Lake sledding areas.
“We put in 14 kilometres of new trail to our Blue Lake cabin, so you can access Blue Lake from Sicamous now,” said Bushell. “That’s a big plus for us because we do have parking issues out in Blue Lake too.”