It will be a ride to honour an old friend, and strong leader in the Fernie snowmobiling community.
The Fernie Snowmobile Association is hosting their second annual memorial ride in honour of former association president Bob Arnott.
Arnott was an avid backcountry enthusiast and retired mining engineer who passed away in the fall of 2016.
“He was one of our leaders in the club,” said Alex Miller, an organizer of the ride. “He was instrumental in building the rolling hills cabin.”
The memorial ride will follow the 20km trail from the Coal Creek road parking lot, up to the Rolling Hills Cabin and back.
Miller says the trail is smooth, non-technical, and the ride is intended to be a family friendly, fun event.
“Without him the club wouldn’t be where it is today,” said Miller, explaining Arnott was a quiet leader, who poured his heart and soul into making key advancements with the club such as the cabin, and regular grooming of local sled trails.
Arnott was a mining engineer for Suncor in Fort MacMurray for nearly two decades before moving to Fernie.
In the Elk Valley, he worked for Finning CAT, where he liaised with Teck Coal regularly.
Finning CAT has donated a bronze plaque to be erected, in the coming months, out in the back country.
“He came down because he wanted to be in this part of the world,” said Miller, explaining that Arnott was passionate about the Southern B.C. wilderness.
“He was a very good guy, and willing to help out anybody at any time,” said Miller. He says the Rolling Hills cabin, which was a $200,000 structure built with mostly community donations, was his legacy with the club.
The Fernie Snowmobile Association is over 25-years-old, they have three cabins and two trail groomers maintaining the extensive snowmobile trail network that winds throughout the Elk Valley.
For more information about the ride, visit ferniesnowmobile.com