Snowmobiling is a popular winter pastime in the Greater Sudbury area, but it can be deadly.
Just one case in point is a fatal collision that occurred last week. A 33-year-old man died Feb. 20 after crashing his snowmobile into a tree near Crean Hill Road (in between Whitefish and Nairn Centre).
It's these kinds of deaths that are behind a 25-year tradition at Lively District Secondary School.
During S-Days, students at the school spend one day in the classroom, learning snowmobile safety from guest speakers including Greater Sudbury Police and the Sudbury Trail Plan Association.
The next day, they hop on their sleds for an escorted ride from Lively to Nairn Centre and back. This year, 30 students participated in the event Feb. 22-23.
Lively teacher Rob Ongarato said the students learn about trail safety, snowmobile mechanics, responding to an emergency situation and more.
“This is a big part of a lot of the students' lives, snowmobiling and fishing,” he said. “Back in 1993, there were five fatalities in the Walden area, and because of that a program started up and we've kept it going for 25 years now.”
Ongarato said he hopes S-Days will prevent one of his students from meeting with a tragic accident out on the trails.
“You've heard this year there have been a lot of accidents already, and some fatalities,” he said. “You never like hearing that in the snowmobiling sport. But the more we educate the students, hopefully we have an effect and make it safe for everybody.”
Const. Mathieu Guerin of the Greater Sudbury Police Service said he brings the students through topics such as surviving cold water immersion and providing first aid for someone with hypothermia.
But he also speaks to the group about some of the collisions out on the trails he and his coworkers investigate “and how severe they can be.”
“We make sure we let them know that such injuries are possible if you're not careful,” he said.
Grade 10 Lively student Bobby Pitfield, who's had his snowmobile licence since he was 12, said he already knows a lot of what was presented during S-Days, but “there is some stuff you do learn.”
Although S-Days talks a lot about the worst case scenario, Pitfield said he's never met with a dangerous situation out on the trails himself.
“Nothing too serious, no,” he said. “Just different breakdowns. Nothing too too bad.”
