By David F. Rooney
The Snowmobile Revelstoke Society has just taken possession of a sleek, silver groomer to keep the area’s busy sledding trails neat and tidy.
“We are very grateful to the City,” said SRS Executive Director Angie Threatful, “Very, very grateful.”
The City went to bat for the society when it applied for a $75,000 grant from the Resort Municipality Fund to help defray the machine’s $133,000 price tag.
The purchase brings to three the number of groomers owned by the society and used six nights a week by operators Charlie Anderson, Wayne Davis, Herb Shaede, Tim Kobos and Pat Gadbois on the trails that crisscross Boulder Mountain and Frisby Ridge.
“I kind of miss it,” said Larry Streeter, a veteran groomer who recently retired. “Now all I do is watch TV and read.”
This fleet of groomers help keep Revelstoke on the leading edge of snowmobile tourism, Threatful said.
“It’s an $8 million industry here,” she said. “The money sledders spend here gets circulated throughout the town. If you’re a waitress at Zala’s (one of the most popular restaurants in the city among sledders) you’re spending their money every time you go to Coopers, People’s or Pharmasave.”
