After a slow start, trailing Thompson Manitoba in the Sled Town show down for most of the contest, Tumbler Ridge pulled ahead with a few days left, and then pinned it, to remain ahead of Thompson Manitoba (if only just) to win the 2023 sled town showdown.
Tumbler Ridge last won the contest in 2019, then decided to spend a few years resting on its laurels, not even coming close as the Monolithic Manitoban vote propelled Flin Flon to the top twice and Lac de Bonnet to the top once.
Indeed, Tumbler Ridge didn’t even get far in the Provincial voting, and for the last three years McBride has been the one to represent in the final vote.
But this year, Tumbler Ridge riders (and supporters) rallied together to propel the town to victory.
To get to the top, Tumbler Ridge first had to roundly tromp Whistler/Squamish, getting 74 percent of the popular vote.
In the next round, the town moved from strength to strength, capturing 70 percent of the popular vote to defeat Blue River. In round 3, we took on Revelstoke and won, with 67 percent of the popular vote.
In round four, the competition stepped up its game, and so we defeated Sicamous with 54 percent of the popular vote, crowning us provincial champion.
In the first interprovincial round, Tumbler Ridge again captured 54 percent of the vote to defeat the Alberta Champion, Swan Hills. This was there second year in a row being crowned champions for Alberta, but they were unable to make it to the interprovincial finals.
And finally, Tumbler Ridge eked out a victory over Thompson, getting 2985 votes to their 2879 votes.
According to Sno Riders West, who run the contest, this was the closest final round in the history of the contest, which has been running since 2015.
It also makes Tumbler Ridge the second town to top the podium twice, after the aforementioned Flin Flon.
According to Sno Riders, winning the contest gets the town and the Ridge Riders: “a shiny SledTown trophy, bragging rights and feature articles on SnoRidersWest.com. Plus, it is a chance to raise positive awareness of snowmobiling and to recognize local clubs for all their hard work.”
Last time Tumbler Ridge won, people were able to vote every day in the contest; this time, people were only allowed one vote per round, which explains why, in 2019, they won with 51,553 votes, but this time they had less than 3000.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
