An article by Sid Collett which appeared in the winter 98 issue of
Snow Squall magazine

That's what a letter accompanying a Communicator to our warranty department said. It's been a few years, but I still remember the story like it was yesterday. I'll repeat it here because it vividly illustrates the life-saving value of instant, voice communication.

It was late on a dark, moonless Saturday night in February. Three young men were crossing a frozen lake in Northern Ontario, talking back and forth on their Communicators as they travelled. Suddenly, the small white ridges of wind blown snow illuminated in the lead snowmobiler's headlight disappeared and a smooth black surface took their place. Instantly he reacted and shouted into his microphone "Open water! Jump!!" A second later he was under the freezing water, struggling to get to the surface. On the way up he heard the other two snowmobiles roar into the water and sink on either side of him.

The snowmobiles were lost but not his two friends. They had jumped in time. When he broke the surface they started to edge carefully toward him on the thin ice. They got hold of him but he kept breaking through as they tried to pull him up onto the ice. The strength of all three young men was nearly exhausted by the time he was finally pulled to safety. The letter writer stated flatly, "If all three of us had gone in the water, none of us would have made it out alive. Those radios saved us."

Well, they were lucky. Most times you can't make things better once an accident has happened, You just have to live (or not) with the consequences. It's in accident prevention that voice communication really shines. The collision that didn't occur because someone says."... there's a guy coming up fast behind you" or "...someone's coming at us on the wrong side" or "...slow down, there's a groomer ahead."

Crossing roads is one of the most risks situations a family or group will ever face, especially if children are involved. Once one sled makes it, there is a tendency for everyone to follow without looking. All it takes is for someone to say "... there's a car coming" --- and a life can be saved.

Nighttime presents a whole new set of dangers for snowmobilers. Things easily seen and avoided in daylight become invisible and deadly at night. Guard rails, barbed wire, rocks, tree stumps, even tight curves and --- open water --- become a real menace when you can't see them until the last second. A few words of caution can mean the difference between a non-event and a tragedy. Radio communication gives you the opportunity to give or receive that warning.

And what about when you are hurt and need help? As one customer put it... "Who's going to find you, off the trail in a gully, with a snowmobile on top of you?" That's what happened to him. He had a broken leg and crushed ribs. His friends didn't notice he was missing until 30 miles later back at the lodge, and they had no idea where to start looking. He watched daylight fade into night, and it got colder and colder. He was saved only because he heard a group of people talking on Communicators as they went by on the trail. He called out to them on his Communicator and after some searching, they found and rescued him. At night, help can be just a few hundred feet away, but without a radio, who's going to know you're there?

Of course, snowmobiling isn't all doom and gloom. It's a fantastic sport that lets you leave the worries of the world behind while you enjoy the sights, adventure, and camaraderie of friends on the trail. Instant voice communication allows you to make the most of every minute you're out there. There are many after-market products a snowmobiler can buy. Clothes that make you look better, boots that keep your feet warmer, engine parts that make you go faster. But there is nothing that will enhance your enjoyment of riding like a Communicator. Once you try it, you'll be hooked. And maybe one day, it will mean the difference between the accident that didn't happen --- and the one that did.