Alan Butler

Alan joined the Snoman Board of Directors in 2010 as a Snoman Director for the Western Region. In April 2011, Alan was elected to the Snoman Vice President position and 4 months later at the Annual General Meeting was elected to President.

Alan and his wife and family have been snowmobiling since 1974. Alan & Linda's home for 30 years was in Stony Mountain were they rode a lot of the Interlake trails. Upon his retirement Alan & Linda moved from Stony Mountain to Foxwarren and became a member of the Snowtraxx's Snowmobile Club; Alan's first involvement with the club was taking over the trail signing responsibilities for 40 kilometres of trail. Alan was elected Vice President of the club and it was at this time he attended his first Western Region meeting. Alan was elected as Club President and club representative to the Western Region. In 2008, Alan was elected as Chairman of the Western Region and in 2010 became the Regional Snoman Director.

Alan has always been a strong community supporter and volunteer and has considerable experience on volunteer boards both at the community and Provincial level. Being employed by one of the largest Aero Space Companies in Manitoba for 35 years Alan as Manager of Aircraft Operations was responsible for a workforce in excess of 250 employees and therefore has considerable experience in labour relations, budgeting and management.

Alan and his wife Linda raised a family of three, of which all snowmobiled and has one son and his family of two that are avid snowmobilers. There is nothing better than going for a ride with your grandchildren. Alan and Linda usually ride about 2500 miles per season, do not go south but stay at home and enjoy our winters.

Alan believes that the club is the strength in the Snoman organization and we must all work hard to strengthen the relationship between the clubs and the Snoman Board.

Wayne Vandersteen

My snowmobiling days began way back in 1966 when I drove a Ski Daddler to get Christmas Trees. I was hooked on snowmobiling right from the start. Not a year passed when I did not make miles, bumpy miles back in the day before groomed trails. Some years were busier than others with as many as 10,000 miles in some years.
In the mid 1990’s, myself and some equally passionate snowmobilers decided to start a snowmobile club in the Fisher Branch area. I was nominated president of the Northern Trailblazers and sat on the board for many years.
In 1997 I became a regional representative for the Interlake area on the Snoman board. My involvement with the sport continued and we developed a fairer payout system which made all clubs equal.
Twenty-one continuous years of involvement leads me to 2018 and my new, exciting role as Vice President. I am ready, willing and able to continue to work for the betterment of all snowmobilers when I am not out enjoying a ride with my children and grandchildren. 

Albert Wyborn

Albert got involved with snowmobiling in the late 1990s and soon realized that the Manitoba snowmobile trail system was of great interest to him. He quickly became involved with a local club in the Brandon area and soon found himself elected to the board of directors of the Western Region Snowmobile Association. He served as chair of this organization and was soon elected as the Western Region Director on the Snoman Board.

In 2007, Albert was elected as vice-president and served in that capacity until being elected as Snoman Inc. President in 2008. It was during Albert’s term as president when discussion and negotiations led to the sale of snopasses through Manitoba Public Insurance.

Albert served on numerous Snoman committees over the years, including a brief term as secretary before being elected as treasurer of the Snoman Inc. Board of Directors in 2011.

Albert and his wife Shirley have lived in the Brandon area for over 25 years. While Albert looks forward to snowmobiling in winter, in summer he and Shirley spend considerable time camping.

Albert has also served as assistant director on the Manitoba/North/West Ontario Good Sam Club, which is an International R.V. Organization, and completed six years as treasurer in 2017.

Ernie Smelski

Ernie's snowmobiling days go back to the family farm near Dauphin MB, where in 1963, he would ride his dad's Polaris sled to do the farm chores. His snowmobiling interests continued on throughout his 38 years in Manitoba Conservation. Employed in 1969, he worked through the ranks of a Resource Officer and management throughout the province, working with many communities and organizations until his retirement in 2008. For the past 24 years, Ernie has been involved in the organized recreational snowmobile program, developing programs, policies and guidelines relating to snowmobile safety, risk management and infrastructure. He has contributed significantly to the betterment of Snoman and recreational snowmobiling in Manitoba as the Conservation representative sitting on the Board of Directors of Snoman since 2000-2008.

Shortly after his retirement from Manitoba Conservation, he was elected as Vice President in 2008. Ernie was instrumental in providing direction and guidance for many of Snoman's current programs. Thanks to Ernie's efforts and direction, Snoman has been very successful with the Integration program, Trail Audit program, Sign Training, Risk Management and National Trails Coalition programs, just to name a few. During his time, Snoman gained in excess of a million dollars of grants from the Federal and Provincial governments which has never before been achieved in the organization's history. Ernie has also been active on the national front with the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations as 2nd Vice President. As a result, this provided Snoman Inc. with the opportunity to bring new initiatives to our programs.

Ernie was a very dedicated President, serving 3 terms from 2009-2011. He worked tirelessly, his interest and dedication to the Snoman organization were second to none and as a result of his efforts, Snoman will be able to move forward with a very good foundation. Ernie did set a Snoman President record; he is the first President to have four Executive Directors. Thanks to Ernie's efforts Manitoba has one of the safest trail systems in North America. He continues to provide guidance and recommendations to the Snoman Inc. organization in the active capacity of "Past President".

Mike McLaren

No bio provided

Ken Willsey

I first started snowmobiling in the 70s then took a hiatus from the mid-80s until 2008. I joined Club Snow in Portage la Prairie in 2009 and have been Treasurer for the past 2 years.

I retired in 2013 after 42 years working at our Chrysler dealer. I am looking forward to spending my time working with our snowmobile club and in the last 2 years have helped construct two new warming shelters.

My wife Betty and I have three grown sons; two of them are involved in snowmobiling. I really enjoy the time we get to spend on the trails together.

I am also an avid golfer and enjoy camping in the summer and spending time with our four grandchildren.

Ken Horn

Ken Horn has been an avid snowmobiler most of his life. He started snowmobiling on a snow cruiser in the early 60s at his uncle's farm in the Oak Bluff area. His first involvement with a snowmobile club was the Lac du Bonnet Power Toboggan Club, then along with a group of people from the Lac du Bonnet area formed the Lee River Snowriders Club which he held numerous positions from President to Director and still is active with the club as a Director today. He sat on the Snoman Board for several years from the late 90s, served 2 years as President and now serves as the Eastern Rep. 

After 41 years working for Greyhound Canada as an Agency Manager, he retired years ago which now allows him to be more involved with snowmobiling and work with other organizations.

Jason Wiebe

Les Thordarson

No bio provided.

Darcy Wyborn

Darcy has been actively involved with snowmobiling in the Brandon area since the incorporation of the Valleyview Sno-Riders in 2001. For 12 ½ years, he was a member of their Board of Directors and the Snofund contact for the club. At the club level, he held positions of President and Treasurer (7 years). As their representative to the West Region Snowmobile Association, Darcy had attended every regional meeting since 2001 and became an active member at that level. Darcy has served as a member of the West Region Snowmobile Association’s Board of Directors for over 10 years, serving as their treasurer since October 2006. As a Regional Director, he has enjoyed working with the West Region clubs which have continued to grow.

Darcy’s involvement with the club and region would not have been possible without the support of his wife, Tracy, and their two daughters, Jessica and Miranda. Together with the girls, Darcy has tried to turn every regional or snoman ride they could attend into a family riding adventure.

Kelly Martens

I started snowmobiling the winter of 1990, joined the Thompson Trailbreakers after that and started to get involved in the club. I enjoyed volunteering with the other club members and met some really good people.
 
As the years have gone on, I've gotten more involved with the Trailbreakers to the point where I've been the President of the club for the last 2 years. I've been a Snoman Director for just over 3 years representing the Northern Region, which I have really enjoyed. I've learned a lot during my time with Snoman - it's been a very good experience. There's always something going on with snowmobiling in the province of Manitoba, no matter what time of year it is.
 
I am an avid snowmobiler; I love anything to do with snowmobiles. I ride as much as I can all over the province – I rode from Churchill to Thompson and from Thompson to Brandon 5 times so far as part of the Lion's Club Journey For Sight.

Dan Taylor

Dan’s snowmobiling started in 1964 when a neighbour took him for a ride on a Snowcruiser and he was immediately hooked on snowmobiling. After doing summer jobs - delivering papers and shovelling sidewalks, he was able to purchase his very first snowmobile in 1967. Dan was a proud owner of a Polaris Colt SS snowmobile and thus snowmobiling became a passion for him and continues to be a big part of his life today.

He is currently a member of the Kelsey Trail Sno Riders and is a dedicated groomer for the club who takes pride in making the trails look like white pavement. Dan is a Northern Director and a Trail Auditor with Snoman. Dan loves to ride and doesn’t need much coaxing to climb aboard his sled and go for a cruise on the white pavement.

Tonya Kemball

Tonya has been a member of the Maskwa Snowmobile Club since 1993 and a Director of the club since 1995. She was elected as the Eastern Region rep for her club in September 2009, became the Vice President of the Eastern Region in September 2011, and the Vice President of Snoman from 2016 to 2018. Tonya joined the Snoman Board of Directors in 2011 as a director for the Eastern Region. She is currently the Eastern Region Alternate.
 
Tonya is married with 3 children. She and her family spend much of their time riding in the Pine Falls/Powerview area where they reside.  Tonya was the owner of the local Chicken Chef restaurant until September 2011 when she sold it and is looking forward to spending more time volunteering at the club as well as the trails.
 
Tonya is looking forward to continuing to work with the individuals that invest many hours of time and work to make snowmobiling a great, fun, and safe way to spend time with family and friends. She is dedicated and excited to learn and grow with the organization and the people.

Jason Bittner

Hello everyone!  My name is Jason Bittner and I really, really, really enjoy snowmobiling here in Manitoba.  I have been part of a snowmobile club for as long as I can remember.  My father and a few of his friends started a snowmobile club when I was young and I can always remember helping groom trails, sign trails and fundraise.  I am happy to follow in his footsteps and currently head the LakeSide Sno-Drifters snowmobile club here in Faulkner, Manitoba.  With the help of our volunteers our club is doing quite well.  We have more members joining every year. I currently work from home for Toshiba INC. in the Information Technology Industry.  I provide 2nd level tech support for the junior techs entering the field across Canada.  In my spare time I help my dad on his grain farm.  Summers are quite busy.  I am also a newly elected member to council in the Rural Municipality of Grahamdale.  I sit on numerous committees including Interlake Tourism and Community Development.  My plan is to push snowmobile tourism in the area. I'm excited to sit on the board of directors for Snoman and plan to make a positive impact going forward.

Tyler Samborski

I started Snowmobiling in 1997 when my dad bought two new sleds. We put on many miles around Snow Lake going as far as Cranberry.

I enjoy riding as much as possible and try to plan a sled trip every year. I have rode in the Journey for Sight from Thompson to Brandon 5 or 6 times.

I joined the Snow Lake Sno-Drifters 8 or 9 years ago and have logged many miles cutting, signing and fixing trails.  I spend my days off either driving to hockey tournaments or running our Br180s.

Jack Bolack