Thanks to the amazing support from our community Lac du Bonnet took the title and was crowned Manitoba’s SledTown Showdown Champion! While not the first time Lac du Bonnet has competed, this is the first time Lac du Bonnet has won.
Round Six is on, and Lac du Bonnet is Getting Close to Victory!
With more and more community members getting involved in the Contest, we know we’ll have a strong showing for Round Six, as Lac du Bonnet competes against Nipawin SK.
The vote count keeps going up, and Lac du Bonnet has a stronghold on this round, but don’t put those voting fingers away just yet. We want to make it all the way to be crowned the 2021 SledTown ShowDown Champion of Western Canada.
How to Vote
If you love Lac du Bonnet, follow this link and vote for Lac du Bonnet as your Favourite SledTown https://snoriderswest.com/sledtown_showdown
You can vote once a day per device!
What Winning the Title Means for Lac du Bonnet
The winner of the 2021 SledTown Showdown will win a shiny SledTown trophy, bragging rights and feature articles on SnoRidersWest.com.
“If Lac du Bonnet brings home the win, this could significantly impact our winter tourism, as SnoRidersWest.com and we tell snowmobilers across Canada that Lac du Bonnet is the place to be for snowmobiling,” Cyndie Mitchell, Economic Development Officer. “More riders on the trails mean more visitors and provides our businesses with a chance to capture that business.”
“You just can’t buy this type of advertising,” said Michell. “and it’s great to see Lac du Bonnet pull together and out-vote the competition.”
The Competition So Far
In Round One, Lac du Bonnet was up against Pinawa. Taking a strong lead in this round, Lac du Bonnet (204 Votes, 79%) won in a landslide against Pinawa (55 votes, 21%).
In Round Two, Lac du Bonnet (512 votes, 52%) edged out Duck Mountain Provincial Park (467 votes, 48%) in a pretty close race.
We then pulled together as a community for Round Three, where Lac du Bonnet (6,729 votes, 53%) advanced to the provincial finals with a massive victory over Flin Flon (5,928 votes, 47%), last year’s SledTown Showdown champion.
And we did it again in Round Four, where Lac du Bonnet (4,753 votes, 53%) voted like crazy and denied victory to Snow Lake (4,252 votes, 47%), who put out an amazing effort.
In Round Five, Lac du Bonnet is on a roll. This Manitoba SledTown already dispatched last year’s SledTown ShowDown winner in Round 3, Flin Flon, Manitoba, and now they’ve eliminated the 2018 SledTown ShowDown champion, McBride, B.C. On its way to victory, Lac du Bonnet (10,044 votes, 57%) cruised past McBride (7,467 votes, 43%) to take its place in the finals.
Snowmobiling is a Wonderful Winter Economic Driver for the Community
This year, the season was short, but the sled traffic was heavy with many new riders taking to recreational snowmobiling as a good way to get outside and stay physically distanced and safe. Public Health orders closed all the snowmobile shelters this season, but it did not stop the riders from coming out to our beautiful area to ride our trails.
“Lac du Bonnet is my favourite town, and it’s nice to get recognition from our snowmobiling community and our residents,” John Fleming, Eastman SnoPals President.
Snowmobiling attracts many visitors to the community who ride the trails and visit our local businesses. It is the mainstream attraction to Lac du Bonnet during the winter. As the activity becomes more popular businesses can work to attract those visitors by welcoming sledders.
“The Lac du Bonnet businesses fully support snowmobiling and continued to give us that support during our COVID year,” said Fleming. “Drifters Gulf was recognized this year as the Non-Snowmobiling Business of the Year, and they continued to support snowmobilers this year following the Public Health restrictions.”
Volunteers from the Eastman SnoPals club work all season to groom just over 320 km of trails between Elma and the Whiteshell Provincial Park and Brokenhead and the Lee River area.
“We acknowledge our neighbouring clubs who work with us to make Eastern Manitoba the go-to area in the Province for snowmobiling. Club volunteers work hundreds of hours each year getting the trails ready and then grooming them weekly to provide the best trail that Mother Nature gives us the snow to make,” said Flemming.
“This year, according to Environment Canada, Mother Nature gave us the 5th lowest amount of snow in over 140 years, but everyone worked hard to make the trails the best we could. I see this vote as a big thank you to our volunteers for a great job and to the businesses that support recreational snowmobiling,” Fleming continued.
We want to thank everyone who supported Lac du Bonnet in the Provincial showdown and encourage you all to keep voting as we take on McBride BC in round 5, which runs until April 18, 2021.
