I've been a female snowmobiler for thirty years, as well a racing team member for a full decade, during that time. And I don't think it ever really occurred to any of the guys that I wasn't one of them. I heaved gas pails. Ran for wrenches and took things apart. Warmed up sleds. Picked ice and swept drag lanes. All that stuff and more.

In fact, Sunday mornings I handed out aspirins to everyone, male and female alike. And I don't think a race ever went by that I didn't straighten somebody's crooked race bib, help get the duct tape on straight over some nose, or tie up a stray string. Why, my hood strings have been known to hold together a battered Saskatchewan snowmobile hood for a whole race day!

When I read through old magazines and books, I found, that along with many others, I have held the as yet, undefined role, of a snowmobile woman. We aren't snow bunnies (heaven forbid!). We are not, most definitely, snow cows. And we are also not men.

The first female name that I came across, in reading the history of men and their snow machines, was that of Bessie Billberg. Imagine, if you can, a woman along with her husband Rudy Billberg, in the year 1960, setting out with two other men on snowmobiles, in Alaska. This daring woman travelled 1100 miles from Bethel on the Bering Sea, across the Alaskan wilderness for twenty days. I bet she was just one of the guys too!

I would love to have the opportunity to ask Bessie why she risked her life in the frozen North, on one of those crazy new machines. The organizer of the ride, Edgar Hetteen, had a dream about proving the snowmobile could be a real means of transportation in the North, as his motivation. I wonder what Bessie's might have been?

If Bessie was the first cross country female snowmobile driver to leave her mark, it's sad that we don't know the names of the first women oval racers. According to the history books, fifteen men and a few women showed up to compete in three scheduled events at the first formally titled and well-organized snowmobile race ever, in Beausejour, MB, Canada. Along with the men's names, the following paragraph appears in Bill Vint's book, Warriors of Winter. (1977)

"The Novelty Race was the third event, and it was planned as a special race for ladies around the hay bale oval. Novelty was quickly forgotten as the ladies turned demon, roaring around the track at full throttle, scaring the Winter Farewell officials to death. The crowd of more than 1,000 spectators loved the daring and reckless abandon of women's racing, however, so the Beausejour organizers followed up with plans to include the Ladies' Canadian championship during the 1964 races."

1964 also saw the first running of what was to become the Eagle River World's Championship. This time race results did include the name of the winner of the Girls' Race. She was Susan Malliette of Antigo, Wisconsin. Her father, Art, also won first in the Open Class. The events that year included ski joring (skiing behind a snowmobile), hill climbing, cross-country obstacle races and speed racing against the clock. Unfortunately we can only guess which event was used to determine the winner of the Girls' Race.

By 1965 the Girls' Race had acquired the name of the Powderpuff, as is recorded in the results of the Lancaster, New Hampshire, Grand Prix. Winner in the Class A, was Madilaine Blaise of Lancaster, and Marilyn Lyons of Lyme, New Hampshire was the Class B Powderpuff Champ.

With a title like Powderpuff it appears that race promoters, at least, thought they knew the role of snowmobile women. Moving from Novelty to Girls to Powderpuff must surely have discouraged a variety of women from entering what was obviously turning into a man's sport. After all, how could anyone possibly think that winning a Powderpuff event was any more prestigious than say, a Bake-Off? Or that the name, in any way, portrayed the skills and abilities of the women participating?

But there were women participating, at many different levels of snowmobiling and snowmobile racing, everywhere. One woman with as great a vision as any, was "SnowGoer Susie" Scholwin. In the final issue of Snow Goer's 1966-67 season, Susie's article not only outlined the fundamental problems she could see in the rapidly growing sport, but offered suggestions to make the sport safer and better for everyone.

Over the years all of Susie's suggestions were implemented. Standard rules and uniform classes were developed, as was a snowmobile race sanctioning body, the USSA. The need for safety: personal body protection equipment, ambulances, and insurance, were also recognized as urgent requirements by the USSA, and implemented. During the heydays of racing, they also adopted her suggestion of "professional" and "amateur" drivers. Susie was indeed, a wise snowmobile woman.

Many women, whose names do appear in the history books, were in racing teams with their husbands and families. It seemed a natural way for things to evolve. Jim Adema, 1988 Snowmobile Racing Hall of Fame inductee, travelled everywhere with his wife Pat in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. She was apparently, a slight 90 pound woman, who raced SnoJet machines to victory in the Powderpuff and itched for a chance to ride the big engines in the mens classes.

Another family racing woman was Audrey Decker, who has a long history with snowmobiles. From her own early racing days with her husband Richard, to those of her four sons, the Decker name has a permanent place in the annuls of snowmobile racing. Involved as Ski-Doo dealers, Snowmobile Tour Providers, the Deckers also purchased the Eagle River Race Track in 1985 and still run it in 1999. In 1989, Audrey Decker was the first woman inducted into the Snowmobile Racing Hall of Fame.

Certainly, snowmobile sports require more than just the participation of drivers. Throughout Canada and the United States, there are probably hundreds of thousands of women who have been Race Clerks, Registration workers, volunteer fund raisers and workers for all kinds of snowmobile clubs and organizations. One such woman, whom I had the honour of knowing, was the twelve year USSA race clerk, Jean McGregor.

As Canadian racers, it was wonderful to meet someone as helpful and encouraging as Jean. She always had a smile for our racing team, and despite the number of people she met every week, never forgot our faces or names. Her involvement in racing began with her husband, then her son and daughter, who also raced. Jean suffered from diabetes, and died in the summer of 1991, after her last winter of working with USSA officials. She can be remembered as one of the truly great snowmobile women.

Yet, with all this background, I'm still not sure how I'd define the role of a snowmobile woman, if I was going to be the one to put it into words. I'd like to think we had the courage of Bessie Billberg; the ability to handle a snowmobile like all the Powderpuff, and later, Women, racers who earned recognition on their machines; that we had the commitment and strength of character of all those women workers behind the scenes; and last of all, I guess I'd hope we had the courage to speak out our vision like "SnowGoer Susie".

I've decided a snowmobile woman is one who is dedicated to the sport of snowmobiling, regardless of her role within the sport. And she is, as in the ideal of an equal society, simply accepted as one of the group.

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