Man who died in snowmobile crash remembered as a 'real family man'

Warren Shewchuk (Source: Facebook/Mooswa Lake Snowriders)

WINNIPEG — A Manitoba man who died in a snowmobile crash over the weekend is being remembered as a family man and avid snowmobiler.

Warren Shewchuk, 44, died following a collision on Trail 220, northeast of Great Falls, Man.

According to RCMP, a group of snowmobilers were riding in the area on Saturday when they came across Shewchuk, who appeared to have crashed overnight. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mounties believe the man missed a turn and went into a forested area, where he was thrown from his snowmobile.

Shewchuk was the first vice president of the Mooswa Lake Snowriders.

Richard Lachance, the club’s president, said he knew Shewchuk for about four years and the two were good friends.

He noted that Shewchuk joined the club when they were looking for volunteers and he became an instrumental part of the group.

“He kind of came in like a whirlwind and filled in all those voids we were missing in our club,” he said.

Lachance said Shewchuk has left “some impossible shoes to fill.”

He described Shewchuk as a “real family man,” who was a great father, brother and son.

SNOWMOBILE SAFETY

On Monday, Snowmobilers of Manitoba (Snoman) issued a public service announcement cautioning residents about the importance of practicing safety and using caution while snowmobiling.

Alan Butler, president of Snoman, said the announcement was issued due to changing trail conditions across the province.

"Some areas they're shutting them down because of the temperatures, the snow's melted, trails are bare and so on and other areas are not too bad, so we just wanted to make sure that people are aware that there are changing conditions, that trails may not be very good and that they should drive accordingly," he said.

Butler noted the best way for snowmobilers to check trail conditions is to go to the Snowman website and use the interactive map. If the trail is green, then it's been groomed in the last five days, if its yellow, it hasn't been groomed in the last five days, and if it's red, then it's closed.

As for the most favourable conditions for snowmobiling, Butler said: "Lots of snow. That's the bottom line."

Butler's top safety tips for snowmobilers are: keep the speed down, drive within your capabilities and know the terrain you're going on.

"When we look at fatalities or accidents, the majority of them are caused by excess speed and not knowing the terrain that they're driving."

Butler doesn't know the details of Shewchuk's death but said he knows he was a responsible rider.

He said this is the first fatality of the year on a trail.

- With files from CTV’s Mason DePatie and Stephanie Tsicos.