A Guiding Life BRUCE CODY’ S PACKING LIST
A Guiding Life BRUCE CODY’ S PACKING LIST
I carry 150 pounds of gear, not including my personal items. This is a lot for a standard snowmobile— that’ s why I ride a heavy-duty Ski-Doo Expedition Xtreme. Let’ s start with the safety-oriented equipment. I carry an extensive amount of emergency first aid equipment and supplies that I’ ve collected. It’ s not a do-it-all type package. I carry: A satellite phone and the latest iPhone with satellite texting capabilities. This year I’ m adding a Starlink satellite receiver to my machine to make it possible to use wifi for emergency calls. Everything to build a fire to keep warm: waterproof matches, fire starters, a butane torch and a signal flare. Battery-powered flashlights with spare batteries and rechargeable flashlights An emergency warming blanket and a fire extinguisher A 24-inch chopping axe, a folding pruning saw, a machete and a hand pick for digging.
The emergency supplies need to be easily accessible and marked well with red crosses so they can be quickly identified. I go over the emergency equipment with each group in case something were to happen to me.
I also carry an AirMed International emergency evacuation policy that will evacuate injured people from the site. I know how to reach emergency evacuation points on the trail system. I pack an extensive number of tools for repairs: A complete DeWalt socket wrench and hex set Specialty tools related to snowmobiles Metal duct tape and electrical tape Tie wire An assortment of electrical fuses A lithium starter jump pack and jumper cables
For other mishaps or mechanical issues, I carry: Several long tow straps, a tow kit and rope and twine A shovel and snow bungee, mounted on my equipment box, to remove a stuck sled Numerous types of bungee straps should I need to strap something on to my machine A small rubber mallet to break up ice build-up Four gallons of gasoline and one gallon of 2-stroke oil in case someone runs out not going to lose our rooms. I had two choices: get a truck and trailer to transport us once the highway opened or wait for the trails to get groomed. I contacted a towing company that agreed to transport six sleds and riders, if needed, once the highway opened.
The struggle happens when members in the group want to ride the closed trails or just take the highway on snowmobiles. I know the trails and know, from experience, there will be 8- to 10-foot snow drifts with equally tall snowbanks at road crossings after the plows pass. There will also be zero visibility in the open fields.
Some folks think this will be fun and say,“ Let’ s
Snowmobilers love a blizzard, but Cody often makes hard calls based on overall safety.
A guide can control a lot of things, but not temperatures or the weather.
go for it.” It is dangerous, and I know better. If something were to happen with me as the guide, I could be held responsible for allowing it.
The highway was closed for two days and the trails for three. The day the highway opened, two trucks with a trailer came to take us and our snowmobiles two hours back to our starting location.
Other weather factors include extreme cold or rain. No one wants to be out in either of those, so I adjust our route to get us to our next lodging as quickly as possible. Wind can cause zero visibility and huge drifts in open fields. When that happens, I adjust the route to keep us in the woods as much as possible for better visibility and limited snow drifts.
A Guide’ s Life
Being a snowmobile guide requires not only having the skills and physical ability and endurance to ride thousands of miles through all of the winter conditions in Quebec, but also knowing the trails, monitoring conditions and making the proper decisions for the safety of the clients.
A guide also needs to possess the people skills to spend seven days a week, 16 hours a day with people you may have just met.
And no matter how much you train, prepare and plan, the No. 1 factor that can’ t be controlled is the weather. It can be minus 40 degrees F or 40 degrees F, rain or blizzards. While my clients may still be sleeping, I am awake looking at reports for weather, trail conditions and grooming.
Few people get to spend six to eight weeks snowmobiling the fantastic trail system and seeing the amazing sites of a Quebec winter like I do, and I appreciate that. But being a guide has a lot of responsibilities that go along with the job that most people don’ t realize. This must be your dream job, right? Well, on most days it is. Bruce Cody owns and operates Snow Tour Quebec.
42 / FEBRUARY 2026 / SNOWGOER. COM