Albert Einstein once said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to get a different result. Obviously Einstein never met the snowmobilers that were at Revelstoke last weekend. Then again, Einstein and idiots never had much in common.

All right, let’s clear up something off the top. I’ve heard from several sources that the “Big Iron Shootout” usually attracts 500 to 1,000 snowmobilers and spectators. If that’s the case, and I believe it is, than a lot of sledders heeded the danger warnings of the Canadian Avalanche Association and opted out of the lunatic event, demonstrating there are snowmobilers out there with common sense.

As for the ones that don’t? Well we know there were almost 200 or so of them at Boulder Mountain last weekend. I say “almost” because obviously some of the ones there were very sensible and heroic even because if it wasn’t for their rescue efforts the death toll could have been much higher.

And surely the worst of the ones there were the fathers with children. It’s one thing for a supposed “adult” to make an informed choice to risk his life because of the rush he gets from defying the Avalanche Gods. And yes there are those who insist they improve the gene pool when they die and qualify for Darwin Awards. Cruel talk, but it’s no wonder you hear it.

But when those same individuals drag their children into the maelstrom and risk their lives too, I believe they should be visited by Social Services when they get home and investigated for their fitness as parents.

Sheesh!

Then there’s the issue of trying to regulate this annual winter lunacy. At first the provincial government said no, then a day later reversed its position. Call it a flip-flop if you want, but I believe Victoria is now headed in the right direction. But many say no way. The backcountry is too big to be regulated, and in a democracy, people have the right to be idiots and engage in extreme sport activities with a high likelihood of taking their lives. Skiers, hang gliders, mountain climbers and whitewater paddlers do the same.

Having done some of those activities myself, I can’t argue.

But, and this is a big “but.” What happens when the fire hazard reaches the extreme level? They close the bush. And what is the bush? The backcountry, of course. The same backcountry that snowmobilers play on in the winter when it’s covered with snow.

So if they can close the backcountry in the summer when the fire hazard is high, why can’t they close the backcountry in the winter when the avalanche danger is extreme? Just asking.

Sure, there are always the obstinate types who will defy closures and risk their lives no matter what the consequences. But when the bush is closed, the majority of us who obey the law will honour the closure. And we will also put peer pressure on the ones of us who don’t.

Combine closing the backcountry with heavy fines for even driving one foot up a closed road with a sled on your rig and I would think the number of outlaw sledders out there would be cut drastically. And if the B.C. government would finally show the intestinal fortitude to licence snow machines along with quads, ATV’s, trail bikes et al, I think the backcountry would be a much safer and more enjoyable place for all of us.

And what’s wrong with that?

P.S.

Some of you may recall that I took a two-month leave of absence last spring and walked the El Camino pilgrimage walk in Spain. Quite an experience to say the least. If you’d like to vicariously experience the Camino yourself, I’m hosting a library fund-raiser slide show on it 7 p.m. Monday March 22 in the large lecture theatre at the College of the Rockies.