The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The word "crazy" is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as insane, foolish or ridiculous. The first is likely what everyone who surrounded Ross Lake on Saturday thought as Earl Bergen and Clinton Boseman jumped their snowmobiles off a ramp near KFC shortly after 6 p.m. "That's what we want people to think," said Dave Olson, president and CEO of Adrenaline Junkies, which had a small crew filming the action. Mainly through word of mouth, the X-Games-like extravaganza attracted what Bergen figured to be close to 3,000 people. "We just expected the riders' friends," said Bergen, who is from Flin Flon. "I can't believe the support your community puts in for such an event," Olson said. Bergen was the first to jump so all eyes were on him as he launched off the ramp and became airborne. He landed nose first but wasn't able to continue as his sled quit on him. "It was one of the best jumps I hit and the softest landing," Bergen said. "I was just upset my sled was underwater because I wanted to go again." Bergen said he wasn't nervous before making the jump. "It was 100 per cent adrenaline," Bergen said, as he also felt the thrill of being in the air. Boseman followed and landed tail first. The momentum thrust his head toward the handle bars and broke his nose. At the same time, he fought to keep control of the sled. Once he did, it appeared as though he would be able to continue to shore, but sank. Tyler Kluba and Chad Falk were also going to jump, but their sleds sank before their chance came. Two other sleds sunk before the riders had their chance to shine. "You have to have disaster to please the crowd," Olson said. "We walked away without injuries and that's a plus." Among the large crowd were Stacey Bongfeldt and Tom Fehr "It's an interesting new event for the Trout Festival that brought a lot of people," said Bongfeldt, who thought the riders were crazy. "It should happen every year," she said. "It's entertaining." Fehr also enjoyed the entertainment as he wanted to see them succeed even though he had doubts. "I just couldn't see them landing it," Fehr said. So does he want to see this every year? "If guys want to sacrifice their machines, yeah," he acknowledged. Olson said their goal is to make it an annual show. Fehr was impressed with how many people came out considering most people found out through word of mouth. When he noticed the ramp on the side of the road he was curious to know what was happening. "There was definitely good crowd support," Bergen said, as he came up with the idea. The decision to do this wasn't spontaneous as it was planned for over two months. The show, which took over two months to prepare, was originally to be held at Denare Beach, but Fisheries and Oceans Canada had environmental concerns with the sleds polluting the water. For the riders' own safety, ambulance along with Flin Flon Fire and Rescue crew staff were present.
