With passion at the heart

Golden Snowmobile Rentals & Tours is an award-winning family business in Golden, B.C.

1 of 2The Bernasconi family of Golden, B.C., has made a business of sharing their love of the outdoors. — Kirsten Armleder photo

2 of 2Kim and Aaron Bernasconi of Golden, B.C., share their love of an active, outdoor lifestyle with their children and their customers. — Kirsten Armleder photo

‹ ›

…

From his hometown of Truro, Nova Scotia, Aaron Bernasconi moved all the way across Canada to live in Whistler, B.C. On a visit to Golden, B.C., in 2002, he became so enamored with the sport of snowmobiling that he moved to Golden. His wife, Kim, had been living there for a couple of years, and when the two met, their mutual love of the outdoors became a cornerstone of their relationship. They opened Golden Snowmobile Rentals & Tours in 2006.

“We now have two businesses,” Aaron said. “We have Golden Snowmobile Rentals & Tours, which shuts down during the summer, and Mountain Motorsports, which is a dealership for Arctic Cat and Yamaha, and operates year-round. We sell ATVs, snowmobiles, dirtbikes, side-by-sides and street bikes.”

Aaron is convinced that in a business like his, owners need to know their product from personal experience.

“You can’t just read catalogues and hope to understand your product and your customers,” he said. “I think that’s why our business is doing well. Ninety-nine per cent of the work we do is on mountain machines—that’s what we know and that’s what we’re good at.”

The Bernasconis’ hands-on business practices have resulted in a Great Adventure Experience Award from Tourism Golden, presented by the Kicking Horse Country Chamber of Commerce at its Community Excellence Awards dinner.

Lori Baxendale of the chamber called Golden Snowmobile Rentals & Tours “an outstanding business in our community.” She went on to say, “Their service is exceptional, and so is their giving to the community through volunteerism.”

Aaron explained that Kim takes care of the business paperwork: finance applications, sled rental booking and all the accounting—she’s the happy, friendly phone person. He takes care of sales on the floor, helping customers find the machines that are just right for their type of riding, and working out a deal for them. He also helps run the service department and does some backcountry guiding whenever he can.

Achievable dreams

The Bernasconis see community involvement as a necessary part of building a successful business. Their volunteer activities take time, effort and occasionally cash, but they believe that anything that helps the community is good—especially if they can see and enjoy the results.

Aaron believes that if you limit yourself to projects that are doable now—within the budget and with the resources you have now—nobody is going to get inspired. When you dream big, every small accomplishment is exciting and satisfying, because it’s part of something bigger.

Aaron is president of the Golden Snowmobile Trail Society, which is in charge of grooming and maintaining the trails, and that means organizing volunteers for everything that needs to be done. The society has recently completed the new Westbench Trail, adding 40 kilometres of family riding to the trail network.

A family that plays together

The Bernasconis have two children: Ben, 7, and Bella, 5. Both kids love to go dirtbiking, so their parents have been involved in the enhancement of motocross in Golden. One of the exciting projects they’re helping with is rebuilding an old track to make it safe for their kids and other dirtbikers.

“Our number one thing is that you have to work in order to then have recreation,” Aaron said. “For us, the recreation is why we work. We spend as much time as possible camping, and we dirtbike, we play in the lakes, we go boating, canoeing and hiking. My kids love technology just like other kids do, and we have that available for rainy days and bedtime, but otherwise they are happy to be outside with us, playing.”

Every Sunday in winter is a Bernasconi family ski day at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, and they make a point of getting out on their snowmobiles as a family at least a few times each winter. One of Aaron’s favourite work activities is guiding.

“I love taking people out in the winter especially, because I still remember my own feelings when I first came here and was surrounded by nature and so much awesome beauty,” he said.

It’s important to Aaron and Kim that, when Ben and Bella grow up, nature continues to be easily accessible.

“There have been lots of areas closed to motorized vehicles in the past 10 years or so,” Aaron said. “When it’s from environmental impact, I think that’s legitimate—you can’t go out there and wreck stuff. And I understand thinking about the future and protecting our natural spaces. I’m just hoping that we respect and take care of our environment so that it remains healthy for future generations to enjoy.”