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The Saskatchewan Off-Road Vehicle Association
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By Ryan Holota
Photos by Kelsey Bone and Josh Schattenkirk
If you’ve only crossed Saskatchewan via the highway, you probably have the impression that the province is nothing more than a vast, flat surface. In many places, it is – glaciers bulldozed the southern part of the province millions of years ago leaving the perfect surface for farming. But just off the beaten path are signs of other glacial activity – vast valleys and coulees formed when those glaciers melted. In southern Saskatchewan you go mudding in the flat stuff, and when you’re ready for a different kind of challenge you don’t climb, you descend.
For the past few years an informal group of four-wheelers from southern Saskatchewan has been connecting on Facebook and heading out to test the limits of their rigs in the toughest terrain offered by the prairies. Last winter the group got a little more organized and rebranded as the Saskatchewan Off-Road Vehicle Association, or SOVA.
To introduce themselves to the public, SOVA held an event in Regina in conjunction with Go Topless Day on May 18th. Many members of the Facebook page (now numbering more than 240) as well as wheelers from other groups in the area showed up with their vehicles and put them on display to help educate the general public about four-wheeling as a hobby. In an effort to build bridges with the public and the authorities, the Regina City Police were also invited to talk to members about the laws that pertain to street driven vehicles and how to build capable off-road vehicles while still staying within the law. Before the police left, they even tested out their Tahoe on the RTI ramp.
In total more than 50 vehicles showed up for the event. A number of the vehicles were Jeeps, but SOVA represents all makes and models of off-road vehicles. In addition to the TJ’s and JK’s, the group has a number of XJ's and ZJ's, a couple of full-size Broncos, a lifted and lockered Lada Niva, an Iltis, full-size trucks, Tundra’s, Xterra's, and more.
On the day after the event, SOVA president Jay Malo organized an outing to a nearby spot of public land. A group of more than 20 vehicles spent the day diving steep descents, pin striping their vehicles through tight bush, and running along the gravel shores of a lake. With only some scratches, one bent bumper, and one punctured sidewall, it was a great day of off-roading.
Members of the group are active wheelers, with activity taking place almost every weekend, but official group outings take place a little less frequently. Public land that is open for wheeling is rare in southern Saskatchewan, but there are a number of private landowners with connections to the group who are willing to open their lands to lifted vehicles and mud tires at least a couple of times per year.
One of the most popular spots is near Wolseley, about an hour east of Regina. A deep coulee thick with poplar, aspen, and birch trees provides plenty of pucker factor as you descend the steep walls while navigating around rocks and other obstacles. The trails are cleared for Jeeps, and vehicles that are even a little larger can squeeze their fenders through. Once at the bottom, a swift moving creek meanders through rock, gravel, and sand beds providing opportunities for deep-water crossings, traversing vertical drop-offs, and practice in placing your tires in just the right spot to avoid damage to diffs, transfer cases, and sheet metal. After a hard day of wheeling, members will set up camp in the trees and rehash the day’s events.
There is another side to wheeling on the prairies. If you’re ever in the area and looking for a chance to test your rig, search for the group on Facebook.