SANIKILUAQ - High-tech, computerized snowmobiles can be hard to fix out on the land, says Qimiq Co-op manager Dwayne Searle.

Peter Alariaq works on a snowmobile during the mechanics training camp held in Sanikiluaq. - photo courtesy of Dwayne Searle

"If [a hunter] breaks down 30 miles from town he's not going to be able to plug it into a diagnostic machine," he said.

With this in mind he arranged for a snowmobile technician to conduct a week-long training camp in Sanikiluaq, Nov. 9-16.

Seven local men with a range of mechanical experience attended, including the Co-op's mechanics, a couple hamlet employees, construction workers and one 15-year-old student.

Two were new to snowmobile maintenance, but "all had strong mechanical ability," said Searle.

Charlie Sala is one of the Co-op mechanics who attended the courses.

"It was a good idea," he said of the training, which also included all-terrain vehicles. "All the machines are getting different now."

Snowmobiles started getting significantly more high-tech about 10 years ago, Sala said. The Co-op had to figure out which machines would serve hunters well, Searle said. The machines have to be high-performance, but still mechanically straightforward enough that they can be fixed by the driver in the dark and cold if necessary.

The Co-op settled on Arctic Cat snowmobiles, which it's been selling for about three years now, he said. Hubert LaChance came up from Arctic Cat in Winnipeg to explain to the Sanikiluaq mechanics how to fix advanced problems, especially electrical issues, Searle said. The hamlet loaned the group its secondary garage for the week.

"The amount of work they got done was exceptional, the amount of knowledge they picked up," he said, "By the end of it they were just whizzing through the machines, it was really impressive."

The crew worked on several machines that the local men had been unable to fix in the past, Searle said.

The men got regular winter maintenance done on 14 machines and also learned how to do maintenance on two brand new models.

Sala said he has been working on snow machines his whole life but that the training was a good chance to learn the new equipment.

"We learned everything," he said.