Pat Whiteway: 1944-2007

The snowmobiling community in western Canada suffered a loss on Christmas day with the passing of Pat Whiteway. He was 63.

For more than 30 years, Whiteway volunteered his time with various snowmobile organizations. He started snowmobiling in 1970 and joined the Kelowna Snowmobile Club in 1974.

Whiteway, the 1977 British Columbia oval racing champion, became president of the club in 1988 when it had just 45 members. By the time his presidency came to an end seven years later, membership had risen to more than 500. The Kelowna Snowmobile Club had become the largest in British Columbia, responsible for more than 300 kilometers of trails.

In 1994, the British Columbia Snowmobile Federation (BCFS) welcomed Whiteway as an associate director. After a couple of years, he became the president of the BCFS recreation division. He later took over the role of executive director, leading the organization for nearly five years.

In recent years, Whiteway has also served in many positions for the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations, including president, and the International Snowmobile Congress.

“Pat was pretty well an ambassador for our sport and he was an icon in British Columbia,” BCSF general manager and Whiteway’s close friend Les Auston told Snowmobile.com.

Whiteway, who dedicated thousands of hours of his time to snowmobiling, was honored in 2004 as both British Columbia snowmobiler of the year and Canadian snowmobiler of the year.