About Yves

Yves was born and raised in Gatineau, Quebec, in Canada's National Capital area were he still resides today.  He comes from a large family with strong ties to nature and the outdoors.  These values are still very predominant today in his keen interest for adventure.  The unconditional support of his wife Nicole and his son Éric, along with family and friends, were instrumental in undertaking this trip. 

Yves, who acquired his first sled only nine years ago, was immediately hooked on the sport; he quoted "Snowmobiling allowed me to discover the back country like never before". He has since travelled every corner of Quebec with his wife and friends without ever becoming bored. Three years ago, he realized that he had a growing passion to discover all of North America this way.

Here are a few of Yves’ personal achievements that will demonstrate his capacity and determination to take on this challenge:

• Participated and completed the 42 kilometres National Capital Marathon in 1981;
• Took part in five winter caribou hunts in February in Northern Quebec. Snowmobile was the primary means of transportation and some daily travel exceeded 200 km on ungroomed trails, in weather conditions sometime reaching -65 °C.
• This past winter, Yves travelled 4,000 kilometres on snowmobile in 2 weeks. That trip allowed him to conclude that he was physically and mentally ready for the 2007 journey.

Yves Leblanc has chosen the Bombardier GTX 600 Limited edition for his attempt to break the world record for the longest journey on a snowmobile.

The GTX 600 is built on the ergonomic REV platform. The rotax engine completes the package with the advantage of 2-TEC technology that allows fuel economy equal or better than a four stroke engine. The GTX is the only snowmobile in the industry designed to seat three.

A few modifications were made on Yves’ GTX, these include:

The skis have been replaced with the Summit version to optimize the flotation.