Vintage 'snowbugs' still rule parts of Canada's north

All across the frozen tundra of Northern Canada, giant "snowbugs" continue to roam the land.Of course these bugs don't have legs and antennae instead they areoutfitted with tracks and skis.

Rarely seen in the South,snowbugshave long been a common sight in Canada's North.A cross between a van and a snowmobile,"bugs" provide a warm comfortable commute to places you just can't reach by road.

Mervin Aubichon hits the gas as his 1956 Bombardier flies across Churchill Lake, near the town of Buffalo Narrows,in northern Saskatchewan. Despite the fact thatAubichon'ssnowbug is60 years old, it is still aworkhorse.

"I use it for commercial fishing and freighting, generallyfor work and a little bit of recreation."

Snowbugsbegan rolling off Bombardier's assembly line in the1940sand are still sought after today, according to Aubichon.

"Originally they were used as school buses for farm kids that is the little history that I got about it."

Aubichon says one of the things that make the machines so popular is that they are relatively simple to repair.

"Pretty simple, they are just a standard transmission and a Dodge 318 powers them they can go through the snow a lot easier and you can load quite a bit of stuff in them."

Donald Morin shows off one of his two snowbugsat his shop on the outskirts of Buffalo Narrows.Neither of Morin's bugs are running yet but he is confident he will be able to bring the antique machines back to life.

"There is not very much to them except for the track and drive train so with a little bit of welding you can have yourself one of these all-terrain vehicles."

Morin says he has some big plans for his bugs once they are up and running.

"These ones we are going to re-build and make them a little more modern and use them for some tourism up here in Buffalo Narrows."

Morin says the unique winter rides are so popular in Buffalo Narrows that it just might be the snowbug capital of the world.