EDMONTON - Brian Mellott had just bought a powerful new snowmobile and he was anxious to see what it could do.

In a surge of holiday recklessness, he opened up the throttle and roared past his older brother, unaware that an icy curve loomed ahead on the Sturgeon River. Moments later, the 31 year-old Edmonton man lay dying in his brother's arms. Mellott had spun out on the icy curve and slammed into the steep riverbank.

"He was going like a bat out of hell," lamented his 36-year-old brother, Steven, who had earlier warned the novice rider to be careful on the frozen river. It was only Brian's second time out on the new machine.

"I said: “There is going to be a lot of people out. Its icy. Take it easy. Follow me and you will be all right.” But he decided to pass me."

Brian Mellott's death on Dec. 30 was Alberta's first fatality of the winter, but the machines traditionally bring tragedy to families across Canada during the holiday season

At least 11 people have died since Dec. 22 and several more were seriously hurt including a pregnant woman in Prince Edward Island, who was struck downby a snowmobile.

The weekend Mellott died, two other snowmobilers were killed in a British Columbia avalanche.

In Manitoba, a man riding his new snowmobile Christmas Day died when he was catapulted into a fast-flowing river.

In Quebec, 7-year-old boy died after the snowmobile his father was driving hit a tree.

Six of the deaths occurred in Ontario, where there have already been nearly as many as in all of last winter. Snowmobilers crashed into rock walls, cars, gates and trees. One man died when he fell off one snowmobile and was run over by another.

In many cases, alcohol and excessive speed were involved.

The rash of fatalities is an alarming contradiction to a downward trend over the last five years, according to enthusiasts.

The Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations reports the fatality rate has dropped 89 per cent, although it refuses to disclose actual numbers.

"What we've seen in the last six years is a significant increase of participants in the sport and a levelling off or a decrease in the actual. number of fatalities," said general manager Michel Garneau. "It's quite impressive." Garneau believes the recent spate of deaths has been triggered by early snowfalls across the country and the pent-up enthusiasm of snowmobilers who have seen little snow over the previous two winters.

"Most of the accidents I am aware of have all contravened the basic laws of safety," he said.

In Ontario, snowmobilers and police hope it is an anomaly.

"People have been tiding in places they shouldn't be," said OPP Sgt. Lynn Beach, who co-ordinates Ontario's snowmobile program. "The trails are the safest places to be." The introduction of groomed and maintained snowmobile trails, mandatory helmet and licensing laws in most provinces, education and driver training programs, and crackdowns on drunk driving have all made the sport much safer than it was two decades ago.

But it took a rash of deaths in the Sudbury area in 1992 to bring law and order to Ontario's trails. After five people died, police and snowmobilers launched a joint enforcement program.

Wearing specially marked snowmobile suits and reflective safety vests, special constables recruited from snowmobile clubs now assist police in trailside checks for impaired drivers and violations of speed, licensing or other laws.

"It's long, dull, boring, freezing work generally," said Jim Robinson, a special constable who helps recruit and train other volunteers. "I love the sport ... but I also recognize that if we don't provide some degree of regulation, we stand to have someone else come in and regulate us a lot more.

The Snowmobile Trail Officer Patrol pilot program, which began with 14 volunteers in 1993, had an immediate effect.

After 15 snowmobilers had died in the area in the three years before the program was launched, only four died in the three years after its establishment and the number of serious accidents also dropped.

Since it went province-wide five years ago, fatalities in Ontario declined to 16 last year from 38 in 1994-95 and the number of crashes involving alcohol dropped to 50 percent from 75 per cent.

In British Columbia, sledders have established their version of the ski patrol, enlisting trained and radio-equipped patrollers to ride the trails, post avalanche dangers and rescue people in distress.

"Everyone has noticed a decreasing munber of accidents and an increasing number of people driving sanely and safely on their snowmobiles," said Arnold Wed, 67, secretary of the, B.C. Snowmobile Federation and snowmobile patrol coordinator.

"Increasing numbers are seeking safety courses. A few years ago it wasn't the macho thing to do to take a safety course. The trend is changing now."

Quebec has a similar program with 2,500 volunteer safety officers who have the authority to stop snowmobiles and remove them from trails if they have been illegal modified.

Most provincial snowmobile clubs educate young snowmobilers with a safety program and video produced by manufacturers.

But many snowmobilers say driver training programs and more groomed trails are needed in the battle to reduce fatalities.

In Manitoba, where four people have already died this season, the provincial association blames the government for cutting driver training programs and chopping funding for trail development.

"Snowmobiles are a fact of life in Manitoba and so is winter," said Bob Aitken, executive director of Snoman.

"It's not going to go away. We have to have proactive ways to counter these horrible events".

But Peter Greenlaw, president of the IGondike Snowmobile Association, said snowmobilers have to take responsibility too.

"Most, parents would never think of giving their son or daughter a Z-28 Camaro when they are 12 years old, but for some reason they will give them a 100 horsepower snowmobile," he said.

"It's not a toy. It is a vehicle and you have to treat if with the appropriate respect."

Safety Check: Snowmobile Trail Officer (STOP) special Constable, centre, and Lynn Beach, traffic Sergeant, and STOP coordinator for the OPP, check Leo Laframboise's snowmobile recently in Sudbury.