Gunning the throttle, shooting up steep hills, shredding deep powder and dodging trees is not very ladylike.

Or is it?

A dedicated group of female snowmobilers from around the Northwest is proving that women can ride the backcountry with the same confidence as the fellas.

Nearly 30 of those women will gather at Elk Lake Resort next weekend for a women-only snowmobile ride.

Three years ago, Bend’s Susie Fagen-Wirges took part in her first “ladies ride” in Halfway, in northeast Oregon near Baker City. She was encouraged to get off the groomed trails and seek more adventurous riding for the first time — and it changed her outlook on snowmobiling.

“It empowered me and gave me so much confidence to become a backcountry rider,” Fagen-Wirges says. “I discovered what I had inside me that I could pull out and go beyond my limits and find out what I was made of.”

The experience inspired Fagen-Wirges to start a local ladies ride — the second annual Central Oregon Ladies Snowmobile Ride will be held next Friday and Saturday (March 11-12). Participants plan to spend Friday night at Elk Lake Resort and then hit the backcountry from Dutchman Flat Sno-park on Saturday.

The event gives the women a chance to learn from each other and develop the skills necessary to become self-sufficient with their sleds in the backcountry.

“It’s so different to ride with women than it is with men,” says Fagen-Wirges, 59, adding that husbands tend to disparage their wives for their lack of snowmobiling prowess.

A decade ago, Brandy Floyd, of Snohomish, Wash., noticed that men would often leave on snowmobile trips while the women stayed home.

So she started a ladies ride in McCall, Idaho, in 2001 and quickly took note of what was lacking in women’s snowmobiling.

“It didn’t take long to realize there weren’t that many women in the sport and the ones that were, were timid — the guys did everything for them,” Floyd, 36, recalls. “I wanted to get them educated and improve their skills on the hill.”

Only four women took part in that first ladies ride in McCall. Last month, the 11th annual ride — now staged in Halfway — included some 45 women from across the Northwest.

Currently, at least three other ladies snowmobile rides are staged throughout the Northwest, including the one next weekend in Central Oregon, which Floyd plans to attend.

The women encourage each other and seek to ease the intimidation of snowmobiling in the backcountry, where riding up steep hills and tearing through deep powder are thrilling — but also dangerous.

“Guys see something and say, ‘I will do that,’” Floyd says. “And women say, ‘I don’t know, maybe I should hold back.’ A lot of women don’t grow in the sport because they’re not being taught the way they need to be taught — and some just give up. Women learn better from other women.”

Fagen-Wirges recalls days of sitting on the groomed trail while watching male snowmobilers play around in the powder and attempt risky hill climbs. It looked like fun, but she figured she would just get her sled stuck in the snow if she tried such maneuvers.

Now, Fagen-Wirges and other women are learning how to pull a mired snowmobile out of the powder and how to start a sled when it dies. They have developed the skills for which they previously depended on men.

Because of the cold and often harsh conditions, the mechanical issues with the sleds and the sheer weight of the sleds, backcountry snowmobiling has typically been far more popular with men.

“Those machines are heavy,” Fagen-Wirges says. “We always thought you needed a guy around to help you get unstuck. But we have now figured out how to get ourselves unstuck.”

She explains that while many men have the physical strength to simply pick up one end of the sled with their hands, women can use nylon straps to place around the bumper of a sled and maneuver it out of the snow.

“We don’t have to depend on the brawn anymore,” Fagen-Wirges says. “We’ve used our brains to replace the brawn.”

Like Fagen-Wirges, Bend’s Kristi DeMoisy, 33, is part of a group of Central Oregon female riders who call themselves the Sled Chicks.

DeMoisy participated in the ride at Halfway last month and will take part in the local ride next weekend.

She says she usually snowmobiles with men and does not often see women riding in the backcountry. When she saw 45 women’s sleds at Halfway, she says, her jaw dropped.

“I didn’t know there were so many women who rode in the backcountry,” DeMoisy says. “It’s really cool to help some of the new riders and then learn from some of the more experienced riders. It’s empowering to know you can dig yourself out. … to know you can go up there and hold your own.”

DeMoisy says she and other female riders lift weights regularly to stay in shape for snowmobiling. Strength is important in a sport in which riders must maneuver a 500-pound sled through deep snow and in and out of densely forested areas.

“It’s something that challenges your body — getting (the snowmobile) into where you want it to go,” DeMoisy explains.

These women can now do that without the help of men — but with some help from each other.

“Most of the women are strong-willed, assertive women, but we all get along, because we all know what we’re like,” Fagen-Wirges says. “It’s the lure of the ride that binds us … the feel of floating on the powder.”

If you go

Second Annual Central Oregon Ladies Snowmobile Ride

When: March 11-12 Participation fee: None

Where: Elk Lake Lodge and Dutchman Flat Sno-park

Contact: Susie Fagen-Wirges at 541-388-2604