>> Welcome to Warroad Minnesota where the cold
does not stop training or operations along the northern border.
>> This morning I came to work at 5:30 in the morning and it was 32 below,
and that was without a wind chill.
That was the right out temperature.
>> On tap for today, snowmobile training
for agents assigned to the Grand Fork sector.
>> We're doing a counter steering
and set your track like we've been doing all week.
And what you're gonna do,
turn away from the hill and you're using that uphill, ski the back.
That ski's a rudder to keep yourself...
you're gonna make corrections at the throttle of the steering
to keep yourself on the face of the hill and keep your line.
>> The sled program for the Warroad Station
and then really throughout the Grand Fork sectors is big.
It allows us to get out and reach areas
that we just can't with vehicles or other track machines.
So our sled program is pretty vital to us.
>> Today's training finds us a few miles offshore
on Lake of the Woods along Buffalo Point.
The ice below us is at 5-1/2 feet deep
which allows these agents to test their skills at riding on ice
which is the preferred method in the winter months along the northern border.
>> So Lake of the Woods, it's a big lake.
It borders Minnesota, Manitoba and Ontario
so it's a vast area that can be hard to cover at times.
But the sleds really, they really help out.
>> With 861 miles of international border with Canada,
snowmobiles are vital for mission accomplishment for agents in Grand Fork sector.
During this training agents patrol the cut along the border
which quickly changes from frozen lakes to the middle of a forest
that can be used as cover for cross-border activities.
>> So this cut runs along the U.S./Canada border.
We check the fresh powder here for foot sign
or there's a snowmobile trail right up here
that comes and joins the cut from the Canadian side,
anything out of the norm, human or snowmobile or ATV or what have you.
>> The training that these agents are going through this week encompasses
a lot of riding time and classroom work and even how to repair sleds in the field
if one was to break down while on patrol.
>> Compiling training into what we do, it's critical because the sleds are;
the sleds are a huge vehicle that we use in winter.
We're on them constantly.
And this training just allows us to safely do it.
>> After 8 hours of training and temperatures well below zero,
these agents were more than happy to head back to the station today.
Tomorrow's forecast calls for much of the same,
below zero temperatures with a 100% chance of patrolling
the northern border on a snowmobile.
For CBP, I'm Christ Grogan in Warroad, Minnesota.