Carmacks is in mourning after a snowmobile mishap resulted in the death of a 37-year-old man Saturday.

Jason Wheeler was visiting a family cabin on Mandanna Lake when he took the machine out for a drive at around 6 p.m.

He was attempting to climb a hill when the snowmobile rolled, crushing him, RCMP Const. Paul Miller said today.

He and another officer arrived on the scene that evening.

"There's no indication that anything he was doing was out of the norm,” Miller told the Star.

"He wasn't doing doughnuts. There's all kinds of rumours floating around.”

Wheeler was not wearing a helmet, the officer added.

Alcohol was not a factor in the tragedy.

Wheeler, born and raised in the area, was a father of two. He worked for the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation.

"He was always a happy, cheerful sort of guy,” Robert Moar, the First Nation's director of lands and resources, told the Star.

"A nice guy.”

Moar said Wheeler was an "avid outdoorsman” with deep roots in the community.

The First Nation held a prayer circle with nearly 50 attendees this morning.

The council office is closed all day because of the loss.

Police said there was one witness to the incident at Mandanna Lake, roughly 40 kilometres southeast of Carmacks and accessible by snowmobile only.

"The combination of the snowmobile rolling and (Wheeler) not wearing a helmet likely contributed to his death, but that will be determined by further investigation by our office and the Yukon coroner's office,” Miller said.

Both agencies are continuing to investigate the death.