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Two Nova Scotia men died in a head-on snowmobile accident this week, bringing the national toll to at least five since Friday.

Clifton Arnold Conrad, 65, of Enfield and Michael Roger Goodick, 42, of Port Hawkesbury died Saturday snowmobiling around Hunters Mountain in Cape Breton.

Snowmobile traffic had been heavy at the time, as a provincial snowmobile association had been meeting in the nearby town of Baddeck.

While the RCMP are still investigating, they say alcohol was not a factor.

In Quebec, a head-on collision Saturday between two machines cost a 56-year-old man his life.

The man lost control of his machine and died in hospital. The other driver suffered leg injuries.

That accident occurred north of the city of La Turque, which is in the northeastern Mauricie region.

On Friday night, two men died in separate accidents.

A 61-year-old man snowmobiling off-trail hit a tree near Lake Kipawa. That lake is near Temiscamingue near the Ontario boundary.

In the Portneuf area near Quebec City, a 26-year-old man in Pont-Rouge lost control and hit a tree while leading three snowmobiles on a trail.

Police suspect alcohol was a factor in that accident.

Earlier this week, the Canadian Institute for Health Information released a report saying that snowmobiling accounted for 41 per cent of all winter sports-related visits to Canadian specialized trauma units in 2003-2004.

About half those involved in such accidents had alcohol in their bloodstream.

The study also found the peak time for snowmobiling accidents is February.