I became part of the sport of snowmobiling when I married him in 1976.
My husband was the son of a man deeply involved in snowmobiling. Even before we were married, I was invited to go snowmobiling to “the farm.” I had no experience riding a snowmobile at the time.
After I got married, the first event I was invited to was the Hetteen Cup oval race in Alexandria, Mn. in 1977. Her parents invited the newlyweds to the weekend event. We were staying at a hotel in Alexandria and met some of his friends at dinner that night. I remember how exciting it was to see riders compete on snowmobiles from many different companies. I also remember that Scorpion won the race and Brad Hulings was the pilot of that winning sled. The Arctic Cat owner came down to shake hands, present the trophy and a pot to the winner. It was a wonderful event.
It was fun being a part of a family that snowmobiles together on “the farm” in Wanaska, Mn. I learned to ride my own sled that first year rather than double behind my husband. He was riding a 1976 Pantera with a mid-mounted gas tank, black and orange trim, a cross between a pantera and an El Tigre. I remember it well. I got to use the 1975 Panther, which was also a good sled. The snowmobile trails were part of Hayes Park and then traveled along the ditches heading to Roseau, Mn. Going back and forth for a bite to eat, just a round trip, ending back at “the farm” to play cards and share stories from the journey.
The children of the family learned at an early age to ride a snowmobile using Grandpa’s powder-coated airstrip for practice, before they could hit the trails on their own. We took shorter trips the day the children were present. Grandma was famous for her potato / carrot foil packets that she put on the fire, to cook for us to eat along the way. Hot chocolate in a thermos was very attractive to drink when taking a break on the trail. Many times we were a larger crew, stopping at Bemis Hill to go sledding and to build a fire in the building’s fireplace. In the 1980s and 1990s we experienced the experience of riding Polaris snowmobiles such as the 1990 Polaris Indy Sport GT and the 1994 XLT.
In 1998, her parents moved to Grand Rapids, MN. We continued to snowmobile the trails and our son married his wife. And then our daughter married her husband. That added more members to the family, including more children. We extended our tour to other areas like Ironwood, MI and Superior, WI doing one weekend at a time.
We continue to have many experiences with the trails around Grand Rapids, Mn. when we moved there also in 2006. Our married children and grandchildren continue to come here on winter weekends to enjoy the beautiful trails in Grand Rapids, Mn. The resource of snow in abundance comes and goes and riding snowmobiles remains in our blood. The old go to new horizons and babies continue to be born in the family. Stories of experiences young and old are told to grandchildren and the story of snowmobiles lives on.