12/06/2006
VIVA LA GASTON!
Racing Legend Gaston Ferland is featured in this photo sent in from Todd Koehn. Taken at some trade show in the mid 1970's (The photo was labled "Au Salon Moto-Sport"), it shows Gaston and an adoring fan? Perhaps a relative? We don't know for sure.

Turns out Gaston has his own website. Chock full of all things Gaston, including this photo album that contains some rare, never before for seen photos, including Gaston racing Polaris RXL sleds!

Gaston was back on a race track last year - driving the same old sled, wearing the same old racing outfit!

Will he be back this year at a big race somewhere? We hope so. It was pretty cool to see him last year - I'll bet he sent more time signing autographs then he did racing!

SPAM INCREASE
Have you noticed a ton of those "Buy this penny stock" SPAM messages in your email lately? You're not alone. The moronic creeps who send that garbage have doubled their normal output, and have engineered a way to have SPAM messages deliver themselves. According to this article, more than 9 out of 10 emails sent is now SPAM. Engineers all over the Internet are trying to fight this new battle, but it may take some time to bring it under control.

Here at vintagesleds.com, we've run into a problem on the Events section. Spammers have been filling the listings with ads for Viagra, and in the last few days, scores of ads for porn movies - even some ads for child pornography. That was the last straw for me.

As of this AM, I disabled the events section until we can stop those postings. I believe we already know how, we just need a little time to implement. So please be patient, we'll have them backup in no time.

As for the Classifieds and Bull Sessions, so far so good. We've only had a small problem with a single spammer - and he will be gone in no time.

12/05/2006
1971 EVINRUDE SKEETER IN THE NEWS
Indian River Michigan's Dick Wilson (VSCA Member also) took his skeeter out for a ride... and made the local papers. Read all about it at the Cheboygan Daily Tribune website.

12/04/2006
250cc GPX WINS PEOPLE'S CHOICE IN SPOKANE
Larry Ellifritz sent in photos of this baby that his father built. She's a 1977 Yamaha ET 250 motor that has been ported and polished. The head is a 74 Yamaha GPX 433 head, that has had fins welded to it to make a symmetrical - the 74 GPX head also increased the compression.

The cylinder is a 77 Yamaha ET 250 with the fins lengthened to match the width of the head. The mag cover is from a 74 Yamaha GPX 433. The fly wheel has been replaced with a small mass internal ignition, and the recoil is a 74 GPX 433. AAEN custom built the pipe to the motor specs and to fit the chassis.

The hood is a 75 GPX Mod Hood - after the Kalamazoo race hoods (from Lee Fredrickson). The decals are patterned after a Canadian 76 Yamaha SRX, with ET 250 insignia.

The chassis in a 77 SRX and the seat and fuel tank are patterned after the 76 Yamaha Sno Pros. Just about every piece of aluminum has been polished to a mirror finish and it weighs 270lbs wet. Larry says it was a lot of fun to build, it even won the People Choice award in the Spokane, WA winter snow show.

Pretty cool if I do say so myself. Thanks Larry!

HALL OF FAME RAFFLE - WIN $10K IN MERCHANDISE FOR JUST $10!
The (or should I say "Thee"?) Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. germain Wisconsin has a pretty cool raffle going on right now. For just $10, you get a shot at winning $10,000 worth of items at any of four dealers in the Northwoods Wisconsin area!

That means new sleds, ATV's, clothing or even cleaning out all the vintage sleds in the warehouses! Your choice! Only 2000 tickets will be sold, your chances are excellent. Even better? All the money goes to supporting the Hall of Fame.

You can find out more and order your tickets from the Hall of Fame website.

RACE SEASON STARTS THIS WEEKEND!
Don't forget this weekend is the season race opener (vintage and late model) at the historic Beausejour Manitoba race track, just over the border from Minnesota. Typically this is everyone's chance to see all the new fantastic hardware from all the vintage and late model guys. The track is fantastic, the people are even better and I've yet to hear of anyone having anything but a great time up there. Heck I may even try to sneak up myself and take some photos!

DW Racings' 600cc RXL.

12/02/06
600cc RXL?
The photo might be a bit small to see it, but DW Racing has created (literally) a 78 RXL with a 600cc motor for drag racing, complete with a 600cc decal on the back. Here's what they had to say about this slick looking racer:

"Hi,Larry. I'm Wes Kalthoff from Saskatchewan. I built my RXL clone for racing this summer. I bought a chassis and most of the parts from Dale in Beausejour. I used a 2003 Polaris 600 twin engine. We placed 3rd in lite mod 600 and 4th in lite mod 700 at Haydays this year."

Nice Wes Nice.

"1979-VINTAGE YAMAHAS AND SOME OTHER DINOSAURS"
A recent Minneapolis Star Tribune article about moderate winters slowing U.S. snowmobiles contained this gem a of a quote from Eric Pedersen, a Big Bend Wisconsin snowmobile dealer who just doesn't get this whole vintage thing:

"We have guys who are still fixing their 1979-vintage Yamahas and some other dinosaurs," Pedersen said."

Oh boy. Someone near Big Bend needs to run over to his dealership and educate him. The same article points out that the target market snowmobiler is 42 years old, married and lives in a household of $70,000 income.... really? Could the slow sales of new sleds be because they are marketing to the wrong people?

Who is this guy?

FLASHBACK!
Who is this guy? It's a photo of a then 30 year old Dale Storch, longtime Pro Vintage racer! The photo was taken way back in 1972 in Iowa. It was sent in by Paul Socwell.

The caption reads: "Ankeny had good representation at the recent snowmobile rally (remember when they were called rally's?) in Steamboat Rock. Dale Storch won the top spot in the A Stock Cross Country and in the A Stock Ovals, while Karen Struthers (hubba-hubba) won her first place trophy in the Powder Puff WC-IV Ovals."

Thanks Paul for sending in the photo!

"A MATTER OF WINNING"
This cool movie from the early 1970's is being converted as we speak and should be available on DVD very soon. You will be able to reserve your copy excursively here on vintagesleds.com starting next week! The DVD's will only be available here until such time as we recover all the costs of conversion and duplication - and that could take awhile. So watch for the announcement on how you can reserve your copy via the store or from our toll-free phone number.

Thanks for the support and patience on making this unique look into historic snowmobile racing available!

11/28/06
NEW WACONIA SHOW WEBSITE
The Midwest Vintage Snowmobile Show (That's the WACONIA people) have a brand new spiffy website with all the information for the 2007 show.

Included on the website is some long-time coming changes in the judging and rules for the big event. This year's featured sled is none other then ARCTIC CAT - with many of the Arctic celebrities planning to attend - including race drivers, builder and founders.

Drag racing has become bigger every year at Waconia, and the swap meet is always cool. This years event is also the ASCOA official winter meet - so there will be plenty of nice antique hardware there as well. We have very strong rumors that some of the big time Cat collectors from the East coast are even planning to attend! Don't miss it, January 21 and 22, 2007.

SMASHING ALL RECORDS!
With the month not yet over, vintagesleds.com has surpassed our traffic of unique visitors very early in the month! December, January and February are the busiest months, so that means this years total will obliterate last years! THANKS!

READY FOR ICE?
Kurt Krueger sent in a photo of his new 2007 race sled. It's not the first photo of a 2007 race sled I have received... in fact, the first one got here last spring! Kurt's all set and waiting for ice in his bid to dominate the new 250 IFS class at several PVR and PVR SnoPro races this winter.

Last night I got a glimpse into the Smith Brothers new top-secret race shop. All I can say is wow! It's a huge shop and they have a lot of work in front of them. Sean and Steve were there when I arrived, working on a new 250 for the newest member of the team (Adam), and sorting through tons and tons of boxes for parts and pieces they have collected over their 20+ years of racing.

The fun thing about the Smith Brothers? They are just so dang enthusiastic - not only about racing - but about vintage sleds and snowmobiling in general - it's contagious!

11/22/06
RACE RUMORS
I couldn't resist... I was trying to stay off the racing stuff, but with so much going on in the background, I just can't keep my yapper shut! Each of the following rumors is rated on a scale of 1 - 10. 1 being no way, won't happen, must be a joke, to 10, yes, it's true and somewhat confirmed. So here they are, the top vintage sled racing rumors heading into the 2006-2007 season:

1. Steve Thorsen, 2X World Champ, will return to oval racing this year assisting a team (mechanically - not driving!) with a small fleet of Polaris and Ski-Doo vintage race sleds. Rumor rating: 3+

2. Motor builder Mike Wienandt has figured out that a 250 motor from a 76 Rupp has more potential than any Ski-Doo 250 race engine ever built, and will prove it in several Rupp drivers sleds. Rumor rating: 7.

3. Arctic Cat is secretly backing and helping a team of racers to build "new" Cat IFS SnoPros. Rumor rating: 8+.

4. Moto-Ski will be well represented this year, with several people building leaf spring and IFS models to race. Rumor rating: 9.

5. Reigning Vintage SnoPro champ Mark Anderson has NOT retired and will be back this year with a vengeance. Rumor rating: 2.

6. New Polaris clones will be hitting the track for the first time: A 74 440cc SnoPro clone, a 75 PDC 650 clone, and a 75 liquid 340 Clone. Rumor rating: 8+

7. Several Canadian teams are planning to swoop into the lower 48 and take as much of the money in Vintage SnoPro as possible. Rumor rating: 4+.

8. The mainstream snowmobile press will, again this year, ignore any and all vintage races, for fear of making the advertising manufacturers mad. Rumor rating: 7.

9. One lone Yamaha SSR will make it to the track this year, as well as one of the clone Kawasaki SnoPros!. Rumor Rating: 3.

10. Old time race tracks like Boonville NY are making a comeback. Rumor rating: 9++++.

"Ddubs" Metalflake work.

11/21/06
METALFLAKE MANIA
DDub is a new user of the Bull Sessions. He signed on, introduced himself, and put up a picture of his very unique 1970 Scorpion. It was won at a raffle in 1969 from the Crosby Minnesota Fire Department.

He's got a great story about how the sled came to be. You can read it on the Bull Sessions. Basically it involves left over parts, two cows and a Scorpion reunion.

But the readers on the Bull Sessions got focused on one aspect of the story: The restored metal flake hood. Ddub was asked for details, and he provided them in all their glorious detail. Check out his website which has all kinds of "how to" tips for paint and body work.

You just can't get enough metal flake can you?

11/20/06
VINTAGESLEDS.COM BULL SESSIONS LIVE ON SKIS!
This is a new one for us - vintagesleds.com will be holding it's first ever live event on February 17th at the Thunderbird Lodge near International Falls Minnesota. A weekend packed with riding, shooting the breeze, fine dining, maybe watching a cool vintage movie and getting to know your Bull Sessions frequent flyers. More info is available here and on the bull sessions. Ride what you bring (at your own risk of course!), everyone is invited, all brands, makes and models vintage sleds encouraged. Pictures taken by vintagesleds.com will be featured on the website.

So get those sleds out, get them polished, make plans now and we'll see you there!

440X sleds gets many steps closer to completion...

ROCKY THE FLYING SQUIRRELL UPDATE
I had some QUality Garage Time in the past few days and was able to make good progress on Hulings 78 440X machine. Read about it in the Bull Sessions.

11/18/06
THREE "HALLS OF FAME"?
A couple of weeks back, Tom Anderson and a group that included some of the Decker family issued a press release about opening a new "World Snowmobile Hall of Fame" in Eagle River Wisconsin, just about 12 miles from the 20+ year old "Snowmobile Hall of Fame" In St. Germain Wisconsin. The ensuing discussion on the Bull Sessions was spirited, to say the least.

The Hall of Fame in St. Germain's Board of Directors has had some time to ponder the original press release from Tom Anderson, and Loren Anderson has even had a face to face meeting with Tom Anderson. After which, the Hall of fame in St. Germain Board of Directors issued a press release of their very own. Here is it, in it's entirety:

November 7, 2006

World Snowmobile Hall of Fame, Inc.
Tom Anderson, President

Dear Tom,

Thank you for your letter of Oct 11, 2006 regarding your new Hall of Fame efforts. Our board has studied your letter and spent a great deal of time discussing the situation.

We are of the opinion now, and have always felt, that two halls of fame were one too many - three halls of fame are two too many. If you truly desire to work toward solving that problem, we would welcome working with you to achieve this much needed result. One non-profit hall of fame for our sport is the only sustainable answer.

In the meantime, we are seven years into our 15-20 year plan for development of the complex here in St. Germain and with our partners, have an investment of $600,000.00 plus, a huge collection of sleds and artifacts, 25 years of proven success and need for far more space than could ever be possible at your building. We must continue to concentrate on our mission and the St. Germain property.

We still believe the Derby track should have their own museum with a wall of fame on their grounds and have said this many times over the years.

Feeling so strong as we do, that another hall of fame confuses the marketplace, hinders fund raising and is not good for the sport, we welcome you to concentrate your efforts in ways that will bring unity here behind our proven and successful program and hope that you too would see that your proposed duplication is not good for yourself and your supporters. Our twenty-five years of experience give us confidence in our decision. Unity builds the snowmobile community.

Sincerely yours,
SHOF Board of Directors
Loren R. Anderson, President
St. Germain, WI

So what does this all mean? Let's see if we can figure it out on a new Bull Sessions thread.

11/15/06
A MATTER OF WINNING - IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME NOW!
I may have mentioned before the 1971 movie "A Matter of Winning". Well, a few months ago, I found some copies of it - original, still in the can film copies. We previewed it. It contained about 45 minutes of raw, 1971 race footage. The rest was trail riding and cross country racing from 1971. All the old time big time racers appear in the movie. Simply put, for a vintage sled head, this movie is pretty cool.

Next step: Can we get it to DVD and make copies available? YES!

Tonight I got permission from the family of the producer and they gave me their blessing to get it transferred! So as soon as tomorrow, it's off for conversion from 35mm to DVD! Could I get them ready for Christmas? Could be!

Also we are arranging special old time Movie theatre showings at the Waconia show (January 19th) and at the Vintagesleds.com Bull Session "Live on Skis" ride and get-together on February 17th. Complete with popcorn, Junior Mints and Juju beans! DON'T MISS THE CHANCE TO RE-LIVE A 1971 MOVIE THEATRE EXPERIENCE! More details will be made available asap. We may even get the son of the producer to give a little talk before or just after the movie!

Speaking of Waconia, they have a new, improved and up to date website coming in just a few days. I've seen a preview. You Cat people are going to have to touch yourself in an unholy manner after you see this!

We'd love to hear from anyone that has memories of this movie. Let's hear your story in the Bull Sessions!

The cover of "Snowbelt" Proclaims the return of racing to the Boonville county fairgrounds!

11/10/06
RACING RETURNS TO BOONVILLE
A lot of discussion has gone on this past year on "What would it take to bring racing back to the big race tracks of yesteryear?" Some have even gone so far as to make inquires at some of the grand old race tracks, like Alexandria, Minnesota, Ironwood Michigan and West Yellowstone. Nothing seems to be happening there.

But for two years, a group has been working on the Boonville New York track, and they got it done. This year, the Adirondack Cup racing will return to the facilities at Boonville.

According to Ed Welsh, local legislator from the area, "Back in the day, the Adirondack Cup was considered a jewel in the crown of any snowmobile racing champion. The Boonville Fairgrounds are hallowed ground for snowmobile racers and fans alike... On occasion local racers like Herb Yancey and Ron Hall would beat the highly financed factory teams and keep the Adirondack Cup from them."

Pro Eastern Ice Oval and Vintage Racing will be held at the track on January 27th and 28th, 2007. The last race was held there in 1978. Congratulations to all the people that worked to make this happen!

Thanks to Scott Carmen for sending in the photos and info.

MORE RACING ON A COOL TRACK
This years Freeport Minnesota race of the Pro-Vintage SnoPro series will take place at the I-94 Speedway in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. This is a top-notch facility with a spacious pit area, large staging area, beautiful GRAND STAND SEATS Hot boxes, and a heated concession & bar area for FANS.

Friday Night, January 26th, will be the SnoPro series race and additional races will go on Saturday and the group has lots of other activities planned for the weekend. You can visit i94icedaze.com for more information.

It's good to see racing return to the facilities that will help bring the fans!

ROCKY THE FYING SQUIRRELL UPDATE
I found some cool information on Brad Hulings' 1978 440X sled that have added to the story of it's restoration on the Bull Sessions. Brad badly crashed the sled at Eagle River, but fixed it to win the 440X class on Sunday. Could that be why someone put "Don't Crash me" on the handlebars?

11/08/06
DARK DAY AT POLARIS
Reliable sources tell us scores of Polaris executives are in route to Roseau to let 200-300 some people go. That number likely includes people from places other then Roseau, but it's still a big number and not something we like to hear about any manufacturer. I'll update later as news comes. One thing is for certain, Polaris is in for a tough time under current management.

Here's the official line from Polaris:

“This was not an easy decision; however, we’re facing a tougher external environment in the ATV, international and snowmobile markets and need to realign resources throughout the organization,” said Tom Tiller, CEO, Polaris Industries. “This is part of a three-pronged initiative designed to make Polaris more competitive over the next 12 to 15 months and we are confident that these changes will allow us to better invest resources into the competitive ATV business, adjacent markets and new product opportunities.”

The staff reductions include 53 salaried positions and 24 temporary, intern and contractor positions worldwide. This represents two percent of the total Polaris workforce of 3,500.

11/02/06 PART II
CONFIRMED! MINNESOTA HEROS!
If you live in any other state, please forgive my Minnesota bias... but this is too cool. The boys in the 'Irak" photo below are from the Minnesota National Guard's 34th Infantry Division. Way to go guys!

11/02/06
THESE PEOPLE RULE!
Hands down, the funniest thing to come out of this election. My hat is off to folks behind the sign, whom I understand are from Minnesota.

11/01/06 PART II
2007 SNOWMOBILE HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES ANNOUNCED
The Snowmobile Hall of Fame of St. Germain, WI will celebrate its 20th annual induction on Thursday, February 22, 2007 at the Eagle River Inn, Eagle River, WI. The Hall of Fame will be inducting four individuals from the sport and industry who each made contributions to snowmobiling truly worthy of recognition in the sports prestigious Hall of Fame and Museum. The banquet will be the crowning event of the annual RIDE WITH THE CHAMPS presented by Modine HotDawg Heaters. The daylong ride starts with registration at 7:30 am. Information is available on the web site at www.snowmobilehalloffame.com.

Everyone is invited. And I mean everyone. Congratulations to the nominees!

The 2007 inductees are:

KIRK HIBBERT
One of snowmobile racing's most successful and versatile competitors, Hilbert's multifaceted career stretches from the 1970s when he emerged as a top competitor in the Rocky Mountain circuits and the Winnipeg 500 through the 1980s and 1990s when he captured championships and set records in cross-country, snocross and hillclimb including two wins at the Jeep 500 in the early 90s, a series of championships and high-point honors in ISOC and MRP competition plus King of the Hill honors at the fabled Jackson Hole Hillclimb. One of the handful that created the legendary Arctic Cat ZR, Hibbert is unique as a snowmobile racer, champion and designer.

ROBERT J. CARLSON
One of the industry's great innovators and visionaries, Robert J. "Bob" Carlson introduced the snowmobile product at Deere & Company in 1970 as the head of Deere's Consumer Products Dealer organization and he spearheaded the Deere racing effort begun in 1971 that produced such notable sleds as the 295/S of 1974, the 340S of 1975 and the Liquidator of 1976 that rocketed the Deere brand into prominence with a win at the Winnipeg 500 in its first attempt. His leadership led to design features like liquid-cooling and his approach to racing nurtured a group of competitors who exerted tremendous influence in the sport for many years.

MARK MAKI
A pioneer in the interesting summer variant of snowmobile competition known as waterskipping, Maki was an innovator who began his career just as this summertime sport was emerging, racing at the very first event held at Grantsburg, Wisconsin, in 1977 and becoming a major figure in the sport as the years went on. Maki developed many of the early chassis set-up and clutching techniques that enabled snowmobiles to make turns on the water and his twelve high-point championships scored between 1977 and 1999 as well as his world record 61 mile run in 1986 place him in a singular category in the history of snowmobile competition.

DICK GOKEY
Tracing an involvement in snowmobiling back to 1968 when he first worked as a volunteer mechanic in the pits of a snowmobile race, Dick Gokey has exerted a profound effect on the development and progress of snowmobile competition for nearly 40 years. A technical official in the United States Snowmobile Association (USSA) during the 1970s, Gokey was part of the reorganization that created WSRF in 1978 where he served as president and he was a member of the group that worked to create the present day International Snowmobile Racing where he served as president and untiring snowmobile racing safety advocate for the past 26 years.

11/01/06 THANK YOU!
You all did it again.... vintagesleds.com had its best month ever in October, breaking all our older records for unique traffic to the site. Since 2004, growth has met or exceeded 100% year over year!! Bull Session membership has grown to over 700 registered members and climbing, and that number will explode upwards when all the people lurking around finally decide to get in on the fun - hint, hint.

So a heart-felt thanks, and you should know that as traffic goes upwards, it allows me to keep improving the site and adding the features you keep requesting as fast as I can... that's my intent and it really makes my day to see it all working. Thanks!

10/31/06 I-500 REUNION UPDATE This is shaping up to be a very interesting vintage event... Imagine a bunch of the winners of the original St. Paul to Winnipeg race all in one spot. It's coming together, and here is the list of confirmed attendees, and the year they won:

• 1966 Herb Howe
• 1967 Gerry Reese
• 1970, 1971 Leroy Lindblad
• 1973 Stan Hayes
• 1974 Yvonee Rohn (Mr. Marvin Ode)
• 1977 Archie Simonson
• 1980 Bruce Olson
• 1987 Nolan Knochenmus
• 1988 Lauren Wolff
• 1989 Jeremy Fyle
• 1990, 1993 Kirk Hibbert
• 1995, 1996 Brad Pake
• 1997, 2003, 2005 Corey Davidson
• 1998, 1999 Todd Wolff
• 2000, 2004 Bryan Dyrdahl
• 2001 Troy Taggart

More information as it becomes available... Will there be a vintage trail ride at this event also? We hope so!

ON FINDING A 1976 POLARIS SNOPRO I was pretty sure that none of these sleds survived. But since I've found one, that leaves a big question hanging out there... could there be more????? I'm pretty sure drivers Jim Bernat and Donny Omdahl each started the season with 3 machines... meaning five more could be lurking in barns somewhere...

If you have the "Best of SnoPro 1973-1978" book, checkout page number 116. See the picture of Jerry Bunke and the smiling little kid who is sitting on a genuine factory race sled? That's Jerry's 340!

10/30/06 ON FOREIGN GROUND AND TREASURE FOUND This past weekend Jim Haug and I traveled to a strange, yet wonderful place called the "Upper" (pronounced 'you-purr'). Also known on most maps as the "Upper Peninsula of Michigan", it's a very weird place north of both Wisconsin and Michigan that separates them from Canada. Our mission was to make the perilous travel through that strange land, and come home safely with a rare snowmobile I have hunted long and hard for over the past six years. One that I had given up on as lost: An actual 1976 Polaris factory SnoPro.

It started as Don Omdahl's 440 until he was hurt and Jerry was brought up to race Don's sleds. This is the 440 - note the stripes on the tunnel.

On the ride home, we figured out through pictures that this is Jerry's 340 - because the lack of a tunnel stripe, and how high the numbers are.

Crossing Wisconsin was normal - much like crossing most of Minnesota really. I was looking forward to getting to Ecanaba Michigan, a place I had never been to before. Plus it's just fun to use the word 'Escanaba' in a sentence. Try it.

As soon as we left Wisconsin, things got different. Very different. The buildings changed - they were all made of different materials, ones I had never seen. Not wood, or brick or steel, but something that resembled tree bark - with an unearthly glow to it. Most houses were decorated with the owners collection of home appliances, cars on blocks, the occasional snowmobile, spare parts & other furniture items. The woods got thicker. Thick like we-could-hide-Jimmy-Hoffa's-body-here thick.

At one point, I swore , I heard Uller God praying out loud for snow. And his prayer was answered. It began to snow, and rain.

Then I started noticing how the signs had changed. Unlike Minnesota or Wisconsin, there was no longer any signs for gas stations, McDonald's, or real estate agents. Instead, there were signs for "Pasties". I don't know about you, but where I come from, Pasties are what dancing girls wear when they have nothing else on. If that was correct, the Upper had a ton of places that had dancin' girls. Why they had a place for dancin' girls every mile or so! Odd, however, that when ever the pasties were mentioned, ice cream, smoked fish and pie were also on the sign. That seemed odd, but we just assumed the uppers liked to have some food while looking at the nearly naked dancing girls. After all, who doesn't?

Then there was the small, broken down farm on the side of the road with a large red & white sign proudly shouting "Web Site Designing". I'm still not sure of what to make of that.

The wind picked up as we reached Ecanaba. It was as I had pictured, kind of a rustic shipping city with lots of old brick warehouse type buildings. We made a wrong turn and drove for several miles before I noticed that Lake Michigan was on our left, when the map said it should have been on the right. We back tracked and found the correct turn. We followed the highway with Lake Michigan on our right the rest of the way.

Lake Michigan is amazing. Very blue, as in 73 Polaris Starfire blue, with miles and miles of sandy beaches. The winds were high, so there wasn't a single boat on the lake. Just huge white caps crashing.

Coming over a hill, I spotted our destination: The Macinaw Bridge. Wow. I've been over the San Francisco bridge, and it has nothing on this thing! It's huge. And tall. And with a good high wind, it's like an amusement park ride just to cross it.

On the other side was a family in a truck, waiting patiently at a gas station. I'll leave their name out of the story, because I'm not sure they want it plastered on the Internet. We all got out, shook hands had a few laughs, then took a look inside the back of his truck. There it was.

One of Jerry Bunke's 1976 SnoPro sleds. The number 874 is still on both sides of the tunnel.

While I was outside drooling over the sled, Jim went into the gas station. The women working behind the counter had more tattoos then a prison guard, but Jim had to ask any way. "We keep seeing these signs for Pasties all over the place - what are they?" Jim asked as he paid for his bottle of tea.

Clone 340 RXL with a 79 hood.

The lady corrected him. "THEY AIN'T CALLED 'PASTIES'! THERE CALLED 'PAW-STEEEZ'!" Jim learned it is a major offense to pronounce the word as it is spelled. She then went on to explain it is a local delicacy - some kind of meat and potatoes thing wrapped in bread. "Sort of like a pot-pie" she said.

Jim, myself and our new friends all did some loading, swapped some cash, looked at some pictures and loaded the sled into my truck. It was cold and windy, and they had been kind enough to wait for his for hours, but they were ready to go home. We said good-bye, then Jim and I headed back across the bridge, back across the Upper and towards Appleton Wisconsin.

We made Appleton by 11:00 that night, and that was a lot of driving. More then I ever care to do again. When we got to the Hampton Inn in Appleton, I began to get nervous about leaving the sled in the truck. So I checked in, then drove around back. Jim and I took the sled out of the truck... and hauled it up two flights of stairs and into the second floor hotel room.

Yep, leaning against the wall in the Hampton Inn was a snowmobile. We got lucky, no one saw us bring it in. We were not so lucky leaving the next morning. We opened the door and started to pull it out. The door across the hall opened right after we had gotten it into the hall. The tenants of the room looked at us, then the sled, then just shook his head, as if to say "what the.....". Jim and I just high-tailed it out of the hall, down the stairs and loaded it back into the truck.

Moments later, we were having breakfast with 2005 and 2006 Vintage SnoPro Champ mark Anderson, who lives near Appleton. Right after that, we headed to Mark's shop were I picked up the clone RXL I'm hoping to bomb around on this winter. After chatting with Mark and looking over his race sleds (two of which are still for sale), we packed up headed home.

We stopped at Ed Schlosser's house, who is doing some amazing upholstery work for me. Picked up some foam from him, chatted for a bit, then hit the road, making back to the Twin Cities around 9:00 last night. Good trip. Good people. Good timing. Interesting places.

10/27/06 EARLY GROOMING Contributor Tom Rowland sent in this story of the early Minnesota trail grooming - a part of the sport I don't normally hear about, but am always thankful for when I get a chance to hit a trail. Tom was good enough to write this story and dig up the old photos... so here it is - and thanks for sharing the memories Tom!

My dad and grandpa were involved in the some of the earlier trail developments in our Kanabec/ Mille Lacs county (Minnesota) areas. They would create new or improve existing trails in the summer/fall.

Usually they did this with one of their small dozers, my grandpa was always buying or selling these as a hobby. Normally he had a Caterpillar D4, IH TD-6/TD-9 or an Allis Chalmers HD-5. When snow fell, they began grooming.

During the first rideable snow, dad would get our entire family out for a trail ride (we were only way too happy to do this!), and instruct each of us to drive our snowmobile in a slightly different path than the sled we were following. This, he said, would help pack the snow on the trail prior to the first trip out with the grooming drag.

Their first grooming equipment (around 1970?) consisted of a home built drag 5 feet wide and around 8 ft long. They pulled it with 2 panthers hooked to the front via a horse-type evener system. After a season of doing this they replaced the Panthers with an OC-3 Oliver crawler. This worked a little better except in deep powder. They then bolted hardwood boards to each steel track grouser pad in an effort to give the little crawler a bigger footprint.

The next season, they bought a new Arnold Ranger track-type "tractor". This was powered by a twin-cylinder 18hp Kohler engine, had twin 12" wide tracks and a 3 speed transmission. These were produced in Pengilly MN and were fairly common in the early 70s for agencies like the MN DNR for their various tasks.

In 1977 they bought their second Ranger, now called a Ferret Tractor, except this one had wider 18" tracks. By this time my brother and brother-in-law were working with my dad each winter for grooming and they were getting paid a small amount by the DNR for some of the trails they groomed. Also by this time they had built a second grooming drag.

During average snow conditions they would go out with one Ranger each hooked on a drag. After a heavy snowfall, the would have to hook both Rangers together on one drag to get through the trails. By about 1981 or so, they all moved on to other things and the grooming tasks in this area was picked up by the Mystic Riders snowmobile club of the Princeton MN area. This club had a (at the time) very modern Bombardier trail groomer and really took this trail system to the next level. This very club not only still exists but thrives today.

I know I got a little off from Pauls original topic of looking for early grooming pictures, but I kind of enjoyed jotting down some of these memories from a part of early snowmobiling that I had not thought of for a long time.

This image shows Art Rowland (Tom's grandpa) operating their 1974 Arnold Ranger with a home-built drag. This picture was taken NE of Woodland MN in the winter of 1975-76.
Tom's dad Wayne, and Thomas, next to their 1977 Ferret wide-track. Brother-in-law Don snapped this picture, something must have been quite funny! They were taking a break from grooming in the Chengwatonna Forest, Pine County MN. Taken winter of 1978-79	Tom on the Cat D4

JACOB GOEDE - NASCAR DRIVER? I got new news on our Mr. Goede, vintage snowmobile racer, that he's made the final list of 12 drivers battling it out for a single open position on a big-league race team. His biggest concern? How is he going to finish his college degree with all this going on? If Jacob gets the slot (and we are pulling for you Jacob - it's about time someone from Minnesota showed them good 'ol boys from down South how it's done!), I think we can safely assume we won't see him on an ice oval this winter... But there is another Goede who was seen running Starfires last year....

10/24/06 I-500 REUNION! From a press release from the United States Cross-Country Snowmobile Racing Association (USCC). Looks like not only will they be running the race this year, but 22 of the original winners (how cool is that?) will be getting together for the anniversary of the event.

Watching the world’s best terrain racers battle the Northern Minnesota ditch lines for 500 miles won’t be the only attraction for race fans at this years United States Cross-Country (U.S.C.C.) Red Lake I-500 cross-country snowmobile race.

The 2007 “500”will mark the 35th running of the legendary event, and a reunion of the 22 men who have been crowned I-500 champion is planned in conjunction with this years race.

Since Herb Howe crossed the finish line in St. Paul back in 1966 as the winner of the inaugural Winnipeg to St. Paul I-500, cross-country racings biggest event has seen many changes and has had different formats and routes used over the years. The race not held for several years in the early 1980’s and again in 2002, but interest in cross-country racing is again surging and some of the highest entry numbers in recent memory are expected at this years event which will be held January 19-21 at the Seven Clans Casino Hotel and Water park in Thief River Falls, MN.

Events are being planned around the race and reunion which will include autograph signings, slide shows and race memorabilia displays. More specific information on the Champions Reunion will be posted on the U.S.C.C. website (www. usccracing.com) and the Seven Clans Casino website (www.sevenclanscasino.com) as it becomes available.

Wasn't there also some discussion of vintage sleds running the course as well? I got the 335 ATX all ready to go!

10/20/06 RACIN' IN THE OLD DAYS Ron Killips sent in these photos, scanned from an old book. Does anyone know what book? A week ago at a swap meet I bought an old book called "The Snowmobilers Companion" by Sally Wimer. I would have bought it even if it was not about snowmobiles, just because it's a cool old book with really funny stuff in it.

But I've never seen these photos before... so what book is it?

10/16/06 GARBAGE CAT Mark Kemmerer (you may remember him as owning the stunning original condition Yamaha SSR) found some new treasure. He snapped this photo this morning after walking out to the shed three times just to see if it wasn't a dream - and he got it for FREE! Mark recommends getting to know your local sanitation engineer. They come across this stuff all the time. Mark's local sanitation expert found this excellent 74 El Tigre and just like that, it was at Mark's house. It's still out there!

10/15/06 VINTAGESLEDS.COM - MORE ADDICTIVE THEN CRACK Over the last few days I've gotten so much email from people saying something to the effect of "I'm spending way too much time on this site!" Of course, I'm flattered. But this email, discussing a vintagesleds.com addict that wishes to remain anonymous was too much. I fell off my chair laughing when I read this. Get read for a really good mental picture:

"Another reason every now and then I just stop reading the Bull Sessions and have a beer and watch "Stargate" at night: You can't live on this site all day long...Bad for my house, laundry piles up, garbage piles up, kids starve to death, cops come and take away this fat, dirty, stringy, bearded, balding guy rambling incoherently about "Fools! Fools ALL OF THEM!" while sitting in a pile of his own poop and surrounded by used Kleenex and milk bottles full of pee......"

10/11/06 ROCKY THE FLYING SQUIRRELL Tonight I was working on the 78 RXL 440-X sled that I am restoring. The bulkhead is magnesium. I had sent it off to be stripped of the black paint that had been put on it over the years, and the cracks that needed welding. I got it back yesterday. It's starting to look awesome.

While painting the handlebars, I found the phrase "Don't Crash me" on the top of them. I was amused by that, but had no idea if it was done originally, or if it had been added over the years. I left it, just in case it was original. You can still read it throught the new paint.

I was trying to decide if I should just clean and clear coat the magnesium bulkhead, or sand it just a bit to try to make it look like it did when it came off the race track in 1978.

Thankfully, my instincts got the best of me and I decided to lightly sand it off. I started on the clutch guard as that would be the easiest. As I was sanding, I noticed someone had written the word "Rocky" in the magnesium clutch guard.

Intrigued, I sanded ever so lightly some more. Slowly, the word "Squirrel" came into view. Now I was starting to feel like I really found something interesting. I continued to clean, then I caught the whole phrase. "Rocky the Flying Squirrel". The handwriting was the same as the " Don't Crash Me" on the handlebars.

So there I sat in my shop, thinking "What the ???????" What does a cartoon character from the 1960's have to do with a 1978 440-X RXL? I scrunched my brow. I paced. I twisted my head and looked at the phrase over and over again. I felt like an archeologist. A confused archeologist, but an archeologist who had a mystery to solve, none the less.

As I may have mentioned, I'm writing a book about the Polaris race efforts in the 1960's and 1970's. I have already interviewed many of the players, including Sir Larry Rugland. In that interview, I remembered he mentioned "Rocky the Flying Squirrel". I raced into my office to look up the notes from that interview.

Brad Hulings in 1978 was light, aggressive, and very fast. So much so that Larry nick named him " Rocky the Flying Squirrel". Every time Larry called him "Rocky", Brad would respond “Okay Bullwinkel”.

When I read the notes back, I laughed out loud. I danced a strange little geek dance. I ran around in circles a bit.

I had suspected the sled was Hulings 1978 440-X sled. Jerry Bunke's is in the Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain Wisconsin. Steve Throsen's 1978 World Championship sled is in Canada in the good care of my friend. The handlebars on my 440-X matched Brad's, as did the gas tank and the foot loop mounting holes. But I didn't feel that was good enough verification. But seeing the phrase "Rocky the Flying Squirrel" on the clutch guard brought it all together.

I had to run right out and party with the Vman and his crazy neighbors.

I'd show you a picture, but the writing was so small that I could not get a good photo. But if you come see the sled, I'll show it to you. It's there.

Life is good.

10/11/06 TWO "HALL OF FAMES" IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN? Just got an email this afternoon that a group that includes the Deckers is opening a "World snowmobile Hall of Fame" right next to the derby track in January. Not sure what this group is thinking, or what their motives are, but it seems like a pretty crappy thing to do to people who have selflessly tried to build the Snowmobile Hall of Fame for the last 25 years just down the road in St. Germain, Wisconsin. It's clear from the letter (below) that they intend to do it with or without the current Hall of Fame's participation.

Here's the letter: I'll leave it to you to decide. You can discuss this in the Bull Sessions. Let the world know what YOU think!

"Dear Loren,

I am sure you have been aware of our group working the last couple of years to further the exposure and recognition of those who have earned Hall of Fame status in our snowmobiling community, honor the respective founders of the halls and to unite the two existing halls. We feel we have taken a major step in achieving those goals.

In January of next year we will open the World Snowmobile Hall of Fame and Museum in Eagle River. The facility is located just 250 feet from turn #4 of the Derby Track and has excellent visual exposure to two main snowmobile trails. The building gives us 5,000 square feet of display space now, with an additional 7,500 available for future growth.

Elmer Cone and his board have agreed to make all induction materials from their International Snowmobile Hall of Fame available to us. They have inducted 66 individuals whose photos and bios will be displayed in our new building. They also have other historical information regarding the development of snowmobiling that they will make available to us.

At this time we invite you to also be a participant in our program. What and how that involvement may be we can discuss.

The attached news release will go out in a few days. It invites “related snowmobile businesses or groups to join us” which certainly includes you. You have done a truly masterful job in founding and sustaining your Hall of Fame. A mutual effort will further your program even more.

Sincerely,

Tom

And the press release they are putting out regarding the new "hall of fame", note the people involved with the organization on the bottom.

News Release October 11, 2006 For additional information contact Tom Anderson at 800-746-8963

New Hall of Fame & Museum Established in Eagle River

Officially recognized as the “Snowmobile Capital of the World©” and home of the World Championship Snowmobile Derby©, Eagle River will now also be the new home of the World Snowmobile Hall of Fame and Museum. Located just 250 feet north of the Derby Track, the new facility will include the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame (ISHOF) as a branch operation from their main location in Bovey, Minnesota.

The new World Snowmobile Headquarters facility will also feature a “Derby Wall of Fame” honoring the winners of the past 43 years of the Derby and providing historical information on the evolution of the Derby from the first event on Dollar Lake in 1964 to the present. A snowmobile museum will showcase many snowmobiles of significant influence in the mechanical development of the sport. These will be primarily recreational sleds but race sleds will be included in the Derby section.

“Our goal is to showcase both the people and the machines that have taken our sport from its infancy to the present,” said Tom Anderson, president of the new organization. “We are very honored to have the ISHOF branch their program here in Eagle River. They have laid a great foundation for the recognition of people and snowmobiles that we are happy to build on.

“Its exciting to see our program expand to Eagle River,” stated Elmer Cone, founder and president of ISHOF. “It means thousands of snowmobilers will be able to see and experience what we have accomplished to recognize and promote the recreational and historical aspects of the sport of snowmobiling”.

Founded in 1986, the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame has inducted 66 individuals into the Hall as recognition of their dedication to the sport and business related to the worldwide sport of snowmobiling. Their photos and bios will be displayed at the new facility. The new facility is currently being redone to feature 5,000 square feet of display space and is expected to be ready by January 1. “We have two additional office suites available in the building and are looking for related snowmobile businesses or groups to join us,” Anderson added.

Photo Caption:

Meeting to begin establishing the new World Snowmobile Hall of Fame and Museum in the old Northtown Center building were Scott Eilertson; VP of ISHOF, Bill Schumann; Secretary/Treasurer of WSHOF, Chuck Decker; Derby Track, Russ Davis; Vice-president of WSHOF, Richard Decker; Derby Track and Tom Anderson; President of WSHOF. Not pictured are WSHOF Directors Jake Alward and Jim Levandoski. The new facility will feature photos of 66 Hall of Fame inductees, a museum of historical snowmobiles and a Derby Wall of Fame.

10/10/06 PART III! FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON! Yeah baby!.... Murrya Melgaurd (forgive me if I got the spelling wrong Murray!) was the first in the country to send in a photo of the first snow of the year - happening RIGHT NOW (9:15 PM on October 10th!) In Roseau, Minnesota. To be fair, Devin Fackrell sent in pictures of the snow they have in the mountains out west already, but we disqualified any mountain snow reports as not fair to us mere mortals on the lower ground. Murray has set a record for the earliest picture EVER we've gotten on the web site. Way to go Murray!

First snow - 9:15 PM, October 10th, 2006 Roseau MN.

10/10/06 PART II 2006 Vintge SnoPro Master Series Slide Show Enjoy.

10/10/06 MY NEW HERO Watch as this guy runs his 71 Ski-Doo down a busy city street - in the dead of summer. Way to go Jimmy Tomczak!

10/09/06 DOUGLAS SHOW HITS THE NEWS The Byron Snow Bears 12th annual show in the Southern Minnesota town of Douglas got some coverage from the KTTC NBC television station today. It seems report Hrapsky was impressed with drag racers going 500 feet in 5 seconds. Congrats to the Byron Snow Bears for what all reports say was an excellent day of fun and racing.

Speaking of Snow.... at just 45 degrees here in Minnesota right now, it appears that snow is in our forecast for Wednesday... dang! I don't have the broken throttle cable fixed on the old sled yet! How great is it to finally shut the AC off, crack a window and wake up in a near frozen room. Ahhhhhhhhh.

One more thing to be excited about... even though I am in the VAST minority on this... but the Twins lost their bid to go to the World Series - and I couldn't be happier. I've never been a baseball fan; the games are too long, too boring and too filled with over-paid pancey hair dresser players for my tastes. But when the Twins get close to a World Series, the news reporting here on television, radio, print and the internet becomes one solid drone of reporters who are so darned happy that you just want to punch that stupid look off their faces. Just like they get when it's 50 degrees with no sign of cold & snow in the middle of January. I mentioned this to someone last week and they thought I was being "negative" Hardly! This is great!

10/05/06 JACOB GOEDE - BIG TIME VINTAGE RACER KICKS BUTT ON ASPHALT! Seems our current vintage snowmobile racing champ from last year's big Northern Wisconsin Vintage race has had a big summer racing stock cars. Besides being a fourth year mechanical engineering student at Minnesota State University, his stock car racing is red-hot. Could we have a NASCAR champion in our midst? Maybe!

Twenty one year old Jacob competed in an All-Star race in Madison Wisconsin earlier this year with NASCAR's Nextel Cup Champion Matt Kenseth, and finished 6th ahead of Tony Steward! Jacob's younger brother, who started doing a little vintage sled racing last year as well, was named Rookie of the Year at Raceway Park in Shakopee, Minnesota in the late model division.

Jacob competes in the ASALM series. At Elko speedway earlier this year, he came from the back of the pack to challenge for the lead in lap 199 of 200. At the I-70 Speedway, Jacob led 187 out of 200 times in his first ever race there.

Way to go Jacob... but don't get too attached to them cars... if you get a NASCAR ride they probably won't let you race and 800cc 1973 Polaris Starfire in the winter!

Jacob's primary sponsor is Laketown Electric - their main office is just down the street from the site where the Waconia show is held every year.

DOUG HAYES - 1977 HETTEEN CUP WINNER Doug Hayes who was the man of the day in Alexandria, Minnesota in December of 1977 has donated a really cool item to the Snowmobile Hall of Fame. This of course makes Doug the man of the day once again!

Doug actually gave up his 1977 Silverline boat and a bunch of rare photos from back in the day to the hall. It's a 16.5' boat with a Mercury I-O. It was part of his grand prize at the historic race that he won on his new Ski-Doo SnoPros. Some of the pictures he donated were of Doug and his prize boat along with Brad Hulings and his 1976 Hetteen cup boat he won on his Polaris. Doug has kept, maintained and used the boat every year since he won it!

As you may already know, the Hetteen cup is scheduled for a come back this winter at a vintage race in Glenwood, Minnesota, February 3rd and 4th, 2007. Doug - we can't thank Doug enough for sharing such an interesting part of racings' history, and his many contributions to the Hall.