Bassett’s Blog: Summer happenings

Don’t let your enthusiasm for snowmobiling melt with the snow. With the click of a mouse we’ve uncovered a wide variety of events to keep your enthusiasm levels at full throttle.

Across the snowbelt you’ll find events from grass drag races to vintage swap meets. We’ve picked a few vintage-oriented events that piqued our interest. Some are local events while others are ‘big’ sponsored affairs that draw hundreds – if not thousands – of fellow snowmobile enthusiasts.

Here’s a sampling of what you can find to keep your snowmobile spirits up during the non-snow months:

May 17 – The Twisting Trails Sno-Braves Snowmobile Club of Twin Lake, Mich. offers a unique day of powersports fun that will include a vintage snowmobile swap meet. Club organizers plan four events during the day, including the swap meet, snowmobile radar runs, ATV obstacle challenge and lawn mower races. For more information about this Michigan event, click on http://www.twistingtrails.org/ or call 231-343-3230.

The World Snowmobile Headquarters in Eagle River, WI holds a rotating collection of early snowmobiles.

May 25 – Arctic Cat sponsors the Snowmobile Hall of Fame’s ‘Classic Snowmobile Round-Up’ to be held at St. Germain, Wis. Town Park. Arctic Cat joins with the Snowmobile Hall of Fame, the Bo-Boen Snowmobile Club and local Arctic Cat dealer R&R Motorsports of nearby Hazelhurst, WI. The snowmobile display and swap meet is open to all brands of vintage and antique snowmobiles. There will be judging for a number of classes to include rear-engine antique, pre-1969 restored, vintage racer, and even a ‘custom’ class. For more information: click on http://www.snowmobilehalloffame.com/ (event information); http://www.st-germain.com/ (visitor information and lodging updates).

June 7 – The New Hampshire Snowmobile Museum Association (NHSMA) holds its annual spring swap meet in June at the museum’s facility in Allenstown, NH. If you’ve never visited the museum, you should. Ski-Doo fans will find one of the best early collections of Olympiques displayed anywhere. The swap meet draws people from around New England. No telling what you’ll find, but don’t be surprised to see an early Eliason snowmobile using an Indian motorcycle engine for power. To get more information and directions, click on http://www.nhsnowmobilemuseum.com/ or contact: NH Snowmobile Museum Association, PO Box 10112, Concord, NH 03301 — Telephone: 603-648-2304.

July 18-20 – The Vintage World Championship Watercross will be held in Grantsburg, Wis. in conjunction with the 32d Annual Snowmobile Watercross Championships. Classes in the vintage event will include a variety of sleds. Sled classes range from 1973 and older air-cooled single cylinder sleds to 1980 and older liquid-cooled models. Sponsored by the Grantsburg Lions Club, the first watercross was held in July 1977. That first race was simply held to see who could make the 300-feet from an island on Memory Lake to the shore. Today’s 100-plus competitors are more skilled with much more powerful sleds and will compete in both drags and ovals with a six-lap championship run. For more information about the event, click on http://www.grantsburgwatercross.com/.

July 25-27 – The Vintage Snowmobile Club of America (VSCA) hosts The Western States Vintage Snowmobile Association’s 3rd Annual VSCA National Championship Vintage Snowmobile Show at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds located at 4056 North Government Way, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. This will be a family-oriented event as the Coeur d’Alene area offers theme parks and lake beaches for family activities. For more information click to http://www.wsvsa.com/ or call 208-309-1750.

Eagle River’s Derby Track plays host to the ‘Reunion’ and its swap meet.

September 19-20 – Each fall the famed Derby Track in Eagle River, Wis. is home to the World Championship Snowmobile Show & Reunion. This two-day event is one of the classic snowmobile events, with judged displays and vast swap meet. While in the neighborhood, you can stop by the World Snowmobile Headquarters, which sits just north of the track and showcases historic racing snowmobiles, classic sleds and snowmobiling memorabilia. For more information about the Reunion, click on http://www.derbytrack.com/ or phone 715-479-4424.

September 20 – In the autumn, about the time the trees start to change color, the New Hampshire Snowmobile Museum Association ends the non-snow season with its annual Fall Swap Meet. Again, this event is held on the museum grounds in Allenstown, NH. To get more information and directions, click on http://www.nhsnowmobilemuseum.com/ or contact: NH Snowmobile Museum Association, PO Box 10112, Concord, NH 03301 – Telephone: 603-648-2304

This certainly isn’t all that’s happening in snowmobiling this summer, but it should serve to whet your appetite for sledding. If you are interested in discovering more ‘snowmobiling to do’ events, check back with Snowmobile.com or visit www.teshio.com/vsn/events.htm, which lists many more vintage-oriented events that will be coming up this summer.