When Chuck Schunemon of Danbury, Wis., discovered his ‘71 Polaris, it was a heap of rust on a farm and in the back of a dump truck destined for the landfill.
“It wasn’t worth the scrap,” said Schunemon, who attended Saturday’s Live on Skis 2013 vintage snowmobile gathering and ride with his son, Kraig, of Mounds View, Minn.
After three years of work, the elder Schunemon was done lovingly restoring the former search-and-rescue sled from the Buffalo Police Department in Wright County, Minn. The powder blue and white beauty with red trim now has a sleek body, humming engine, near flawless upholstery and working emergency flashers and radio. It even had its original police star decals.
“They are very proud of it,” he said of the police department.
When it comes to vintage snowmobile collectors, it’s not about how fast one gets to Point A to Point B, but rather what one saw along the snow-heavy and well-groomed trails in Voyageurs National Park, several participants said.
About 60 vintage sled enthusiasts attended the relaxed event at the Thunderbird Lodge on Rainy Lake, which is about camaraderie, sharing parts and information as much as the day’s 40-mile group ride, they said. Borderland was chosen primarily as this year’s site once again, organizers said, because it had received about 60 inches of snow, even prior to Monday’s dumping.
Some even came early and stayed through the three-day Presidents’ Day weekend, probably enjoying Monday’s fresh snowfall a great deal more than the average commuter.
“This is a paradise of paradises,” Chuck Schunemon said of the combination of snow cover, peace and outdoor solitude of giving each other a nice berth for the trail ride, which was marred by only one reported breakdown.
The event also coincided with the International Voyageurs Snowmobile Club’s Fifth Annual Falls International Speed Run Against Cancer (See accompanying story). And a few vintage snowmobile owners in fact did take advantage of the 1,000-foot track in order to see what speed a few of the older models dating back to the ‘60s could reach.
Mark Ess, of Ranier, won first place in the vintage class by reaching 83 mph on a 87 Arctic Cat Wild Cat 650cc.
However, a major attraction to the hobby is “with these old machines all you really need is a spark and gas, and you’re good to go,” said Britton Green, who attended the event with his father, Bob, of Fort Frances, who owns 15 Ski-Doos.
Sitting next to brand-new racing sleds, many of which were nearly identical to each other, are foreign made and cost upwards of $14,000 or more, the vintage rides still attracted quite a crowd and plenty of praise for the owners’ dedication and attentions to details.
To demonstrate the simplicity of the vintage snowmachines, Bob Green pulled out the original six-piece tool kit that came with his ‘76. That’s about all he said he needed to keep his machine running.
These engines can’t and don’t need to be plugged into computer diagnostics to let a proficient owner know what’s wrong, proponents said.
One man even rebuilt his carburetor within 15 minutes in 12 degrees below zero and had his sled purring again, or maybe more like growling, since the vintage rides often can be quite loud despite much less horsepower compared to their modern counterparts. It may be a good thing they tend to go slower, too, since the machines don’t have the suspension systems, wide front double skis and gripping Kevlar tracks found on today’s sleds.
“Every day is like Christmas with packages arriving at our home,” said Patty Gustafson, who traveled to the event from Grand Rapids, Minn., with her husband, Brad. “He spends hours on the Internet (looking for parts).”
He’s rebuilt seven Ski-Doos, including the ‘78 he brought along. Brad Gustafson said he enjoys how much he learns and the people he meets at these get-togethers.
Jim Saurdiff, of International Falls, helped organize the “anti-event,” which was free except for food and lodging. In addition to trail rides, the vintage sled owners said they just came to shoot the breeze while eating together and even a having a few informal drag races of their own.
“You see a lot for a long time,” Bob Green said of the “no pressure” trail rides, as organizers called them. “It’s just nice to talk to everyone and see all the old sleds.”
Retired Falls High School engine repair teacher David Trompeter was among those drawn to the machines, particularly the meticulously rebuilt older models, such as ‘60s-era Polaris Sno Traveler and early-’70s SnowBug from Ontario.
Various rare, modified and handmade snow machines started to exist in the early 20th Century. But actually, the Sno Traveler was the first mass-produced snowmobile ever starting in 1955-56 out of Roseau, Minn.
“I lived through that time,” Trompeter said. “A sled went for $700, and suddenly winter opened up for us like never before since we could suddenly go anywhere in a pretty short period of time. In a way, it was more fun back then. Now, it’s all about speed and competition.”
But there was no competition among the vintage riders, or at least several of them insisted. Although it tended to be a point of pride when an owner could say they were able to restore their machine using all original parts.
A number of owners added that they’d bought and restored versions of the snowmobiles they had growing up – or desired.
The latter included the winner of and Radar Run record breaker, Tom Deer, of Elko, Minn. He said he later bought and restored the first snowmobile he ever laid his eyes on back in kindergarten.
He now has a collection of 40, including his 2009 800cc Arctic Cat ZRT with which he hit 106 mph.
“My whole life, snowmobiles have been my love and passion,” Deer said.
For more information about similar upcoming events, message boards and parts, go online to www.vintagesleds.com.
