Photo by Tom Riley – AKA "Earlham"

Well another "Live on Skis" has come and gone. It was a little scary for us living in Southern Minnesota to see a single rain storm wash out the majority of our snow. A good many of us were concerned that International Falls and other locations may have lost a lot of snow as well.

Two locations were affected and had to postpone: Alliston, Ontario and Lapeer, Michigan. They have rescheduled for the 28th if this month. For everyone else, the event was a go.

I got to International Falls on Friday night, just in time for dinner with my dad, nephews and Doc Jim, amongst a whole bunch of vintage sledders. After several hours of HQBS (High Quality BS), it was off to bed.

Saturday morning breakfast was spent listening to all kinds of stories from Friday activities as well as catching up with Live on Skis friends I haven’t seen since last year.

By about 10:00 AM, all the DNR permits had been signed, people were suited up, sleds were gassed and everyone was ready to roll. I’d been really looking forward to this ride since it would be the first chance to ride a 1976 Starfire – and not just any Starfire! This one was originally raced in the stock classes from the factory by veteran Polaris racer Wes Pesek. Jim Haug did an outstanding job of restoring the sled, and even set it up much like Wes would have run it in the races back then.

I took it for a little "pre-flight" and was taken by how quick she took off the line for a 250. It’s fully studded and carbided, so on the first turn I got a little over confident with it, and nearly rolled it to the left when I went to turn. I was able to prevent that disaster and keep her going.
I’ll have a full story on this sled in a future post.

We lined up all the sleds on the front with this years dignitary: Aaron Johnson from Polaris driving his dad’s Mountaineer. Clearly it was the oldest sled there on Saturday. His co-pilot would be be my dad, Ronald L. Saurdiff. No one did an official count, but I think we had slightly more sleds than we did the prior year. They were lined up just as wide on the lake, but in many placed they were 3 and 4 deep!

The lake was pretty rough from thawing and un-freezing, so we stayed on trails the whole way. They had been groomed earlier in the day, so there were perfect.
The little 250 Starfire performed like a champ – with a top speed of about 65 mph. I did make a mental note that having a lot of carbide on the old sleds is not that easy to drive on a trail. But it also made it feel like I was in a race – which is just fine with me.

The total ride was about 35 miles, with a break in the middle for hot dogs and coffee provided by the local snowmobile trail association. However, a few riders got off on the wrong trail and got to the hot dog spot before the hot dogs! None the less, by the time the rest of the group got there, the hot dogs, coffee, cookies and chips were flowing, along with lots more HQBS.

Everyone was on their own to keep riding, or go back to hang out at the lodge. But a curious thing happened: Races broke out. On a makeshift drag strip in front of the lodge,
everyone kept trying out each others sleds (I rode my first Yamaha SRX, an RX-1 and a Bobcat). As David Johnson is fond of saying "snowmobile racing started when we built the second machine". When two machines found themselves side by side, a race was bound to happen. The racing continued till dark.

A new addition this year was the banquet room. A very nice facility where we could gather, eat and shoot the breeze.

I showed off some new features coming to the website in the very near future.
First is Google Search. I’ve licensed a Google search tool that will make everything on the site easy to find with a simple search.

Next is the new Archive section. Databased, organized and searchable, over 9 years of information on the site will be easily available from the new Archive section.

Last is a new section of the website called "MyGarage". In a nutshell, you’ll be able to have your own web page here on vintagesleds.com Share your collection, your projects, photos and stories with your buddies. We’ll have a link available soon so you can see the same demo Live on Skis attendees got to see.

A collection was taken up by Master of Ceremonies Jim Strandlund to help out with my trucks lost transmission. Just under $75 was collected. I’m going to throw in $25 and the whole amount will go to the Snowmobile Hall of Fame. We also collected money from the T-shirts (which sold well!) to go to the Make a Wish Foundation. I’ll have the total for that as soon as all the other events are over.

Speaking of the other events, check out more photos from International Falls, Montpelier Idaho,
Oriskany New York,
and Sun River Oregon.

This was the first time the satellite events took place, and I think we’ll be doing a lot more with them in the future – it sure looks like they had a good time and that IS what it’s all about.

Jim and Kari Standlund are the winners for getting to Live On Skis – they already posted this photo:

They did get some rain up in International Falls, but the snow is still good and they are expecting colder temperatures and snow tomorrow. Never fear! Even if the weather does not cooperate, we can still ride the big ‘ol Rainly Lake like we did the first year. But so far, looks like the trails are a go!

My thanks to Jim and Kari for sending in the photo so darn fast!

All events are a go for this weekend, except Lapeer Michigan and Alliston Ontario who will move to the weekend of the 28th. Recent warm temperatures and a lot of rain have made conditions not so nice – but they expect a full recovery by the 28th. All other locations are on for this weekend. Can’t wait.

The Live on Skis T-shirts & hoodies should be in today, and in the mail to everyone who pre-ordered by tomorrow. Thanks to everyone! It’s shaping up to be an extremely good time – and if all goes well we are hoping that David and Aaron Johnson will be in International Falls with a Polaris Mountaineer for the ride! Not to mention we will be demonstrating some of the new upcoming vintagesleds.com features. I’ll be there with three sleds, but I’ll be looking to swap rides with anyone who wants to try one of my sleds and let me try theirs. I might even be seen on one of them crazy yellow machines in honor of their 50th anniversary.

Don’t forget that next weekend is thee Hall of Fame’s “Ride with the Champs” event and 2009 induction ceremonies. More on this later.

If you want to get together and just ride some old sleds and shoot the breeze with your fellow sled heads, February 14th is the day. With linked events taking place in International Falls Minnesota (the mother ship), Alliston Ontario, Lapeer Michigan, Montpelier Idaho, Marquette Michigan, Fairbanks Alaska and Oriskany New York, we are getting close to having and event near enough for everyone to drive to.

I use the word “event” lightly. This is actually somewhat of an “anti-event” event. No prizes, no shows, no (organized) races, no bragging rights. Just people who want to get out there on the old sleds and have a good time, and tell huge stories about it later to their grand kids.

Each location will be updating on SledTalk 24/7 so we can all join in on the happenings. More information, including maps and contact information for the event near you, can be found here.

I just did this photo. That’s “Trucker” from the Bull Sessions, and the stellar John Deere that was setup for Forrest Hess to ride on. Look at that snow.

Hasn’t 2008 been great for vintage sledders so far? And to think, winter is just 5-6 months away.

Last year at Live on Skis, all the attendees were fortunate enough to meet Forrest Hess. A remarkable young man who is fighting some tough physical challenges. Forrest just graduated from High School, and he’s looking forward to doing a lot more sledding. But I think he captured a lot of what vintage sledding is really about with this post on the Bull Sessions, written shortly after his graduation ceremony:

Eight years ago, I would have never thought that this day would come. The day that one chapter of the book is closed, and another opens wide.

Eight years ago, staring with my young eyes at something that would change my life. A snowmobile! This sled happened to be a 1979 AC Jag 3000 F/C, that I bought with my own money. I worked everyday for a whole summer to pay my mom back. An amount that I can now make in a 40 hour week. That machine was everything to me. My parents initially thought that my grades would suffer because of it. On the contrary, they improved. It was something to aim towards. Something that was my drive, my release.

Since that warm April day back in 2000, a lot has changed. My mind and body have matured and I have learned lessons that are invaluable. Doctors have told me things that I thought I would never make it through. However, I knew that I still had my snowmobile. Through everything, I still had it. As my collection has expanded and contracted, it has still been my anchor.

Two years ago, after coming out of surgery, the first question was, “when can I ride”. Naturally I was told to wait two weeks. That is when something else amazing occurred, I became a member here. Since then, the same scenario has reoccurred. The highpoint of my life so far has been LOS 2008, without a doubt. Snowmobiles again have saved me. Life is 95% a mental game, you have to keep focused to win.

Never have I let some stupid disease stop me, or rule my life. I looked out ahead, with a burning passion. And to quote the keynote speaker at today’s commencement ceremony, “if you never get carried away with something, you should be carried out”. What a wonderful quote that is about life and our passion for different things. To bring this ramble to a close, I will say this. Life has taken it’s course on me. Sometimes the weight has been too much to handle. But, the light at the end, my beacon, has been my sleds. Always there for me, never rejecting me. A safe haven.

So, I thank you all as I embark on a new journey. For holding me in place, and showing me the importance of life is greater that what is initially visible. Thank you so much.

With true sincerity, Forrest Hess (See you at LOS 2009)

Here’s quick little slideshow.. photos from events in 2007-2008 including Waconia, Hall of Fame Classic Sled Reunion, Rock Rapids Race, Sauk Centre race, Eagle River Race, LIve on skis 2008, Ironwood race, Jon Carlson’s collection, Hall of Fame grand opening, 2008 Ride with the Champs, Bemidji races and more. Thanks to Brandon Johnson for a lot of the really great photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-2cYSSapnY&eurl=http://www.vintagesleds.com/archive/Q3-2008.php

First video from the big ride comes from our gal ‘Ceptorlicious (great screen name huh? Can you tell she’s a Kawasaki kind of gal?) who took this video at the beginning of the ride. First John Deere off the line is our special guest Forrest Hess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5rKceMVJzM&eurl=http://www.vintagesleds.com/archive/Q1-2008.php

Well.. so much has been going on here on the waning weekends of winter that keeping up with updates has been hindered. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I have material to update the website for the rest of the year.

What a winter – so far.

Lining up for the ride – as many as 150 sleds.

That brings me to the one weekend I’ve yet to have time to comment on – “Live on Skis” 2008. This was the second year of the event and it was bigger and better the the year before. We didn’t get an official sled count, but best estimates was between 125 and 150 sleds that went on the ride with our special guest from Make A Wish – Forrest Hess. There were so many great stories from the weekend that I couldn’t do them all justice, but here’s a few highlights.

Last fall, Forrest gave us a list of some vintage sleds he would like to ride. After seeing the list, a group of guys on the Bull Sessions got together with a couple of donor sleds to build a Ski-Whiz for Forrest to ride. It was en route to International Falls when the truck it was traveling in broke down, several hours away. Bull Session members again rose to the occasion, and drove several hours in each direction to make sure the sled was there on time for Forrest.

The gathering on the trail – the local snowmobile club provided refreshments for riders.

The ride was as perfect as it could get. Even though Friday was bitterly cold, it warmed up to the mid 30’s for the big ride on Saturday. The local snowmobile club made sure all the trails were groomed just for our vintage ride – and what magnificent trails they have around International Falls. They were amazing. Half way through, the local club had hot dogs, hot coffee and cocoa, chips, cookies and a bonfire waiting for us. It was so much fun, we really didn’t want to leave there. We ran a total of just under 40 miles. Lots of sleds broke down, but every time one did, 10-15 riders would stop and help out.

One such sled was a stunningly beautiful John Deere, recently restored by someone who wished to remain anonymous, just for Forrest to ride. It was the sled Forrest really took a liking to. It ran perfect, until about 1/3 of the way through, when a head gasket gave out. Forrest took it in stride, and we found him another sled in minutes. The Deere was towed back by a twin track raider which we have now named “Mater” as in Tomator without the “tuh”.

At the informal banquet at the Thunderbird lodge, we auctioned off the Ski-Whiz to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation, raising $1,300 for the machine. The winner was Doc Jim. Doc turned around and gave Forrest the sled. Everyone pitched in a little money to Doc, and at Forrest’s request, we all signed the hood of the machine for him.

I’m pretty sure Forrest and his family had a good time.

Jim Strandlund not only brought his vintage sled, he dressed in vintage clothes for the ride.

Next year, we’ve decided that “Live on Skis” 2009 will be a little different. Since this was en event born of the Internet and Vintagesleds.com, we figured there has to be a way to let all the people who can’t travel to International Falls, Minnesota to join in on how much fun we are having with this. So next year, International Falls will remain the home of the “Mothership” for the event on February 14th – 15th, 2009.

However, we will be having “satellite” events all over the world. That’s right – we’re going global. So far, we have a Western and two Eastern U.S. locations scoped out, and we are talking to people in Canada, Sweden, Finland and other place who will have a vintage ride on the same date. Each location will posts pictures and stories here on Vintagesleds.com as the event happens. We’ll have all the locations available soon.

Could it be more fun then we had this year? Let’s find out.

Hands down, one of the most impressive machines at Live on Skis this year was this spectacular John Deere. Few know, however, that this sled was restored, in its entirely by a collector who wishes to remain anonymous. And he did it just so Forrest Hess would have a darn nice one to ride. Hats off to our masked man! Forrest loved the sled – as did all the rest of us!

The Live on Skis Make-a-Wish Deere.

Sunday riders took a pause to cool down a Gemini.

Mr. Plowman got a matching Roll-o-Flex jacket for his ride.

Merc440 lost a tie-rod on Sundays ride. Not to worry, everyone offered a hand in getting it fixed.

This video is just fun. Really does capture the good time we had on the ride last year. More info on Live On Skis is available here. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6IR2uRC8uY&eurl=http://www.vintagesleds.com/archive/Q3-2007.php