Snowmobiles parked along Central Avenue during the Faribo Sno-Go Club Vintage Snowmobile Show.
DECADES AGO, MY COUSIN Kevin roared across the field on his snowmobile with me seated behind, the cold rush of wind stinging my cheeks. About the same time period, my oldest brother also offered me a snowmobile ride, then abandoned me in the gravel pit on our farm. Not the nicest thing to do. But brothers, when they are teens, aren’t always kind to sisters.
Mrs. Minnesota United States Courtney Maxwell-Shey of St. Peter (and originally from Faribault, she said) poses next to a trail groomer.
Those are my limited snowmobile memories. I’ve never felt the urge since to ask for a snowmobile ride, not that I know anyone with a snow-traversing machine. But plenty of Minnesotans still snowmobile, often in groups, traveling along groomed trails and road ditches and across frozen lakes.
Chatting and checking out the snowmobiles.
I expect there’s a certain exhilaration in defying winter weather by embracing it. There’s a certain exhilaration, too, in racing across the snow, the power of a machine roaring beneath you. With the high-tech clothing on the market today, the experience is certainly much warmer than 40-plus years ago.
Warming up around the fire in low 30-degree temps and a brisk wind, next to the food and beverage tent.
This past Saturday, the Faribo Sno-Go Club, established in 1967, hosted a Vintage Snowmobile Show as part of Faribault’s Winterfest. Randy and I arrived well into the event to find only a minimal number of machines displayed, a bit of a disappointment. Still, we appreciated the effort. And I appreciated the trip back down memory lane.
Christmas ornaments add a dash of holiday flair to a snowmobile trail groomer.
TELL ME: Have you ever ridden on a snowmobile? If yes, I’d like to hear your memorable story.
© Copyright 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Oh the memories of snowmobiling. I had my snowmobile license at 13 and then received my very own snowmobile. The family would go out in groups and sometimes winter camp (was not a fan of tent camping in winter). BroCraves has done the toss and take off on me too – silly brothers. I still remember DadCraves telling us to flip up our ski masks so we did not look like we were robbing a place if we stopped in on our snowmobiles – ha! Happy Day – Enjoy 🙂
I’m laughing at your memories, especially the brother leaving you and the remove the ski masks.
I have never been on a snowmobile. We don’t have much snow where I live in the Pacific NW, and we don’t go to the mountain ski/sledding area since my husband quit driving about five years ago. I miss the Minnesota winters/snow.
Oh, Donna, you wouldn’t appreciate Minnesota weather right now with our brutal cold. Hopefully you can get your Minnesota winter fix through some of my blog posts.
Vintage! Heck, I used to have a snowmobile that looked a lot like those!! 🙂 I used to snowmobile when I lived in NE Oregon. I loved it and miss it!! So much fun!! 🙂
Penny, I hear you on the word “vintage.” Thanks for sharing your snowmobile memories.
Our family never had snowmobiles, but we had horses and rode them in wintertime. The only time I rode a snowmobile was when I was a teenager. A neighbor asked my friend and I to ride his two sleds home from the shop in Devils Lake. We lived on on the other side of one of the very large lakes and foolishly thought we could cross the lake. It was smooth ice with no snow, well we got stuck a ways out on the ice and had to push our sleds to snow. Hard cold lesson learned.
Now that’s quite a story. Thank you for your always interesting and entertaining comments.
I had a couple experiences with snowmobiles when I was in high school…but I never wanted to pursue the activity. Too loud! 😉
Yes, they are loud. We used to have a lot of snowmobiles roaring by our house, even across our yard, at all hours. Thankfully that has not been the case in recent winters.
Yes. It was cold!