Archive for the 'Snowmobile Events' Category

March 10th, 2010 Update

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on March 10, 2010
in Antique Snowmobiles, Events, Grooming Reports, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Spring Snow, Trail Conditions and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Riding is now limited though for us die-hards we have two choices. Run the lakes, rivers, etc. north of the Iron Range with limited trail times between them… Crane, Namakan, Kabetogama, etc.  Or the Vermilion waters skips… Or.

Head just north of Two Harbors, take the North-shore trail to the Tomahawk trail, to the Yukon trail and circle back to Two Harbors for an approximate 150 mile run. There are various smaller trails to explore off these trails as well. Fuel can be had at the Tressel Inn, the Knotted Pine, and in Finland area.

Then after you’re done riding head to the Iron Range for dining and entertainment. This Saturday we have PUCK Days downtown Eveleth during the day with an Antique, Vintage and Exotic snowmobile show on the main street. Headlining the show will be the BOSS CAT III (just confirmed yesterday) on of Arctic cat’s three speed machine of the early 70’s- truly a one-of-a-kind snowmobile.

PUCK DAYS March 13, 2010- Eveleth, MN

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on March 8, 2010
in Antique Snowmobiles, Events, Grooming Reports, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Spring Snow, Trail Conditions and Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Many of us have not had our fill of winter or the extraordinary machines that helped create a great winter recreation or as one might look at it… a vacation all winter long.

PUCK Days, March 12-13, 2010 downtown Eveleth, MN. Come enjoy watching or participating in a parade of Antique, Vintage and Unique snowmobiles. Word has it one the legendary “BOSS Cats” from the 70’s will be here.  Shown here is the BOSS Cat II driven by Dale Cormican and Charlie Lofton… two Arctic cat’s heroes from the late 60’s and early 70’s.BOSS CAT II

March 1st Report

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on March 1, 2010
in Antique Snowmobiles, Grooming Reports, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Spring Snow, Trail Conditions and Uncategorized
. 4 Comments

Sad news is on the way fellow sledders… a heat wave of high 30’s low 40’s could eat away at the snow cover.

On Friday/Saturday the trails north of Virginia, just north by 1/2 mile were excellent all the way up to Lake Vermilion.  There was some spots of grass and dirt showing here and there but by and large it was excellent.

The ride started in Eveleth, up to the Virginia Spur, north on the Kinney Spur, then east on the Taconite, and then north on Wolf Track (this section was where the snow cover was limited in the heavily pined area (trees were holding the heat obviously) and then north on the Arrowhead.   Did a little lake riding after that.  For all the sledders that were out (MN USA Ride, United Way Ride, etc.) I saw very little actual traffic on the trails.

Not sure how long the trails will hold at this point but if you have a chance to break away from work- do so.   I am quite certain you can stay anywhere on the Range and ride or trailer to the nearest trail-head and you will be amply rewarded with great riding, great fun, great food, and great weather (maybe too great).

I plan to be out doing some video work this week so I’ll touch back in a couple days and let you know the condition.

Ride, ride, ride… before its too late.

regards,
David K.
BLADE Snowmobiles

Mid January Reporting

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on January 15, 2010
in Antique Snowmobiles, Grooming Reports, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Spring Snow, Trail Conditions and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

We had a few guests from southern Minnesota and Indiana just recently so we took them out last night and made a 110 mile loop… starting in Eveleth, over to Aurora, and over the top to Bimbo’s for pizza on Side lake (North of Chisholm) and back to Eveleth. I must say our trail-makers (groomers) have got it down pat. The trails were excellent, yes there was still some shallow areas here/there… but for 95% of the time it was great riding.

Get out and ride fellow sledders don’t let this winter slip away.

Ride safe, ride right (to the right side)
David K.
BLADE snowmobiles

PS. The guys from Indiana had such a blast last night they’re staying over for the weekend and putting on more miles.

Its 2010 Sledders…

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on January 3, 2010
in Antique Snowmobiles, Events, Grooming Reports, Hot Spots, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Spring Snow, Trail Conditions, Uncategorized and Video Podcast
. 2 Comments

Just the other day on 12/31/09 my oldest daughter (11)  tipped me off on a Dahlai moment… his words were … “if you have a problem and know there is a solution- why worry, and if you have a problem and know there is no solution- why worry”.  I think I am going to take her advice and run with that one as a resolution for 2010… kids ehh.

With the Dahlai moment in mind we have been wishing for more snow to get things rolling… well that didn’t stop me this weekend- its was cold, and snow conditions varied but the groomers were out doing what they can to make it better for all of us.  Granted some trails could have more snow to work with but the trails are ridable and if you start here on the Range you can ride in any direction as far as you like.  Ok there’s a bump, lump, slump here or there but modern marvels take care of most of these little disorders.

Ride safe…ride right (to the right)

Come snowmobile the Iron Range and take in our hospitality,

Happy New Year

David K.

BLADE Snowmobiles

Kick-start of the season

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on December 14, 2009
in Antique Snowmobiles, Grooming Reports, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Trail Conditions and Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

The frigid temps are doing the lakes and rivers well with the limited snowfall- this is a good head start to the forthcoming snow.  Lacking good riding conditions my kids and I did the next best thing- spectating at the season Sno-X opener at Duluth’s Spirit Mountain Ski resort this last weekend. This professional Sno-X opener was suppose to run Thanksgiving weekend but we all know how fluke-y warm November was.

The sleds were flyin’ high all weekend and its simply amazing how these young racers can whip these snowmobiles around literally in mid-air… they make it look so easy… at least to start out but you can really see how brutal it is as the race wears on.

For those of you that are fans of the big GREEN machine… well, you came out on top in both the Pro-Stock and Pro-Mod classes. Looks like they may be hard to beat once again.

As for the trail conditions around here… some sledders are riding a bit further north on the smaller lakes and such but it is limited.  Our own test riding is also very limited.  We’ll need another good 6-10″ snowfall before things open up.

So in the meantime… participate by attending a race and watching your favorite brand compete in the sno-x, x-country, oval, ice lemans circuits near you.  Or, kick-back and enjoy your favorite snowmobiling DVD.  Ohh yeah, get your sled prepped now if it is not- act, don’t wait and re-act to Mother-nature.

PS. I had the pleasure of meeting Nick Keller, at the Spirit Mountain race, a fellow sledder that is going to attempt to break the world record by putting on over 12,000 miles in 60 consecutive days- all in the name of fighting cancer.  He’ll be doing this by running the trail systems of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.  Nick has his own story to tell here so take some time and visit www.Snowballcancer.org.

Ride right (to the right), ride safe,

David Karpik

BLADE Snowmobiles

1st weekend of deer hunting behind us now, so…

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on November 8, 2009
in Antique Snowmobiles, Events, Grooming Reports, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling and Trail Conditions
. 8 Comments

…so lets start preparing for an action packed season of snowmobiling.  As a teaser we’ve had snow and lost it several times now though fully expected that this time of year…  unfortunately we don’t seem to have winter 7 months out of the year here though I am thankful signs of greater precipitation are on the way.

In my last note to you I mentioned about “Guide” services coming on line this season…  I am getting more and more enthused about this service as the ground works being laid so you’ll be able to navigate on this site and book your good times ahead.  That said we will need a little more prep time before launch so please bear with us for bit longer.  Just an FYI, it looks like we’ll be able to lock in a full-day, extended days, and even over-night if needed.   With over 2000 miles of groomed trails just in St Louis County we”ll need more than a few days to cover just a portion or two..

So, again… lets move out of the reactionary mode and get our equipment prepped and ready to roll… and plan some long weekends trips up north.

See you soon,

David Karpik,

BLADE snowmobiles

Actual “Guiding” coming on line this season…

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on October 20, 2009
in Antique Snowmobiles, Events, Grooming Reports, Hot Spots, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Spring Snow, Trail Conditions and Uncategorized
. 9 Comments

There has been numerous calls and inquiries surrounding “guide” services to explore the northern Minnesota region.  To many of us we just take it for granted that everyone else knows the trails, lakes, rivers, short-cuts, etc… but that’s because we’re so used to riding from our back door to explore.

I know the past two season I’ve tried to guide you on conditions and such, especially those late season opportunities like we’ve enjoyed the last couple of years… but it seems there’s need for so much more.  So, I have been speaking with a number well seasoned snowmobilers from the area about providing such daily and overnight “Guide” services and I’m pleased to report I think we can get this done.   Shortly we will be firming up plans and tuning this website so those of you looking to get the most from  your well deserved winter outing can make plans.

I am excited about this… so please stay tuned we hope to be back with more details in about 7-10 days.

Regards,
David K.
BLADE Snowmobiles

Now this is talent!

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on September 30, 2009
in Antique Snowmobiles, Events, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Trail Conditions, Uncategorized and Video Podcast
. 0 Comments

Check out this Danny Macaskil video - this is sheer joy to watch. No its not snowmobiling but thought some of you would appreciate  skill and grace.

Enjoy
dk

A warm-up to winter 2010

Published
by
Dave Karpik
on September 21, 2009
in Antique Snowmobiles, Events, Grooming Reports, Hot Spots, Snowmobile Events, Snowmobling, Trail Conditions and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

I really don’t know if anyone has tagged this site lately, if so, my apologies for being absent… been off dirt biking, alpine sliding, pulling my kids knee-boarding, bicycling, hiking, pontooning, power-boating, sailing, etc.

However, if you are getting a little excited for snowmobiling and no outlet in reach you may try living vicariously through the likes of Edgar Hetteen (Arctic cat and Polaris), Richard Harris (Scorpion), the Plaisted Expedition (north pole), and others at the MN Discovery Center (Ironworld) located in Chisholm, MN. They have a display of their early equipment, sleds, video, etc and you learn about the birthing of snowmobiling right on up to modern day sleds- including the very first (serial No. 001) production BLADE snowmobile- hey… I have to fire a few shots across the bow now and then.

In fact, coming up is the foremost authority on the history of Rotax engines, and very likely Ski-doo snowmobiles, Phil Mickelson, he will be enlightening us all at 6PM, this Thursday (9/24), and Phil will have on hand some rare engines for our viewing pleasure. I’ve known Phil for a long time and HE knows his stuff- hope to see you there.

So for now… go.. be well, and think lots and lots of snow. Ciao
David K.
BLADE SnowmobilesPlaisted Expedition display