Temperatures may be below zero, but that doesn't mean you need to stay inside. There are lots of outdoor winter activities to explore in Wisconsin, like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. For this month's Wandering Wisconsin, we'll tell you about a way you can enjoy one of our state's most popular winter activities: snowmobiling.
Folks will get a chance to see some of the best of the best in snowmobiling at the four-day-long World Championship Snowmobile Derby, which culminates with a championship race Sunday. The 62nd Snowmobiling World Champion will be crowned at one o’clock, Tom Anderson, the CEO of the World Championship Derby Complex in Eagle River says. Racers participate in a long series of elimination heats to qualify for the derby.
“If you win at Eagle River, it’s akin to winning the the Indy 500 championship,” Anderson says. “These are the big guys.”
The derby is a massive draw for tourism in Eagle River and the surrounding area, Anderson says. With over 450 miles of professionally groomed trails, Vilas and Oneida County’s many motels, hotels and resorts cater heavily to snowmobile and cross-country tourism in the wintertime.
Anderson also tells the story of how Eagle River came to be the “snowmobiling capital of the world,” a tale that begins with Carl Eliason of Sayner, Wis. Eliason – who was born with a club foot that made it difficult to participate in winter activities – developed an early prototype of what would later become the modern snowmobile.
“He took an old toboggan frame, cut it down the middle, mounted an outboard motor on the front of it, adapted that to a chain drive system, cooled it by radiator from an old Model T Ford and put skis on the front of it with a rope to them,” Anderson says. “It was crude, but it worked.”
Visitors can learn all about the history of snowmobiling and see other early machines at the World Snowmobile Headquarters Museum, which honors the many inventors, designers, trail builders and club organizations that have helped make Eagle River a snowmobiling hub. Complete with historical photos and around 70 vintage snowmobiles, the complex honors an important northern Wisconsin tradition.
“Snowmobiling is really more than just a pastime in Wisconsin; it’s a passion,” says Travel Wisconsin’s Amanda Weibel. “I think you can hear that in all of the examples that Tom gives about the spirit and the social activity around this Derby event.”
