AmSnow Blogs

The staff at AmSnow just got back from Hay Days, the official start to the snowmobile season here in the Midwest. Each year this huge grass drag, vendor show and swap meet is held just north of Minneapolis near Lino Lakes, Minn. Many of us snowmobile industry types use Hay Days as a gauge for the upcoming season, and this year was extremely optimistic. Traffic at the show was up and so were vendor sales. There was even a rumor that the gate sold out of wrist bands on Saturday!

This is all good news for snowmobilers because even in a down economy our fellow snowmobilers are still true to their sport. Much of the optimism last weekend was fueled by a great snow year in much of the Midwest and West last year. In addition, Cat and Polaris both had their new race sleds on display and Cat introduced a new Z1 Turbo Sno Pro with a stiffer rear suspension package, FOX Float shocks up front, riser block, handguards and more. Cat also introduced the new M8 HCR for the hillclimb circuit. We'll talk more on these sleds coming up on the Web site.

Also, the show had an important visit from Todd Palin on Saturday. Todd, an Arctic Cat man at heart, is a 4-time winner of the Iron Dog endurance cross country snowmobile race held each year in Alaska. He is also the husband of Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate in the upcoming presidential election. AmSnow spent some time with Todd on Saturday and we have the photos to prove it! Check out the photo gallery in our multi-media section of this site. Unfortunately a full interview could not be granted as we were quickly addressed by the Secret Service when we tried to ask a few questions on camera.  We were told Palin will not be doing interviews yet, but we hope to be granted an interview soon!

Finally, AmSnow had plenty of great deals, cool sweepstakes and more at Hay Days. Our instant winners include the following lucky entrants:

Prize #1: The following people won AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby tickets:   

            1.  Kyle Lindstrom of Duluth, Minn.

            2.  Chad Ozechowski of Green Bay, Wis.

            3.  Neil Schaible of Grantsburg, Wis.

            4.  Roger Thompson of Ridgeland, Wis.

            5.  Eric Poncek of Westboro, Wis.

Prize #2: The following people won AmSnow subscriptions:  

            1.  Chris Neidig of St. Marys, Ont.

            2.  Dave Klew of Lino Lakes, Minn.

            3.  Brian Riehle of Trempealeau, Wis.

The next big event that the AmSnow staff will be attending is the Super Sled Shoot-Out in Martin, Mich., the weekend of Sept. 27th-28th. So mark your calendars!