ELEPHANT LAKE—The creative early history of the snowmobile industry was on full display Saturday as lovers of vintage snow machines gathered for the annual Antique and Classic Snowmobile Race at Melgeorge’s Resort and Elephant Lake Lodge.

It’s an industry and a sport with deep Minnesota ties. And in the early days, starting in the 1960s, snowmobile manufacturers began popping up all across the state, employing a variety of designs, some of which caught on and others that faded into obscurity.

Sixteen-year-old Jordan Ezell, of Gilbert, doesn’t remember the early days of snowmobiling, but that hasn’t stopped him from appreciating the old machines. He was driving an original 1971 Skidoo that he got from an uncle in Aurora who had bought it new back in the day.

Ezell was one of the youngest participants in the race, and he showed up to race in a Batman costume, tapping into some secret powers as he made his way around the icy course.

And “icy” was the word for the day, despite the March sunshine, which did little to temper the effects of a steady wind and temperatures around ten above. Spectators, who will gather outside when the weather allows, packed the Melgeorge’s main lodge to watch the action from inside on Saturday.

But a few of the hardier participants had dressed for the conditions and hung out on the ice swapping stories with other old sled aficionados. Terry Smith, of Cedar, who was at his 29th Melgeorge’s snowmobile race, was one of them. He was competing with his modified 1964 Polaris Comet, which he resurrected from an old chassis he had purchased 30 years ago. It had sat in a field ever since, until Smith got the idea to fix it up for the Melgeorge’s event. With a borrowed engine and other odds and ends, he got it running a couple weeks ago and made the trip up to show it off. He had brought along another oldie-but-goodie, an all-original 1965 Arctic Cat. Smith, a carpenter, says he grew up snowmobiling and the old machines just got in his blood.

Mike Arola, of Chisholm, was competing on a 1979 Scorpion Whip, one of the last of a once well-known breed of snowmobiles. Originally known as Trail-A-Sled, these machines, invented and originally built in Crosby, gained notoriety in 1967 when three Minnesotans rode them unaided from Crosby to Anchorage, to gain publicity for their reliable product.

The company’s founders sold to an Atlanta-based firm in 1969, which converted to the Scorpion name. The business had its ups and downs and eventually returned to Minnesota. While the machines were popular in the 1970s, a series of challenges, including economic recession, eventually led to the disappearance of the brand, beginning in 1981, when the Minnesota company that had brought the brand back to the state filed for bankruptcy.

Arola had found his rare breed in nearly perfect condition in a barn in southeastern Minnesota. The brand was well-known for speed, and the Whip was “the racing machine of its day,” according to Arola. “It was a hot machine in its day.”

Remembering those once hot machines is part of the allure of the Melgeorge’s event, now in the planning stages for the 32nd annual next March. Turnout was good, and proceeds from the raffle for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation topped $2,200, making it a very good year.

While the event is a race, with all the rules associated with such a competition, the emphasis is really on fun says Carla Koch, who operates the resort with her husband Steve. “Our main thing is to show off the old machines, to pay homage to the sport and have a good time,” she said.

And the event has highlighted the huge variety of sleds manufactured over the years, the vast majority of which never lasted very long. “Today, it’s really just Polaris, Yamaha, Ski-doo and Arctic Cat,” said Carla.