Forty winters. Five months long from November to March. That makes 200 months of winter or a little over 16-1/2 years of nothing but winter. That is a lot of snow and cold, but to an avid snowmobiler, that is heaven.
Roger "Doc" Bender has enjoyed that slice of wintry heaven for more than 40 years. He began snowmobiling cross-country and valleys in 1967. He and his high school classmates would don their winter clothes, start their engines, and tour the countryside on their snowmobiles.
The beginning
In 1969, Bender helped incorporate the Viking Ridge Riders Snowmobile Club. He has been an active member and trail administrator until his recent retirement.
"The Caledonia Snow Gophers encouraged us to join the grant-in-aid program that the DNR offered," Bender explained. "Through this program we could apply for revenue to use to construct, maintain, and groom our trials."
When the trails were first created many volunteers helped to clear the way. Bulldozers were hired to clear various areas and some volunteers used their tractors.
The DNR also had requirements such as the trail had to be 10 feet wide, signs needed to be posted, and signed permits had to be received from all landowners that the trail would cross.
Over the years the trail has grown in length, changed routes, and has improved with the use of a trail groomer. Currently there are about 65 miles of trails in this area that connect to Mabel’s and Caledonia’s trails.
Just this year a Corridor Trail was also begun. Now a rider can go all the way west from La Crescent to South Dakota along this Corridor Trail. The trail also goes north to Duluth.
"We are very thankful for the landowners that allow us to cross their property," commented Bender.
"We really appreciate them. We couldn’t have the trails without their cooperation. At one time we had 30 to 40 landowners."
Bender reminds riders to respect the landowners’ properties and to stay on the marked trails.
If a landowner changes their minds and no longer wants the trail to run through their property, they must give a six-month notice so that the club is able to re-route the trail getting permission as they go.
"When we first started riding, we’d have so much snow that we could just go over fences. Now there are ramps built to cross fences so that riders don’t have to stop and open and close gates," Bender explained. They have also built bridges across creeks.
The first groomer that the club had was pretty rudimentary – it was a bedspring pulled behind a snowmobile. "We couldn’t afford a new groomer, but kept trading up over the years," Bender said.
The club now has a 1998 Bombardier groomer that has an eight-way blade on the front, a drag on the back and a heated cab for the operator. Bender said that new groomers are very expensive, somewhere around $140,000.
Four members of the club run the groomer, usually about once a week or more depending on the conditions. The grooming is done during the week so that the trails are ready during the heavier traffic of the weekend.
The grant-in-aid money that the DNR receives that they disperse to the different snowmobile clubs comes from snowmobile registrations and a small portion of the gas tax. Within the last couple of years, riders are also required to purchase a trail pass. This is a yearly pass that helps pay for maintenance of the trails.
Trail administrator duties
Bender was the Viking Ridge Riders Snowmobile Club’s trail administrator since the trails inception. His duties included attending the annual DNR meeting in Rochester.
Each fall he would open gates on the designated properties, put up the signs, and organize people to help prepare the trail. Each spring, he’d make the trip back around to the gates and close them.
He kept track of grooming hours and about every three months he would turn in a request for payment for those hours. If there were problems with the trail or if someone wanted to know something about it, Bender was the contact person. Each year they also had to submit a map to the DNR of the trails that they had.
David Trehus is now the contact person for the snow and trail conditions and Aaron Kraus is the trail administrator. "People from all over call about the trail conditions," Bender remarked. "I like to think that the trails bring business into the town to the gas stations, restaurants, motel and other places."
Lots of memories
"We had lots of fun times," commented Bender when thinking of all the memories he had related to snowmobiling.
"We start about 7 or 8 o’clock at night and not get back home until 3 a.m.! Then we’d work all the next day and do the same thing that night! I’m not sure how we did it, but we sure had fun," he said with a smile.
"Forty years ago a new machine cost $1,500 to $1,800. Now they cost $6,000 to $8,000, but they have bigger gas tanks now so you can go farther and they are much more maintenance free and dependable.
"Back in the early days we were lucky to get three to four miles without a breakdown. It seems like we’d fix the snowmobile for an hour to get a fifteen minute ride," he said with a chuckle.
In about 1965, Bender bought his first snowmobile in Minneapolis. It was a 320 Ski Doo Olympic with 12 hp and a single cylinder. He’s had about eight different machines over the years with his favorite being one of the last ones he had an LT Ski Doo that had an extra-long track so it would go good in deep snow.
"Of course we suped it up a little, too," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Back in the early years of his riding, Bender said that there were more than 100 manufacturers of snowmobiles, now that number is only six. At one time there were even four snowmobile dealers in Spring Grove. From 1980 to 1987, Bender had a Ski Doo dealership. His two eldest sons helped him in the business.
"We often times would go for trail-rides on Sunday afternoons and have a picnic. We’d stop in a woods, make a fire and cook wieners," Bender recalled. "One time it rained all afternoon, but we rode in the slush and still had our picnic!"
Going about 150 miles in a day was the longest trail ride Bender remembers taking. One time six to eight members of the club trailered their machines to the Black Hills to go trail riding.
"They close some of their really rural roads in the winter and make them into snowmobile trails," explained Bender. "We got a lot of miles on then – you could really go on those trail roads!"
In the 1980s, Bender explained that they used to have a Snow Days celebration or "Sne Dag" in Norwegian. It was a drag racing event at the Skyline Supper Club. Food and drinks were served and a parade was often held with everyone on snowmobiles.
Viking Ridge Riders Club
Anyone is invited to be a member of the Viking Ridge Riders Snowmobile Club. They meet the first Tuesday of every month from October through April at the American Legion front rooms in Spring Grove at 8 p.m. Dues are $25/year.
Dan Engrav is the current president of the club. David Trehus is the vice president, Tom Gerard is the treasurer, and Aaron Kraus is the trail administrator.
"I’ve had lots of great times riding the snowmobile trails and with members of the club," said Bender. "I really want to stress how much we appreciate all of the landowners allowing us to make a trail through their property. We are very thankful for their patronage."
