There usually are lots of guys with whole animal fur hats and heavy boots and bright jackets emblazoned with the names of snowmobile manufacturers in the stands at the Duluth Snocross snowmobile races.
Not this year.
Oh, the guys were there Friday with their Polaris and Ski-Doo and Arctic Cat jackets. But they wore sneakers and baseball hats for the opener of the three-day snowmobile event.
And there were more T-shirts than parkas.
Temperatures soared into the 50s under intensely sunny skies for the start of the 15th annual Duluth National Snocross -- more like Jet Ski than snowmobile weather. Snow that had been piled up by snowmaking machines in recent weeks was taking as much pounding as the riders. But the races went on as planned and the fans in the stands who were getting sunburned seemed happy.
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The beer vendors were doing a bang-up job, too.
"I sold out in five minutes up here,'' said vendor Matt Burris of Duluth, who was walking back to the chalet with an empty 20-beer tray. "It takes me longer to walk back to fill it up than it does to sell it.''
Joe Wise was soaking up the sun and some suds in the west-facing bleachers on the hill overlooking the track. The Star Prairie, Wis., resident was there to watch a friend on the track and get the first sweet hits of snowmobile exhaust of the year.
"It's kind of strange driving in here from the Wisconsin side and everything is brown until you look up on the hill,'' Wise said. "It's good there's snow somewhere.''
Racer John Bluhm of Rochester, Minn., was nursing a badly cut finger after a race that saw him crash at the starting line. He said racers are glad to be running on snow and getting the cobwebs out of their machines, but that track conditions were tough.
"It's really soft out there. And the roosters [snow spray from other machines] are bad. This stuff sticks to your goggles,'' Bluhm said. "I'd rather have it cold, but there are problems with that, too.''
Racers and their pit crews were struggling at times to pile snow on parts of their machines near engine cooling tubes so the snowmobiles didn't overheat. Ground crews spread straw on exposed dirt, but mud was starting to encroach much of the pit area and even near the main track.
It's the first race of the new season for the snowmobile racers in the Power Sports Tour. Spirit Mountain is usually a safe bet, with ample snowmaking equipment and usually cold November weather. But 50-degree temperatures shut off snowmaking Monday morning and have wreaked havoc on the piles created. Even before the races started, officials moved up some of the more important, high-profile races so the track might be in better condition.
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The event was postponed twice in the first 14 years of the race because of warm weather, and warm-weather-induced fog has canceled races in the past.
Today's forecast calls for45 degrees and sunny, but officials said they expect to get all three days of racing in no matter how warm it gets. The track has between four and six feet of base remaining.
Larry Eichstadt of Bemidji was waiting for his sons, Joe and Andy, to race Friday afternoon, recalling days25 years ago when he was crazy enough to fly snowmobiles through the air.
"It's a very expensive hobby. And when you get to 40 you can't do anything because your body has been so beat up,'' Eichstadt said. "It is crazy. But my kids love it. And it gives you something to do all winter ... They'll be doing this just about every weekend into early April.''
Assuming it starts snowing soon.
John Myers can be reached at (218) 723-5344 or (800) 456-8282, or by e-mail at jmyers@duluthnews.com
