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Sun 9 Mar 2008 11:55
by Kevin McGehee
41° and fair
in Coweta County, GA
1 comment
[Alaska]
[Yee-haw!]
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It’s like nowhere else in America on earth.
 Jack Wright was 13 in 1969 when he worked all summer, earning $600 to buy his first snowmachine, a 1969 Polaris Mustang.
The sled cost $1,200.
“I went halves with my dad,“ said Wright, who was raised in Fairbanks and is now the tribal chief in Manley.
Wright drove the sled for years, and after it stopped working, he couldn’t part with it, so he kept the Mustang in storage.
That is, until three years ago when Craig Compeau started the Tired Iron Annual Vintage Snowmachine Race and River Rally, hosted on the Chena River in front of Pike’s Landing. Only people driving snowmachines made before 1976 may enter.» Snowmachines stand the test of time to compete in Tired Iron
This is something you notice very quickly if you spend any amount of time up yonder: whereas there’s many a new car, truck or snowmachine in an advanced state of decrepitude because of the harsh conditions, there are also plenty of vintage machines from decades past—even going back to territorial days in rare cases—that look and run like new. The trouble and expense of replacing such an investment, back in the old days, led to an ethic of meticulous care and maintenance that can still be seen if you keep your eyes open.
I wonder if this Chatanika snowmachine competes in the rally?
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