Vintage ride caps off Sleigh and Cutter snowmobile events

It was a fantastic day for the Toners Lake Vintage Ride Saturday, Feb. 18. The event, which took place at Toners Lake Karting, kicked off a busy weekend for the Waseca Sleigh and Cutter Festival.

This ride marked 22 years for the snowmobile event, which started in 2001. Sponsored by the Waseca County Sno Secas, about 30 participants registered from 9 to 11 a.m. The event provides a sort of playground for the riders, who operated Yamaha, Arctic Cat, and other snow machine brands from all the way back in the 1980s.

The trails around Toners Lake — some paths created by the snowmobilers themselves — were traveled all day. Some of the more daring riders jumped over hills.

It was a beautiful day for the event. Temperatures were in the mid- to upper 20s. It followed a trend of warm weather that’s been happening throughout February, which is why it ended up [tentatively] being the last snowmobile-related event of the Sleigh and Cutter Festival.

Due to concerns of melting snow and water currents around Clear Lake eroding the ice near the Boat House, at one point the Waseca Snowmobile Show and Ice Drags for Saturday, Feb. 25 were canceled.

The event brings people from all over the United States with a few Canadians occasionally competing in the drags.

However, Point and Shoot Drag Racing, the host of the Waseca Vintage Ice Drags, made a Facebook post stating it would try to move the event to Lake Titlow in Gaylord. The Sibley County Sheriff has approved the race; planners are currently waiting for approval from the Department of Natural Resources to process the permit. Although the DNR was closed for President’s Day this past Monday, they “don’t see any issues” with moving the race to Gaylord.

So, while the event may not technically be part of the Waseca Sleigh and Cutter Festival, avid snowmobilers may still be able to catch the event within an hour’s drive northwest of town.