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Tired Iron 2008

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Photo by Eric Engman

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.

“I figured it was a good reason to restore the Mustang,” Wright said.

On Saturday, Wright joined more than 100 other owners of classic snowmachines, running the sleds in three races or fun runs. Compeau’s sponsors the events, a fundraiser for the Presbyterian Hospitality House.

Wright lifted the Mustang’s seat and pulled out the “before” pictures, showing a pile of rusty metal that looked like miscellaneous junk.

Wright said he used parts from another Mustang and spent about $1,000 to get his childhood snowmachine back into good working condition.

And Wright wasn’t the only person driving a snowmachine from his childhood.

Dave Hyland, owner of Goldstream Water, sported a Polaris Playmate that served as his first snowmachine.

“My mother bought it new in 1968,” Hyland said. “We used it to feed cattle in North Dakota.”

When Hyland turned 8, the sled was passed down to him. Then the snowmachine was put in a barn for about 30 years until Hyland restored it.

“It brings back childhood memories,” he said.

Bob Tilly, a semi-retired civil engineer, and two of his three sons drove Evinrude E2070s, including two that the family purchased in the late 1960s.

The men wore matching black and red Evinrude baseball caps, and Christopher Tilly, 39, Bob’s youngest son, sported Evinrude temporary tattoos on each cheek and an Evinrude flag on the back of his snowmachine.

One of the snowmachines was used by Tilly’s oldest son on his paper route, the men said.

“We grew up riding these,” the youngest Tilly said.

Christopher Tilly took time off from his job as a communications technician on the North Slope to ride in the Tired Iron. His brother, Michael, drove up from Kenai, where he is the fire chief.

A third brother, Richard, is vacationing in New Zealand, but the Tillys said that all three brothers will ride with their father in the Tired Iron next year after the men restore a fourth Evinrude.

Alan Onderik owns six Bolens Hus-skis, the snowmachine from his childhood, which looks like a mini-bulldozer pulling a weight bench on skis.

“It goes anywhere,” said Onderik, a Federal Express deliveryman.

His friend, John Megyesi, drove one of the snowmachines in the Jurassic Classic, the race geared toward the oldest and slowest of the vintage sleds.

“It doesn’t go very fast, I’ll say that much,” Megyesi said.

Ray Mackler, 86, ran a 1975 Ski-doo Elan 250, the newest of the Jurassic Classic sleds.

“I didn’t buy new,” Mackler said. “I bought it at auction and fixed it up about five years ago. It has an electric start. That’s why I wanted it.”

Mackler was one of the few drivers whose vintage snowmachine serves as his primary sno-go.

“It’s the only sled I have,” Mackler said. “My wife has a new one. I ride hers every now and then.”

Other snowmachines entered in the race were a 1966 Ski-doo Alpine, a 1968 Arctic Cat Cougar and a 1971 Mercury Rocket.

The Tired Iron was expected to raise about $10,000 for the Presbyterian Hospitality House.