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An Honorary Society Dedicated To The Fun Of Snowmobiling

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Iron Dog President Bob King –

                                          Interview with ACSA

 Today we're going to introduce you to Bob King, Trail Riding Chairperson, Delegate at Large and Midwest Chapter Chair for the International Snowmobile Council.

When did you start riding? I started to ride in 1974 after we moved to Champlin, MN. from southwest Iowa.

What was the first sled you bought or rode? My first sled was a 1973 Scorpion Super Stinger.

Who do you generally ride with? I normally ride with my wife (Judy) and we had another couple we rode with and anyone else that wanted to ride. We would leave at 9:00am and not stop at many bars so we could put on more miles.

Do you trailer to ride or can you ride right from your home? When we first moved to Minnesota we rode from the house all of the time. Then we started to travel to ride on the weekend but continued to ride from our house. Now we live in southern Iowa where there are no trails.

How did you get involved in organized snowmobiling? We belonged to a small club and tried to do some short trail rides in our area. Then the trail association in our area, NorthWest Trails Association, had a member come to our club looking for help to mark trails. After that I only got more involved and became their Trail Administrator serving for 25 years. NorthWest Trails had and still has 150 miles of trail in the same county Minneapolis, MN was located in. Just to show the determination of snowmobilers we were told the trail system would not last 5 years. Here they are, approximately 48 years later and still maintaining a trail system still with about 150 miles.

Was getting involved in organized snowmobiling something you ever thought you’d do? I enjoyed snowmobiling and the fact that I could do it from my home made me want to get involved to mark and maintain the trails and help the clubs.

You’ve done many things to promote snowmobiling –what do you think was the most important thing you did? One of the most enjoyable events I took part in was partnering with Ehlert Publishing, Snow Goer Magazine and MnUSA to put on an event in conjunction of the Super Bowl that was held in Minneapolis. For two days we introduced people from all over the world, to how much fun snowmobiling is. We lead guided rides for these people around the Lake Minnetonka area. You know the event was a success when one of the groups came back and they wanted to do more riding. There were also a couple of events called the International Snowmobile Congress that I was co-chair with my wife Judy, at one we had around 650 people attend and turned out to be very successful for the attendees and for the host organization Minnesota United Snowmobilers Assn.

What made you decide to become an officer of ACSA? After we retired there was a need to stay involved. Since I had done the local and state organizations I felt it was time to move on to the national level. This way we were also able to continue our connections with the people we had met and made friends with through the years. With this involvement I feel we can call anywhere in the Snow Belt and have people to go riding with.

Do you have any regret’s becoming such an active volunteer? One of my biggest regrets is we have had to turn down snowmobiling opportunities, such as participating in the Half time entertainment at the Super Bowl, and having multiple requests to go riding all at the same time.

What’s on your snowmobile bucket list? There are not many places on my bucket list as I have ridden from West Yellowstone in the west to the UP of Michigan, and Canada. I would just like to keep riding anywhere.

If you could say one thing to new riders, what would it be? The first thing I would suggest would be to join a club to find out what is involved in snowmobiling besides just crawling on their snowmobile and going. Another big thing I would tell people is to not trespass, there is a lot of work that the trail associations do to get signed permits to put a trail on private property. This causes more problems for clubs than anything else.

JUST REMEMBER - IF THE TRAILS NO LONGER EXIST, YOU WILL HAVE NO PLACE TO RIDE.

The 53rd Annual International

Snowmobile Congress

Omaha, Nebraska—June 9-12, 2021

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Hosted by Nebraska State

Snowmobile Association

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ISC Registration:  

http://www.snowmobilers.org/isc/docs/isc-2021-registration-form.pdf

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• June 8: Motorcycle Ride through Loess Hills

• June 9: Afternoon FOSPAC, Evening: Welcome Reception

• June 10: Opening Ceremonies / Speakers / Meetings Evening Night at the Zoo

• June 11: Speakers / Meetings / Educational Sessions. Evening Groomer Reception

• June 12: Speakers / Meetings /Educational Sessions Evening Awards Ceremony

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HOST HOTEL

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Hilton Omaha

1001 Cass Street

Omaha, NE 68102

TEL: (402) 998-3400 FAX: (402) 998-4242 https://book.passkey.com/e/50114484\

Hilton Omaha is located in the heart of downtown near the Old Market Entertainment District and 7 minutes from Eppley Airfield Airport.

Our hotel is one block from TD Ameritrade Ballpark and joined to the CHI Health Event Center via an enclosed sky bridge.

Take our complimentary shuttle to the airport and to sites in the downtown area

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• FREE Wi-Fi in sleeping & meeting rooms

• FREE round-trip shuttle service to/from the airport

• All rooms are at the per night rate and DO NOT include taxes

• Room rate is honored three days pre/post, based on availability

• In-room coffee, iron & full-size board, hair dryer

• Indoor heated pool & whirlpool

• Fitness room

• Luggage Hold

• Guest laundry and valet

• FedEx Office Business Services on site

• Walking distance to Old Market Shopping and Entertainment district, TD Ameritrade Ballpark, and minutes from Henry Doorly Zoo

Iron Dog Membership Application