Jim Solberg

I'm a small-time collector and restorer. My interest is in trail sleds of the late 60's and early 70's boom years of snowmobiling. I'm not into race sleds at all. I ride my sleds as much as possible, and the vintage sleds are the only ones I ride. The newest sled I've ever owned is a 1974 model.

The snowmobile bug bit me, like a lot of other folks, back in the late 60's. The sleds were simple, lightweight, fun machines. The fun came from solitary rides in remote woods and fields, and in social rides and gatherings with good friends and neighbors. And, yes, in seeing who was fastest across the lake. About the late 70's or early 80's the machines got big, heavy, and scary fast. They needed groomed trails to accommodate their enormity, and "fun" seemed to evolve into who can get to the next tavern the fastest. That's when I lost interest in snowmobiles.

The engine in my '72 Scorpion gave out about 1980. She was torn down, cleaned up, and stashed in boxes in the garage attic. I kept riding my '74 Polaris once or twice a year until about 1995 when she was sold.

Some time in 2000, while surfing the net, I stumbled on a few vintage sled sites. Much to my surprise, I discovered there were lots of folks around who shared my love of the old timers. And hey, there are people out there selling parts! There was always the thought in the back of my mind that I wanted to put the Scorpion back together at some point. Now it seemed possible not only to fix the engine and reassemble it, but to restore it to near showroom condition. Maybe the places and friends are no longer there, but I could at least have the old sled back as it was.

I live in Ashland, Wisconsin, with my wife Tracey and daughter Jennifer. Ashland is far north on the shore of Lake Superior. I am employed as a designer/drafter for Twin Creek Construction in Ashland. For twelve years prior to that I owned Bayshore CAD, a small company that specialized in mapping and GIS for local governments, and contract drafting services for surveying and engineering firms. Prior to that, I worked for twenty years as a design technician for a civil engineering firm

My other hobby... vintage music.