26th Annual Blackwoods Blizzard Tour Kicks Off

GOODLAND, Minn.– Engines roared to life this morning as one of the state’s largest snowmobile fundraising races began.

After last year’s event was canceled, the recent snowfall brought in over 200 racers to compete in the three-day Blizzard Tour event. The money raised from this race will toward ALS research.

The course spans about 180 miles.

Starting at Black Bear Casino, riders will spend the few days riding up the iron range to Tower and Grand Rapids and ending back in Carlton on Saturday.

For one rider, he’d spent over a decade taking part in this race.

And the most powerful part for him, is not the race itself.

“We have our closing banquet on Saturday night. They’ll have people who are speaking that are either afflicted with ALS or they’ve had a family member story that is. And that draws you into it. But when you see people that are going through that stuff, you know, it tells you what you’re really doing for,” explained Chance Haakonson, a long-time rider for this event.

The race course was finalized earlier this week after concerns with weather.

For this year, the fundraiser welcomed 70 new racers to join the lineup.