While the winter weather throughout the area has caused an inconvenience for some, there are some who are rejoicing, like snowmobilers and those who like to race snowmobiles for competition, such as Jim Zierden of Shawano. He recently competed in a big event at Eagle River over the weekend and came away as a big winner.
Zierden has been racing for many years and has come away as champion of the event quite a few times, however, he said this one is extra special because of the increased competition.
“We’ve always had pretty good success and this year was a lot more competitive,” Zierden said of the competition. “[Competitors] were in there from Quebec, Finland, Manitoba, New York, Maine. I mean it’s a worldwide championship race that we competed in.”
While Zierden has put in his time, he also says keeping up with the new technologies is a challenge, as many people are finding more advanced ways to improve their snowmobiles.
“It’s getting a lot more fierce,” acknowledged Zierden. “Everybody is just ramping it up and has better, faster equipment, and if you aren’t on top of your game, you would not be as competitive as we were.”
Zierden was the winner of the 340 Masters Class he competed in through the weekend.