There is something about late February in the Northwoods that feels sacred. The snow is seasoned. The pines stand tall and silent. Engines echo just a little sharper across frozen lakes. And in St. Germain, Wisconsin, that can only mean one thing: the Ride With The Champs Weekend at the Snowmobile Hall of Fame.
The 2026 weekend kicked off on Friday, February 20th, starting at 9:00 AM with our 4th annual Reunion Ride which featured John Deere snowmobiles to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Enduro team Deere and Brian Nelson’s come from behind Winnipeg to St. Paul victory on the Liquidator.
The 30-mile ride arrived at the Whitetail Inn at 11:30 for lunch followed by a presentation by John Deere engineer Dick Teal who also co-authored the book John Deere Snowmobiles. His many engineering accomplishments include the development of the reverse ramp secondary clutch as well as the direct drive system that ended up on the Spitfire, Snowfire and Sprintfire.
Brian Linder, who has been coming to the Ride with the Champs as long as I can remember and is a huge John Deere advocate, said “It was the largest gathering of Deere’s he has ever seen!” A collector named Tom Rehberg let Brian ride his Liquidator for the reunion ride.
At 5:30 PM we had the classic Wisconsin fish fry at the White Tail Inn in St. Germain. The room buzzed with stories and handshakes as featured speakers from the legendary classic Enduro Team Deere took the stage. The famed 1970s John Deere snowmobile racing team helped define an era when iron was heavy, suspensions were leaf-sprung, and grit mattered as much as horsepower. Their reflections weren’t just racing tales — they were time capsules from the frontier days of organized snowmobile competition.
Saturday started early, as it should, at 7:00 AM with a hearty breakfast at the White Tail Inn. Coffee flowed, plans were made, and old friends reunited. Then came what many consider the heart of the weekend: the ride itself. Participants fired up their sleds and headed into the glorious Northwoods trails around the Hall of Fame. In late winter, the St. Germain area delivers the kind of riding that feels like a reward — crisp air, cathedral-like corridors of pine, and the steady rhythm of skis tracking true. It’s not just a trail ride. It’s a rolling tribute to decades of innovation and passion.
The John Deere ride had over 100 people involved, and the enjoyed a talk from Dick Teal over lunch. Dick cowrote the book John Deere.
After returning from the ride, the afternoon shifted into evening festivities, beginning with a 5:00 PM as legends began to gather for dinner and the induction ceremony. Moments like these blur generations: a young rider meeting a hero, a vintage race photo sliding across the table for a signature, a handshake that turns history into something personal.
The night continued with dinner, followed by a live auction packed with memorable snowmobile memorabilia — rare items, meaningful artifacts, and pieces of history that help keep the sport’s story alive. The highlight of the evening, as always, was the annual induction ceremony. The 2026 class of inductees welcomed Marcel Imbeault, Greg Marier, Gary Moyle, and Terry Wahl into the Snowmobile Hall of Fame. Their careers represent dedication, competition, innovation, and stewardship of the sport. Induction night isn’t flashy — it’s heartfelt, and it reminds everyone that snowmobiling is built not just on machines, but on people.
The weekend ended over at the World Championship Derby Complex race track, with the 4th annual Legend Laps on Sunday. Dayton Moyle, Gary’s son, got the award for the fastest lap on Garys 2005 World Championship sled and Tabitha Parks got the award for the slowest lap on a borrowed Starfire unseating 3 time defending champion Tom Steiner.
Ride With The Champs is more than an event. It’s a gathering of custodians — racers, engineers, collectors, trail riders, historians — all brought together by the same throttle-tugging love of winter and speed. It bridges the raw racing days of the 1970s with the technology and performance of today, keeping the stories alive so the next generation understands where it all began.
In the quiet of the Northwoods, under winter stars, with the scent of two-stroke and wood smoke in the air, you can feel it clearly: this isn’t just nostalgia. It’s legacy in motion.
