COLUMN: Carillon Flashback March 5, 1965 – Polaris Sno-Traveller passes gruelling test at Beausejour

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/03/2024 (464 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Allan Hetteen roared across the finish line to win the Canadian Power Toboggan Racing Championship at Beausejour, it was just another successful day at the office for the Polaris test driver.

Hetteen, his brother Edgar and partner David Johnson were pioneers in snowmobile production and the Polaris Sno-traveller Allan raced at Beausejour is the latest model in a decade of improvements since they built the prototype in their Roseau, Minnesota plant in 1954.

The race at Beausejour was a gruelling experience for Hetteen, who was more comfortable testing the machine for practicality and endurance rather than speed.

Hetteen says he was ready to quit after four laps but, considering the lead he had at that point, he decided to stick it out.

But tough sledding is nothing new for the Hetteen brothers, whose original idea was to create a machine to provide transportation to a winter camp at Northwest Angle, the most northerly point of Minnesota.

The story was that they didn’t want to have to ski up to their hunting camp and wanted to create a machine that could travel in snow at least at the speed of a walker or a skier.

They used a grain elevator belt as a track and skis made from a car bumper. Using other parts and materials used in the manufacturing of farm equipment at their Roseau plant, the first operating Polaris snowmobile was created. It travelled at 10 mph and would be useful in transporting supplies as well as a rider.

At first, Allan’s older brother, Edgar, was angry at their partner David Johnson for wasting his time designing “an amusement item” that had nothing to do with farm equipment which was their business. Yet the idea was to be developed as the original Sno-Traveler, while the company continued to manufacture agricultural equipment.

The first snowmobile sold for $465, and although the company focused on farm equipment it also continued to develop snowmobiles for a rapidly growing market.

The passion both Hetteen brothers had for this machine grew as well and they felt there was a strong demand for travel in the winter: hunting, work, emergency interventions, and winter fun.

Although other people developed versions of the snowmobile before the Hetteens, their northern Minnesota company was the first to realize a big consumer market for the machines.

In October of 1962, a new Polaris Industries plant was built on Highway 89 in Roseau, enabling the company to manufacture a more complete line of snowmobiles and accessories.

In addition to being president of Polaris Industries, Allan Hetteen is also the director of engineering research and development. As the demand for the Sno-Traveler increased, more testing, development and research were needed.

Testing sometimes involved trips that were weeks in length to evaluate the durability and efficiency of the latest machines and Allan was the lead test driver on many of these testing expeditions.

This year’s race at Beausejour, with Allan in the driver’s seat, was one more way to test the Sno-Traveler and it came through with flying colours.