EDITOR’S NOTE: This article first appeared in the February 2023 issue of Snow Goer magazine. That means you could have enjoyed it long ago if you only subscribed! Go ahead and sign up today to get the print or digital edition of the magazine and feed your love of the greatest winter sport ever created.
Sometimes, a historic magazine cover conjures up a fantasy world, where everything is beautiful and alluring. Other times, a cover can capture and freeze a particular moment in time.
To some folks, the October 1973 issue of Snow Goer did both. It featured an attractive blonde standing atop a snowmobile. The brilliant, snow-covered scene behind her and the huge smile on her face reflected unbridled joy for the sport of snowmobiling. Plus, the way the unhelmeted beauty was staring right at the camera made it unlike any cover in this publication’s storied 56-year history.
For snowmobile collectors and historians, the cover also freezes in time a rare snowmobile. The rare 1974 Skiroule RTW in the photo was powered by a Sachs Wankel rotary engine and featured a bright orange hood. Both were notable departures from the brand’s norms.
The cover is therefore a double benchmark for Skiroule aficionado Joe Marks. At age 35, the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, resident is young compared to most in the sled restoration crowd. But his passion for his favorite brand of defunct sleds is virtually unrivaled. In fact, he is the person behind the “Skiroule Everything” Facebook page, which has more than 5,800 members, and he shares an impressive collection of the sleds with his uncle.
After acquiring and then restoring a vintage and long-sought 1974 RTW, he and his wife re-created the photo from that renowned magazine cover.
A Lifelong Dedication
Marks’ history with snowmobiling and his dedication to Skiroule trace back to a shed on his grandparents’ farm.
“When I was a teenager, my uncle had an old 1972 Skiroule RTX in my grandmother’s shed,” Marks said. “Well, my buddy picked up two old Ski-Doos and said, ‘Why don’t you get ahold of your uncle and see if you can get his old snowmobile running?’ We did, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
The process of reviving the previously ignored sled also revitalized the interest in snowmobiling of his uncle, David Ondesko, who bought that same Skiroule new in 1972. Marks exclusively rode that old sled for about five years before buying one for himself when 21 years old. Since then, he and his uncle have been gorging on the Quebec-built sleds. In fact, they currently have about 30 Skiroule sleds, plus other paraphernalia.
“I have snow suits, memorability, posters, pretty much everything,” Marks said with a laugh. “I’m probably one of the top Skiroule experts in the world. I have a whole garage full of old Skiroule stuff.”
The Special RW
A few years ago, Marks found a particular machine that his collection was missing: a 1974 Skiroule RTW.
“Skiroule only built about 400 of those, so they are really rare,” Marks said. “It’s a big collector’s item for everybody, even people who don’t normally collect Skiroules.” But the one he found was in rough shape.
“The guy I bought it from had a little junk yard, with old cars, old snowmobiles, old lawn mowers and things,” Marks said. “We pulled it out of there, and between me and my uncle, we fully restored it from the ground up over six or seven months.”
The original Sachs Wankel rotary engine was locked up. Considering its rarity, replacing it was a challenging task, Marks said. Taking care of the orange hood was also key.
“To this day nobody knows the origins for why they went to the orange hood,” he said. “The popular theory is that, after 1974 they were getting rid of Sachs engines and switching over to Kohler, and they had all of these Sachs engines on the shelf. So they decided to pick a hot color to put on the sled to try to boost sales and grab people’s attention, so that’s why they went with orange.”
The Re-Creation
Once the restoration was completed, Marks sought out a copy of the original Snow Goer issue that featured the RTW on the cover.
“That’s one of the most famous Snow Goer covers for Skiroule guys. It’s the one everybody always talks about,” Marks said. After finding a copy on eBay, he showed it to his wife. “She said, ‘Hey, why don’t we try to re-create this, you know, just for [kicks] and giggles?’ And that’s what we did.”
A contact through the Skiroule owners group contributed the jacket seen in the new photo. It’s not the exact jacket, but it was a part of the Skiroule original clothing lineup for 1974, Marks said. The photo was taken behind the Marks’ Pennsylvania home last year. They weren’t able to exactly duplicate the snowy background of the original image so they shot it in front of some evergreen trees to mimic the ones in the background of the original cover photo.
When trying to do a re-creation, attention to details is an important step. Look closely at the details in their new photo. The goggles hanging on the right handlebar. The sunglasses. The way Kelly Marks is standing on the sled. It’s all meant to ape the original beauty shot.
“The girl [in the original cover] had one foot on the seat and the other reaching for the running board, so we re-created that,” Marks said. “In the original shoot she was holding a helmet and not a magazine, but we thought we’d give a shout-out to the original Snow Goer cover by having my wife hold a copy of it.” They also took some photos with Kelly’s hair hanging down on the left, but they weren’t as sharply focused as the image shown here.
Overall, the Marks’ were pleased with the finished result.
“It was a very flirtatious cover,” Marks said. “If you look at the original cover, the girl is smiling and she’s all happy. We tried to re-create that, too. We tried to get as close as possible.”
The original cover image appears to have been supplied by Skiroule and was likely taken at that brand’s photo shoot of its 1974 models. The identity of the original model standing on the sled remains a mystery, but Marks has heard speculation.
“The rumor is that she was a secretary at the Skiroule factory,” he said. “That’s just speculation. But if you ask all of the old-timers that’s what they come up with, so that’s what I go with!”
Marks hasn’t shown the new images to the crew on his Skiroule Facebook page yet. He said he wanted to wait and see if we did a story on the re-creation in the magazine. Well, mission accomplished, Joe and Kelly. Nice job keeping the spirit of the sport’s history alive in your own way.
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As a kid I remember thumbing through the October 73′ snowgoer magazine along with other months as well. Those were the best of days for me growing up in rural Minnesota. Having 160 feet of lakeshore property & always a decent snowmobile to ride, thanks to my Dad. The memories of a next to perfect childhood.
Cool