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These machines bridged the technological divide between horse-drawn sleighs and snowmobiles

Attendees admire a restored snowplane at the annual rally in Tetonia.
Emily Cohen
/
KHOL
Attendees admire a restored snowplane at the annual rally in Tetonia.

It’s negative nine degrees outside and the 12th annual snow plane rally in Tetonia, Idaho is getting off to a slow start.  

“I’m plenty warm because I’ve been trying to get it started and get it over here,” said Brent Robson.

Robson drove his 1949 snow plane to the rally from his home three miles north.

“So my son is bringing one and my brother’s bringing one and my brother’s son is bringing one and they’re still trying to get theirs going,” Robson said.

Brent Robson first rode in a snowplane in 1952 to go ice fishing with his family on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park.
Emily Cohen
/
KHOL
Brent Robson first rode in a snowplane in 1952 to go ice fishing with his family on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park.

Although snow planes are built with airplane parts — including aircraft fabric, an aircraft engineer and a propeller, they have no wings and do not fly.

Rather, they plane across the surface of the snow. The smart car-sized cockpit sits on three skis — two on either side and one long ski down the middle.

Snow planes originated in the 1930s in the upper Midwest. Most were hand-built. Having an enclosed space to sit in—even if not heated—was a step up from the open-air, horse-drawn cutter sleighs once a common sight for snowy transport.

Though unheated, the decorated interior of Brent Robson’s snowplane provides shelter from the wind and cold when ice fishing.
Emily Cohen
/
KHOL
Though unheated, the decorated interior of Brent Robson’s snowplane provides shelter from the wind and cold when ice fishing.

They’re fast — and dangerous. The machines can go 80 to 100 miles per hour. The unguarded propellers are at ground height and the crafts can tip over during sharp turns. Many also don’t have brakes, or seatbelts.

In the mid-20th century, snow planes were briefly the main mode of winter transportation in Yellowstone National Park. But when snow coaches arrived on the scene in 1955 and snowmobiles in 1963, the snow plane soon became a collector’s item.

Snow planes were also used in the Canadian Prairies and Soviet Russia, and until 2002 were a popular way to get to the middle of Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park for ice fishing.

Children peek into the cockpit of a vintage snowplane in Tetonia, Idaho.
Emily Cohen
/
KHOL
Children peek into the cockpit of a vintage snowplane in Tetonia, Idaho.

We left them in Coulter Bay and fished. They were a nice, warm shelter to be in on the ice. It was a family tradition for a number of years,” said Robson.

The park service eventually banned the machines due to noise concerns.

By noon or so at the Tetonia festival, temperatures made their way to a balmy 4 degrees, but only about seven or half of the expected snow planes made it to the rally. Attendees, though charmed by the contraptions, were happy to climb back in their heated automobiles and drive home on plowed roads.

Copyright 2025 KHOL.

This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including KDNK.
Copyright 2025 Aspen Public Radio

Emily Cohen