Cass County sees four snowmobile crashes in three days

Conditions are excellent for snowmobiling in Cass County this winter, but Sheriff Tom Burch is asking riders to slow down after four crashes in three days.

The crashes happened Thursday evening near Backus, Friday evening near Pine River, Saturday morning near Backus, and Saturday afternoon near Brainerd.

The riders survived all four crashes, but all four needed to be transported to hospitals for treatment. A helicopter was used to transport the victim of the Saturday morning crash.

All of the injured were visitors from outside of Cass County.

Burch says in many of the incidents, speed was the main factor, causing the machine to leave the trail and crash.

A news release said, "Sheriff Burch encourages all operators to know and understand their machine and the trail they are riding on and not to exceed speed for the conditions or terrain encountered. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a significant number of snowmobiles recreating in the region this winter due to excellent snow conditions and good weather."

Burch noted that the area will see an increase in snowmobile traffic due to major events taking place at Nisswa and on Gull Lake on the weekend of Feb. 26 and 27.