Man hospitalized after snowmobile crash in Hubbard County

An Albany man was airlifted to a hospital on Saturday afternoon after a snowmobile crash in Paul Bunyan State Forest.

According to the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a report of a snowmobile crash in Thorpe Township at 4:40 p.m. on Steamboat Forest Road, about two miles east of County Road 91.

First responders found 70-year-old William Scepaniak injured down a steep hill.

The sheriff’s office said Scepaniak was driving a 2019 Arctic Cat east on the road when he lost control of it, and it went down a steep ditch and struck a tree, throwing him from the snowmobile.

He was extricated up the hill and taken to an ambulance via a rescue sled. An awaiting helicopter then took him to a hospital in St. Cloud, the sheriff’s office said.

The severity of his injuries is unknown.

An investigation is underway.