Snowmobile

What's a SnowMobile ?

A snowmobile is a land vehicle specially designed to winter travel on snow.

Snowmachine, sled and skimobile are other names of this machine which operate on snow and ice.

The advantage of this mode of travel is that it requires no road or trail.

The snowmobile is a machine very versatile since it allows for both family walks, as expeditions in deep snow or for the most powerful snowmobile racing.

Snowmobile at a glance

Some figures to better know the snowmobiles :

• 2 million North americans own snowmobiles
• 220,000 miles (354,000 km) of snowmobile trail in the USA and Canada
• 1,500 miles (2,414 km) is the average of snowmobile travel per year

Manufacturers of snowmobile

There are several manufacturers of snowmobiles.

• Alpina Snowmobiles : The most famous snowmobile of Alpina is the Sherpa dual-track snowmobile. This vehicle is still the only snowmobile which can truly be considered a work-horse.
• Bombardier,
• Polaris Industries : Polaris is based in Medina, Minnesota, USA. The company also manufactures motorcycles through its Victory Motorcycles subsidiary. Polaris Factory Racing Racer profiles, event calendar and news.
• Arctic Cat is a North American manufacturer of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. The company is based in Thief River Falls, MN.
• Yamaha : This Japanese company is know to produce motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, outboard motors, and personal watercraft.

Snowmobile's performance

Speed

Some of the higher powered modern snowmobiles can achieve speeds in excess of 150 mph (240 km/h). Drag racing snowmobiles can reach speeds in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h).

Noise

The consideration of performance in terms of speed is the noise. For instance, in Quebec (Canada) noise levels have to be 78 decibels or less at 20 meters from a snowmobile path. However, a modern snowmobile is 90% less noise than a snowmobile 1960s