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A snowmobile is a land vehicle propelled by one or two rubber tracks, with skis for steering. They are designed to be operated on snow and ice, and require no road or trail. Most snowmobiles are powered by two-stroke gasoline/petrol combustion engines.
The earliest snowmobiles were modified Ford Model Ts with the undercarriage replaced with tracks and skis. They were popular for rural mail delivery for a time. Polaris Industries in Roseau, Minnesota, in the United States Midwest, was a pioneer in the production of purpose-built snowmobiles.
The relatively dry snow conditions of the United States Midwest made the converted model Ts and other like vehicles not suitable for operation in more humid snow areas such as Southern Quebec. This led Joseph-Armand Bombardier of the small town of Valcourt in Quebec, Canada, to invent a different caterpillar track system suitable for all kinds of snow conditions. He started production of a large, enclosed, seven passenger snowmobile in 1937, and introduced another enclosed twelve passenger model in 1942. It was only in 1959 that he invented what we know as the modern snowmobile in its open-cockpit one or two person form, and started selling it as the "Ski-doo". Competitors sprang up and copied and improved his design. In the 1970s there were hundreds of snowmobile manufacturers. Many were small outfits but the biggest manufacturers were attempts by motorcycle makers and outboard motor makers to branch off in a new market. Most of these companies went bankrupt during succeeding recessions, or were bought up by the larger ones. Bombardier Recreational Products, a former division of the first company, still makes snowmobiles, outboard motors, personal watercraft, and all-terrain vehicles.
 Picture of a snowmobile with a single rider; snow covered trees in the background Snowmobiles are widely used in arctic territories for travel. However, the small population of the Arctic areas makes for a correspondingly small market. Most of the annual snowmobile production is sold for recreative purposes much further South, in those parts of North America where the snow cover is stable during the winter months. The number of snowmobiles in Europe and other parts of the world is relatively low.
Modern snowmobiles can achieve speeds in excess of 110 km/h. Racing snowmobiles reach speeds in excess of 260 km/h (160 mph). People die every year when they crash into other snowmobiles, automobiles, pedestrians, or trees or falling through ice. Around 10 people a year die in such crashes in Minnesota alone with alcohol a contributing factor in many (but not all) cases. In Saskatchewan, 16 out of 21 deaths in snowmobile collisions between 1996 and 2000 were alcohol related[1] (http://www.sgi.sk.ca/sgi_internet/news_releases/2001/dec_b_2001.htm).
Industrial type snowmobiles for grooming cross-country ski trails and right of way maintenance are also made. They are large enclosed vehicles which can carry passengers and cargo, and tow sleds. Unlike the recreational snowmobile they are completely tracked and have no skis in the front. They are powered by strong 4 or 6 cylinder diesel or gas engines.
Like all devices powered by two-stroke engines, snowmobiles generate disportionate amounts of air pollution and noise. These became a factor in the debate over snowmobile usage in Yellowstone National Park, in particular because park rangers stationed in entry kiosks are exposed to idling snowmobiles throughout their shifts. While bureaucrats and advocacy groups debate the regulations, manufacturers are trying to lessen the problem by building more snowmobiles with four-stroke engines, which are cleaner and somewhat quieter. Yamaha and Arctic-Cat were the first to mass produce four-stroke models. Bombardier and Polaris followed, a few years later.
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