Snowmobiling
Snowmobilers Continue Search for the Perfect Sled
Snowmobile technology has slowed from year to year, but continues to improve functionality.By Paige Huntoon, Guest Writer, 2-16-11
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| Manufactures continue to refine snowmobiles in an effort to make them faster and lighter. Photo by Paul Williams | |
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Snowmobiles just aren’t made the way they used to be. For many, that might be a good thing.
For a vehicle that may not appear to need much in the way of improvements, manufacturers continue to refine the technology that allows snowmobilers to tear through the Rocky Mountains.
Mike Vandam has been riding and selling snowmobiles for more than 30 years, and said that, although there have not been many major changes to the machines, snowmobile designers continue to develop sleeker and more user-friendly machines.
“It’s tiny little tweaks,” he said, “Now, it’s more about finesse.”
Polaris, one of the largest makers, has focused on making the machines lighter – some of them 60 pounds, according to Vandam, and has made steering easier by slimming down the seats and raising the handlebars.
Although designers have added more and more horsepower, they have also started focusing on low-speed torque. Vandam explained that there are fewer open, treeless areas for riders to really speed around in. As a result, they are looking for machines that can perform at the lower rpm range.
Makers also say that manufacturers have focused on reducing the environmental impact. Yellowstone National Park has a list of the cleanest and quietest snowmobiles on the market since 2002, which shows that Arctic Cat, Bombardier and Yamaha models as some of the best, according to the park’s standards.
Still, environmentalists near Yellowstone have continued advocating that the National Park Service phase out snowmobiles from Yellowstone in favor of larger snowcoaches to get people into the park.
“It further limits the environmental impacts to the park. You have one vehicle with 10 people in it as opposed to 10 vehicles with one person on it,” Mark Pearson, program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, told the Billings Gazette.
Despite the efforts to limit where the machines can be used, Vandam said that technology is always changing. The search for new technology in snowmobiles, Vandam said, is constant, and “even more aggressive in this field than cars.”
“If you don’t pay attention,” he said, “the world can just pass you by.”
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Comments
I'm sure my grandmother (who has criss-crossed the park multiple times on a snowmobile) would get a kick out of your incredible grasp of reality!
I was expecting to see a more complete story done about this subject. Is the author aware the EPA set forth a fairly stringent set of ramping emissions standards that the manufactures have had to reach over the last dozen years? Does she know that one of the manufacturers has recently developed and is now marketing a direct-injected motor which makes more power with less fuel and less emissions that most automobiles....and is a two-stroke? Is she aware that another manufacturer invested in it's own state-of-the-art sound lab which has allowed all of them to take giant strides in creating machines which grow even quieter each year?
There has been a lot more technology coming forward than thinner seats and "little tweaks"!
Of course, like Mr. Smith, many are not interested in allowing facts to cloud their opinions.
Kindergartenish collectivism versus the responsible enjoyments of a free citizen. The Greens are Left for a reason.
Getting snowmobiles out of Yellowstone never was about air quality, it has and always be driven by the visceral hate by environmentalists for motorized recreation.
There is always a red hearing that environmentalists use for any activity they don't like and for $200 dollars Earthjustice can file a lawsuit and hold up American commerce and ruin the lives of many hard working Americans.
Environmentalism is an unreasonable religion.
http://www.greater-yellowstone.com/3-2006/neo-paganism.html
The NPS has does numerous studies comparing snowmobile tours to snowcoaches. Here are the results:
-In animal response to vehicle presence, animal responses where mostly mild, no significant stress noted. Snowcoaches were more likely to create a significant response, but only slightly so.
-Noise: at Madison junction, a sound monitoring station was set up. Audible noise was heard 47% of the time. Loud events (over 70 dba) were heard 177 times. 94% of those events were snowcoaches. NPS also compared several version of coaches. 4 out of 11 new snowcoaches exceeded reccomendations, another 5 came close to exceeding recommendations.
- Gas economy: Snowcoach the 50 miles to Old Faithful and back means 50 gallons consumed. Assume an average 8 people per coach (I'm overestimating) that's 6.25 gal per person. Snowmobile the same route, its 6.7 gal per snowmobile, assuming 1.5 people per snowmobile (underestimating here) that's 4.5 gal per person
I could continue. But I digress. I am a Yellowstone snowmobile guide first, but also a snowcoach driver second. Different strokes for different folks. Don't ban anyone from our own national park!