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- There are four major manufacturers that build snowmobiles. They are: Arctic Cat - headquartered in Plymouth, MN; BRP - headquartered in Valcourt, Quebec; Polaris Industries - headquartered in Medina, MN; and Yamaha Motor Corporation - headquartered in Cypress, CA.
- In 2011 there were 123,063 snowmobiles sold worldwide; 51,796 were sold in the U.S. and 40,878 were sold in Canada.
- The average suggested retail price of a new snowmobile sold in 2011 was $8,450 (US Funds).
- There are 1.55 million registered snowmobiles in the US and over 602,902 registered snowmobiles in Canada.
- The Economic Impact of Snowmobiling:
- United States - $ 22 billion annually
- Canada - $ 6 billion annually
- Europe & Russia - $2.2 billion annually
- Over 90,000 full time jobs are generated by the snowmobile industry in North America. Those jobs are involved in manufacturing, dealerships and tourism related businesses.
- The average age of a snowmobiler is 43 years old.
- The average annual household income for snowmobilers is $65,000.
- The average snowmobiler rides their snowmobile 1414 miles (1836 km) per year in North America.
- Approximately 75% of all active snowmobilers are male; 25% female.
- 53% of the snowmobilers usually trailer their snowmobiles to go riding. 47% either snowmobile from their primary residence or have a vacation home where they keep and use their snowmobiles.
- Approximately 80% of snowmobilers use their snowmobile for trail riding and touring on marked and groomed trails. 20% of snowmobilers use their snowmobile for work, ice fishing and transportation.
- Snowmobilers are caring neighbors, they raised over $3 million for charity during the 2010-2011 season.
- There are over 225,000 miles of groomed and marked snowmobile trails in North America that have been developed by volunteer clubs working with local government and private land owners.
- There are over 3000 snowmobile clubs worldwide, involved in trail grooming and charity fund raising and family activities.
- There are over 40 registered non-profit associations representing snowmobilers in the U.S., Canada and Scandinavia.
- Snowmobiling is great exercise that brings people outdoors to interact with nature and each other. It is an invigorating sport that is great for stress release and good mental health.
- Snowmobiling is a great family lifestyle. It is an activity that keeps parents and kids together. Historically individuals who snowmobile at a young age continue to snowmobile with their parents throughout their lives, sharing great experiences as a family. In many winter regions, snowmobiling is simply the main form of winter outdoor recreation and in some cases the main method of transportation available.
- The use of snowmobiles in National Parks is regulated by Federal Law Enforcement. The snowmobiling occurs on roads groomed and marked for snowmobiling, the same roadways used by recreational vehicles, cars, trucks and busses. Snowmobiles are NOT used as off-road vehicles in National Parks such as Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain and Grand Teton.
- On U.S. National Forest Land, most of the trails used by snowmobiles are on groomed roads used by summer recreationists. There are also secondary and seasonal roads within the forests used by snowmobilers. These roads are groomed and marked by volunteers who work closely with the local U.S. Forest Service staff in maintaining and managing those areas.
- The manufacturers have always been actively involved in promoting safe riding behavior while snowmobiling. Over one million safety related brochures, decals and hundreds of thousands of posters and safety videos have been distributed free of charge to safety trainers, enforcement officers, Travel Bureaus, Chambers of Commerce, Convention and Visitor Bureaus, and snowmobile enthusiasts throughout the world.
- State/Provincial snowmobile registrations for 2010-2011 season were as follows:
State
/Province | # registered | State
/Province | # registered |
| AK | 54,750 | SD | 15,437 |
| CA | 23,400 | UT | 26,200 |
| CO | 30,608 | VT | 37,520 |
| ID | 48,400 | WA | 32,200 |
| IL | 39,485 | WI | 236,566 |
| IN | 10,120 | WY | 39,410 |
| IA | 27,986 | AB | 56,200 |
| ME | 89,500 | BC | 38,400 |
| MA | 17,000 | MB | 35,129 |
| MI | 242,546 | NB | 14,961 |
| MN | 254,492 | NF | 100,209 |
| MT | 42,000 | NS | 6,400 |
| NE | 2,210 | NT | 5,200 |
| NH | 56,000 | NU | 286 |
| NY | 134,577 | ON | 146,000 |
| ND | 17,664 | PE | 1,472 |
| OH | 15,000 | QC | 175,074 |
| OR | 16,087 | SA | 20,381 |
| PA | 41,000 | YT | 3,190 |
- Visit the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association web sites at www.snowmobile.org and www.gosnowmobiling.org for more information.
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Upcoming Snowmobiling Events
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2012 Go Snowmobiling "Take a Friend Snowmobiling" Contest
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2012 Go Snowmobiling "Take a Friend Snowmobiling" Week
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Clean Snowmobile Challenge
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Snowmobiling News
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Clean Snowmobile Challenge - March 5-10, 2012
A record number of teams are expected to participate in the SAE 2012 Snowmobile Challenge, sponsored by the snowmobile manufacturers along with other supporting businesses, set for March 5th-10th, 2012 at Michigan Technological University.
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Plan on Participating in Take a Friend Snowmobiling Week
The snowmobile community is excited to announce the Take a Friend Snowmobiling Week - which will be held February 11-20, 2012. This elongated week celebrates friends and family snowmobiling.
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Snowmobile Safety: Ride Safe so you can Ride Tomorrow
Snowmobiling is in full stride around the world and now is the time for snowmobilers to keep snowmobile safety a top-of-mind awareness issue. Snowmobile safety is nothing new to organized snowmobiling. Snowmobile Administrators, the Manufacturers, snowmobile associations and clubs joined together years ago in developing the Safe Riders! You make snowmobiling safe™ safety campaign which brought safe snowmobiling practices, training and enforcement to a new level.
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Snowmobiling Websites and Facebook Expand
As we look at the last 20 years of communication transformation, most are amazed. Communication amongst snowmobilers has changed forever and it appears the evolution will continue.
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Snowmobiling Economic Benefits Realized Worldwide
The snowmobile community generates over 28 billion dollars in economic activity in North America. Snowmobiling supports over 90,000 full time jobs and generates millions of tax dollars.
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Yellowstone/National Park Service to Implement One-Year Rule for 2011-2012 Winter Use Plan
The National Park Service planners will implement a "One-Year Rule" for the upcoming 2011-2012 winter season, in order to allow time to better address significant public input regarding the proposed long-term legislation.
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Safe Riders! Safety Information
