Happy 100th Birthday, Snowmobiles

The first snowmobile was invented in 1922.

Transcript

Happy 100th Birthday, Snowmobiles

Preview Segment 

The snowmobile was introduced to the world one hundred years ago this year. Only don’t kid yourself that the snowmobiles of 1922 were the rugged vehicles you see today. You probably wouldn’t even recognize them or even think that they could move.  

Snowmobiles are one of those things that you either love or you hate. Either way, they play an important part in Adirondack history. And many people believe they play an important part in our future as well.

TRANSITION - ADKX Podcast Intro - Ready to earn some extra credit? You are listening to ADKX-tra Credit, a podcast for students about the history of the Adirondack Mountains and the people that have lived, worked, and played here. The Adirondack Experience, the Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, is located in the heart of the Adirondack Park of New York State. 

CONTENT

On New Year's Eve day of 1922 in Quebec, Canada, Joseph Armand Bombardier (or Armand to his family) showed his father what he had made out of an old, broken motor and some discarded wooden parts. It was the first motorized vehicle for traveling over the snow. 

The motor was from a Model T Ford car. Armand’s father didn’t think it could ever run again. He just gave it to Armand to keep him occupied and so he would stop taking apart the family’s car engine. Little did he know that his son was a mechanical genius. Armand not only got that old motor running he attached it to a small plane prop. He set them on top of a toboggan, that’s a long sled. Then he put seats from an old horse drawn carriage on the toboggan, too. That conglomeration of parts was his snow machine. It looked kind of like  a mini airboat like they drive in the everglades. I’ll bet Armand and his brother had a blast riding around on that! His dad actually took it apart because with that big propeller it was pretty dangerous.  Did I mention that Armand was only fifteen!

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J. Armand Bombardier wasn’t the only person interested in making a vehicle that moved on top of the snow. During the next forty years several other inventors and manufacturers created snow machines. Most of these manufacturers were in the midwest US and in Canada. The new vehicles had great names like: Sno-Traveler, Autoboggan, Sno-Cat, and Ski-Dog. Except when the Ski-Dog was being introduced there was a typo on the information. Ski-Dog became Ski-Doo. I guess sometimes typos aren’t all bad. The name stuck and today Ski-Doos are one of the most popular snowmobile brands out there nearly eighty years later. 

Armand Bombardier was still in the snowmobile business, too. When he grew up he started his own company. Bombardier Motors is still in business. He must have decided his dad was right about the big propeller. He patented the track system in 1937. Snowmobiles now have a rotating track that moves them along instead of a big prop. 

The very first snowmobiles were made to move several people at once, kind of like a car or a mini SUV. They were used in businesses and for rescue operations in snowy areas. It wasn’t until the 1940’s that snowmobiles started to look a little more like they do today. That was when they started being mass produced for regular folks, not just businesses. Even then, they still weren’t all that popular. Remember people were still just getting used to being able to buy cars for themselves. Taking family trips in a car didn’t catch on with the public until the 1950s. In 1935 there were only 64 snowmobiles registered to individuals in New York State. In 2018 there were about 107,000. 

What changed? Well, eventually someone must have said to themselves, “Hey, this is really fun!” Manufacturers realized if people started using snowmobiles as recreational vehicles they could sell a whole lot more of them. They were certainly right.

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By this time you're probably thinking “Okay snowmobiles are great and all, but what do they have to do with Adirondack history?”.

It’s very snowy in this region so snowmobiles have been a good fit. There are a lot of areas in the Adirondacks that are much easier to reach in the winter if you have a snowmobile. Especially before roads were plowed as much as they are today. 

In 1964 Lake Placid hosted the nation's first event dedicated to snowmobiles. It was called the Power Sleds Meet. There were races and exhibitions of new models. It must have been a great success because it really caught on. There are meets just like it still today. For example, every December Old Forge hosts their Snodeo. Just like that first meet, people go there to see new models and watch exhibitions that display performance and speed. There are many other events as well. 

That was really the start of snowmobiling as family-friendly entertainment and recreation. These events drove up sales to common people. As people began to show so much interest in snowmobiling as a recreational pastime other progress followed. Magazines about snowmobiling were published. One of the first was titled SnowGoer. Trails were created and mapped. And snowmobile clubs came into being. This may seem like a small thing, but groups of people forming clubs for the purposes of advancing snowmobile recreation is one of the biggest factors in the growth of snowmobile popularity. Those clubs share the responsibility of trail creation and maintenance. Trails that are well maintained and mapped and groomed are at the heart of the snowmobile business and safe recreation. 

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After hearing all that exciting history you will be wondering why some people don’t think having snowmobiles in the Adirondacks is such a great idea. Remember,there are two sides to every issue. Those people have a lot of really good points to make, too.

Noise pollution is one of the first factors to really take a close look at. Snowmobiles are very loud. They don’t have the same type of muffler system that a car has. Noise pollution isn’t just a matter of someone not liking the peace of the wilderness being disturbed by the sound of machinery. That is very disturbing, but it is also the disturbance to the wildlife and the impact that the sound has on wildlife behavior. For example, it makes it hard for prey to hear predators. One of the significant adaptations for snowshoe hares and whitetail deer is their big ears, designed to hear predators sneaking up on them. So, you can imagine how a loud engine affects them.

Another concern is how the creation of trails will impact the environment. Ecosystems are a delicate balance. Changing things can change how the plants and animals survive and interact with each other. Environmentalists want more study and consideration before any new trails are created. 

One big consideration that can be difficult to discuss is maintaining safety and security. Modern snowmobiles are luxury recreational vehicles. They have lots of comfortable options like heated seats and handles. They also have very powerful motors that can go 100 miles per hour or more. This creates very dangerous situations when people are not careful or act recklessly or even illegally. The small towns and villages of the Adirondack region are often called upon to help when terrible accidents occur and to police when crimes are being committed. That can put a big strain on places that may not have enough money to cover the cost of these rescues and arrests. 

Balancing all the considerations leads to tough questions about snowmobiling in the Adirondacks. How do we keep a fun, recreational motorsport that brings business and to the region while still keeping our Park beautiful and safe?

TRANSITION - ADKX Podcast conclusion - Thank you for joining us for an episode of ADKX-tra Credit. This podcast is brought to you by Adirondack Experience, the museum on Blue Mountain Lake. Our mission is to expand understanding of Adirondack history and the relationship between people and the Adirondack wilderness, fostering informed choices for the future. If you want to learn more fun Adirondack history visit our website theadkx.org