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A snowcat (a portmanteau of snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to travel over snow. Major manufacturers are PistenBully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy), and Tucker (United States).
A snowcat dedicated to snow maintenance rather than transport is known as a snow groomer. Other terms are "piste machines", "trail groomers" (in North American English) or "piste bashers" (in British English) because of their use in preparing ski trails ("pistes") or snowmobile trails.
In addition to grooming snow they are used for polar expeditions, logging in marsh areas, leveling sugar beet piles, medical evacuations, and seismic studies in the wilderness.
Most snowcats, such as the ones produced by Bombardier or Aktiv in the past, have two sets of tracks, fitted with a Christie suspension or a Horstmann suspension. Others, like the Tucker Sno-Cat and Hägglunds Bandvagn 206 vehicles, have a complex arrangement of four or more tracks.
The tracks are usually made of rubber, aluminum or steel and driven by a single sprocket on each side, and ride over rubber wheels with a solid foam interior. Their design is optimized for a snow surface, or soft grounds such as that of a peat bog.
The cabs are optimized for use in sub-zero weather or cold conditions worsened by wind chill, with strong forced heating and a windshield designed to be kept clear of internal and external ice or condensation through a variety of means such as advanced coatings, external scrapers (windshield wipers of a modified type), and internal ducts blowing hot air on the surface.
The forerunners of the snowcat were the tracked "motors" designed by Captain Scott and his engineer Reginald Skelton for the Antarctic Terra Nova Expedition of 1910–1913. [1] These tracked motors were built by the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company in Birmingham. [2]
Theodore P. Flynn and the United States Forestry Service in Oregon developed a snow tractor in 1937. [3]
The name "snowcat" originates from the 1946 trademark by Tucker Sno-Cat Corporation of Medford, Oregon. This specialized over-snow vehicle dominated the snow transportation market until the 1960s when other manufacturers entered the business. By then "snowcat" was such a common description that it was used to describe all over-snow vehicles (see generic trademark). Tucker is also well known for its use of four tracks on its vehicles. Tucker Sno-Cat is arguably the best known of the early manufacturers and remains in business today. Tucker Sno-Cats have been used by numerous military, governmental agencies and utilities. [4]
Competitive snowcat trials were conducted by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Sun Valley, Idaho from 1950-1952. [5] [6]
In the 1955–1958 Fuchs and Hillary Transantarctic Expedition, four modern snowcats were used, produced by the Tucker Sno-Cat Corporation. These vehicles were highly modified for the purposes of the expedition.
Between 1956 and 1968, Kristi Company made two-track snowcats in Colorado but ceased production with fewer than 200 total units sold.
Another early model was the Swedish made Aktiv Snow Trac of which 2265 were manufactured in Sweden between 1957 and 1981. The Snow Trac was used by NATO forces, and by research organizations such as A.N.A.R.E. in Antarctica. Over 1000 Snow Tracs were imported to Canada and the United States, mostly by Canadian utilities and U.S. governmental agencies; the Snow Trac is still in common use in private ownership. An updated version called "Sno Trac" is produced by an Idaho company. [7]
Around 1959 Bruce Nodwell Ltd. of Canada produced the Nodwell 110, which in 1965 became a new company, Foremost Industries.
Thiokol was another American maker of small snowcats, notably the Imp, Super Imp and Spryte dual-track models. Thiokol manufactured an amphibious version of the Spryte, called the Swamp Spryte. Thiokol sold its ski-lift and snowcat operation in 1978 to John DeLorean, and changed its name to DeLorean Motor Company (DMC). DMC was later bought out by its management team and renamed Logan Machine Company (LMC). LMC ceased production around 2000. [8] The Spryte, sold later as 1200 and 1500 series machines, are still popular in commercial, industrial use, and as privately owned snowcats. In 2002 Ohara acquired the rights to make LMC models. [9]
Russia as one of the snowiest countries in the world has a wide range of snowcat producers, from the 30-ton load capacity two linked-track Vityaz vehicles to 0.4-2 ton load capacity ZZGT vehicles.
Bombardier has been in the snowcat business from 1961 but has radically altered its business model and product selection. Bombardier sold over 3,000 of its popular snow bus models which are still in use today and in popular demand by dedicated collectors. Bombardier sold its snow groomer business to Camoplast in 2004 who in turn sold to it to Leitner Group/Prinoth in 2005.
By 1964, Prinoth was mass-producing the P15 snow groomer. [10]
Finland companies Formatic (from 1970 to 2008) and Keiteleen Latukone Oy were purchased by Kässbohrer in 2008. [11]
In 1972 Japanese Ohara snow groomers worked the Sapporo Winter Olympic Games.
Kässbohrer began producing the widely-used PistenBully starting in the early 1970s, with 10,000 sold by the mid 1990s. They launched the first 100% electric snow groomer in 2019. [12]
Starting in the 1990s Italy's Favero Snow Tech made compact F170 and Snow Rabbit models. [13]
Also in the 1990s Zaugg of Switzerland began offering tracked half-pipe groomers. [14]
From 1995 VMC Right Track and then UTV International have manufactured tracked vehicles.
From a market size of $372 million in 2021, the global snow groomer production may exceed $468 million by 2030. [15] [16]
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Bombardier Inc. is a Canadian business jet manufacturer. Headquartered in Montreal, the company was founded in 1942 by Joseph-Armand Bombardier to market his snowmobiles and became one of the world's biggest producers of aircraft and trains.
A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow.
BRP Inc. is a Canadian manufacturer of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, side by sides, motorcycles, and personal watercraft. It was founded in 2003, when the Recreational Products Division of Bombardier Inc. was spun off and sold to a group of investors consisting of Bain Capital, the Bombardier-Beaudoin family and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Bombardier Inc., was founded in 1942 as L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée by Joseph-Armand Bombardier at Valcourt in the Eastern Townships, Quebec.
The Tucker Sno-Cat is a family of tracked vehicles for snow conditions, manufactured in Medford, Oregon by the company of the same name.
Thiokol was an American corporation concerned initially with rubber and related chemicals, and later with rocket and missile propulsion systems. Its name is a portmanteau of the Greek words for sulfur and glue, an allusion to the company's initial product, Thiokol polymer.
A piste is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports.
Snow grooming is the process of manipulating snow for recreational uses with a tractor, snowmobile, piste caterpillar, truck or snowcat towing specialized equipment. The process is used to maintain ski hills, cross-country ski trails and snowmobile trails by grooming the snow on them. A variation of the technique is used to construct snow runways in Antarctica.
A snow coach is a specialized passenger transport vehicle designed to operate over snow or ice, similar to a large, multi-passenger snowcat equipped with bus-style seating. These vehicles may have multiple sets of massive, low-pressure tires, or they may have tracks. Snow coaches may seat ten or more passengers and are often used for sightseeing tours or over-snow transportation.
Hunter Mountain is a ski resort located in Greene County, New York about three hours northwest of New York City in the town of Hunter, New York. It features a 1,600-foot (488 m) vertical drop.
The Aktiv Grizzly was a dual-track snowmobile made by Aktiv Maskin Östersund AB in Sweden from 1979 to 1991. The Grizzly is still recognized as one of the best dual-track snowmobiles in the world. The snowmobile's tracks covered almost one square meter, making it well suited for use in deep snow. Similar dual-track snowmobiles include Bombardiers Ski-Doo Alpine, Ski-Doo Alpine 2 and Ockelbo 8000. Currently two dual-track snowmobile are in production, one in Russia under the name "Buran" and one in Italy, "Alpina Sherpa".
The Snow Trac is a small personal Snowcat that is roughly the size of a modern compact car. Aktiv Snow Trac were manufactured in Sweden between 1957 and 1981, with additional vehicles manufactured in Scotland.
Logan Manufacturing Company was a US manufacturer of snowcats that ceased operation in 2000. LMC is both the tradename and an acronym.
Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke GmbH was a German vehicle manufacturer in Ulm. Its products were buses, coaches, vehicle transporters, trailers and special vehicles like snow groomer vehicles. The group broke up in 1995 due to economic problems and was acquired by Daimler Truck, which continues to produce under the brand name Setra.
Neumayer Station III, also known as Neumayer III after geophysicist Georg von Neumayer, is a German Antarctic research station of the Alfred-Wegener-Institut. It is located on the approximately 200 metres (660 ft) thick Ekström Ice Shelf several kilometres south of Neumayer Station II. The station's assembly kit was transported to its current position early in November 2007. It is moving with the shelf ice at about 157 meters (515 ft) per year towards the open sea.
Aktiv was a trademark of Swedish Aktiv Maskin Östersund ltd. The company started producing agriculture machines and tracked vehicles. It sold its agriculture division to Electrolux and changed its focus to tracked vehicles in 1980. The company went out of business in 1991.
Prinoth is an Italian manufacturer of snow groomers and tracked utility vehicles. The company's headquarters are located in Sterzing, South Tyrol, Italy.
Camso Inc., formerly known as Camoplast Solideal, is a Canadian company that is a manufacturer and service supplier of products for off-the-road vehicles. They serve the material handling, construction, agriculture and powersport industries. Camso manufactures and distributes pneumatic, airless and solid tires, tracks, driven and trailed conversion track systems and OEM undercarriages. The company was founded in 1982, and is based in Magog, Quebec, Canada. It also has branches and manufacturing plants in America, Asia and Europe. Camso research centers are in Magog, Ghent, Colombo, Shanghai, and Ho Chi Minh City, and has a global workforce of more than 8000 employees.
This glossary of skiing and snowboarding terms is a list of definitions of terms and jargon used in skiing, snowboarding, and related winter sports.
Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG is a specialized vehicle manufacturer based in Laupheim, Germany. It is the worldwide market leader in snow grooming and sand cleaning machines marketed under the brands PistenBully and BeachTech.
