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A snowcat (a portmanteau of snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to move on 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 wild.
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] In the 1955–1958 Fuchs and Hillary Transantarctic Expedition, four modern snowcats were used, produced by the Tucker Sno-Cat Corporation of Medford, Oregon. These vehicles were highly modified for the purposes of the expedition.
The name "snowcat" originates from the 1946 trademark by Tucker Sno-Cat Corporation. 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.
Another early model was the Swedish made Aktiv Snow Trac of which 2265 were manufactured in Sweden between 1957 and 1981. NATO forces used the Snow Trac successfully during the Cold War between NATO and the USSR. Numerous accounts from Antarctica related successful use of the Snow Trac by research organizations such as A.N.A.R.E. in Antarctica.
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 in 2000. Thiokol's Imp, Super-Imp and Spryte were popular dual-track snowcats and Thiokol's production continued under DMC and LMC. The Spryte, sold later as 1200 and 1500 series machines, are still popular in commercial and industrial use, nearly 20 years after the end of their production runs. Many of these models are still in use in the commercial market and are popular as privately owned snowcats.
Between 1956 and 1968, KRISTI snowcat had a limited production of two-track snowcats in Colorado; it never became popular and ceased production with fewer than 200 total units produced.
In 1982, Aktiv Snow Trac ceased assembly when its engine supplier (Volkswagen) ceased production of its air-cooled engines in Europe. 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 and to a lesser degree in commerce having produced over 2200 total machines which saw popular use all over the globe.
Bombardier still continues in business but has radically altered its business model and product selection and sold its snow grooming division and no longer makes commercial snowcats. Bombardier sold over 3000 of its popular snow bus models which are still in use today and in popular demand by dedicated collectors; thousands of other Bombardier models were also produced as ski-slope and snowmobile trail groomers with the Bombi and BR100 to 180 series machines as notable units produced in high quantities. Bombardier Recreational Products still produces the Ski-Doo line of open ridge single-tracked personal snowmobiles.
Russia as one of the snowiest countries in the world has a wide range of snowcat producers, from the big 30-ton load capacity two linked-track Vityaz vehicles to 0.4-2 ton load capacity ZZGT vehicles.
The first 100% electric snow groomer was launched by Kässbohrer in June 2019. [3]
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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. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not require a road or trail, but most are driven on open terrain or trails. Snowmobiling is a sport that many people have taken on as a serious hobby. Common brand names in the United States include Arctic Cat, Polaris Inc. and Ski-Doo.
BRP Inc. is the holding company for Bombardier Recreational Products Inc., operating as BRP, 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.
Snow Cat may refer to:
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.
Kristi snowcats were 1950s/1960s tracked vehicles suitable for snow and other terrain and produced originally in Colorado and then later in Washington.
Logan Manufacturing Company was a US manufacturer of snowcats that ceased operation in 2000. LMC is both the tradename and an acronym.
Sno-Jet was a brand of snowmobile first produced in Quebec, Canada in 1965. They quickly proved popular and grew to be a well-selling line of snowmobiles until the early 1970s, helping usher the then-new sport of snowmobiling into Canada and the United States. The Glastron Boat Company acquired Sno-Jet in 1968. The company lost popularity after losing many races to Polaris colts. It was then sold to Kawasaki in 1976, who used the Sno-Jet name until 1980.
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.
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.
