Editing Snowmobile (section)

{{Short description|Land vehicle designed for travel on snow}}
[[File:SnowmobilesYellowstone.jpg|thumb|A snowmobile tour at [[Yellowstone National Park]]]]
[[File:First person view from a snowmobile driven by the FBI Hostage Rescue Team in Yellowstone National Park.webm|thumb|First person view of a snowmobile driven through [[Yellowstone National Park]].]]

A '''snowmobile''', also known as a '''snowmachine''' (chiefly Alaskan), '''motor sled''' (chiefly Canadian), '''motor sledge''', '''skimobile''', '''snow scooter''', or simply a '''sled''' is a [[Motor vehicle|motorized vehicle]] designed for winter travel and recreation on [[snow]].

Their engines normally drive a [[continuous track]] at the rear, while [[ski]]s at the front provide directional control. The earliest snowmobiles were powered by readily available industrial [[four-stroke engine|four-stroke]], [[air-cooled engine]]s. These would quickly be replaced by lighter and more powerful [[Two-stroke engine|two-stroke]] [[gasoline]] [[internal combustion engine]]s and since the mid-2000s [[four-stroke engine]]s had re-entered the market.

The challenges of cross-country transportation in the winter led to the invention of an all-terrain vehicle specifically designed for travel across deep snow where other vehicles foundered.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Smowest Magazines| title = Snowmachine| year = 2002| url = http://babel.uoregon.edu/slang/pub_search.lasso?&RecordIDNumber=13066&Process=detail01| access-date = 25 March 2009| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060830113422/http://babel.uoregon.edu/slang/pub_search.lasso?&RecordIDNumber=13066&Process=detail01| archive-date = 30 August 2006}}</ref>

{{As of|2003}}, the snowmobile market has been shared between the four large North American makers ([[Bombardier Recreational Products]] (BRP), [[Arctic Cat]], [[Yamaha Motor Corporation|Yamaha]], and [[Polaris Industries|Polaris]]) and some specialized makers like the Quebec-based AD Boivin, manufacturer of the Snow Hawk<ref name="Boivin">{{Cite web| url=http://www.snow-hawk.com| title=Snow Hawk| publisher=AD Boivin| access-date=2008-09-05| year=2003| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827231828/http://www.snow-hawk.com/| archive-date=2008-08-27}}</ref> and the European Alpina snowmobile.<ref name="Musée-stat">{{Cite web| url=http://www.fjab.qc.ca/en/content/motoneige/hautetbasdelindustrie.htm| title=Industry Highs and Lows| publisher=Musée J-Armand Bombardier| access-date=2007-04-23| year=2003| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127200248/http://www.fjab.qc.ca/en/content/motoneige/hautetbasdelindustrie.htm| archive-date=2007-01-27}}</ref><ref name="ISMA-stat">{{Cite web| url=http://www.snowmobile.org/facts_snfcts.asp| title=Snowmobiling Facts| publisher=International Snowmobile Manufacturers Associations| access-date=2007-04-23| year=2006| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701002116/http://www.snowmobile.org/facts_snfcts.asp| archive-date=2007-07-01}}</ref>

The second half of the 20th century saw the rise of recreational snowmobiling, whose riders are called ''snowmobilers'', ''sledders'', or ''slednecks''. Recreational riding is known as snowcross/racing, trail riding, freestyle, boondocking, ditchbanging and grass drags. In the summertime snowmobilers can [[drag racing|drag race]] on [[grass]], [[Asphalt concrete|asphalt]] strips, or even across water (as in [[snowmobile skipping]]).  Snowmobiles are sometimes modified to compete in long-distance [[off-road]] races.