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A snowmobile, also known as a sled or a snowmachine , is a 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. Snowmobiles generally accommodate two people, similarly to motorcycles or all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), though special snowmobiles designed for mountain riding/deep snow travel typically have a smaller seat for one person. They do not have any enclosures, except for a windshield, and their engines normally drive a continuous track or tracks at the rear. Skis at the front provide directional control. Early snowmobiles used rubber tracks, but modern snowmobiles' tracks are typically made of a Kevlar composite. Originally, snowmobiles were powered by two-stroke gasoline internal combustion engines and since the mid-2000s Four-stroke engines have also entered the market. The second half of the 20th century saw the rise of recreational snowmobiling, whose riders are called ''snowmobilers.'' Recreational riding is known as snowcross/racing, trail riding, freestyle, mountain climbing, boondocking, carving, ditchbanging and grass drags. In the summertime snowmobilers can drag race on grass, asphalt strips, or even across water (''see Snowmobile skipping''). Snowmobiles are sometimes modified to compete in long-distance offroad races such as Trevor Erickson's #901 entry in the 2014 Vegas to Reno race ((see "Snowmobile to Reno") ) == Introduction == The challenges of cross-country transportation in the winter led to the invention of the snowmobile, an all-terrain vehicle specifically designed for travel across deep snow where other vehicles floundered. During the 20th century, rapidly evolving designs produced machines that were two-person tracked vehicles powered by gas engines that enabled them to tow a sled or travel, initially at low-to-moderate speeds, depending on snow conditions, terrain and obstacles protruding above the snow like brush and trees. Where early designs had two-stroke engines, there has been a move toward newer style 2-stroke and 4-stroke gasoline engines, some with over . In 1915 Ray H. Muscott of Waters, Michigan, received a Canadian patent for his motor sleigh, or "traineau automobile", and on June 27, 1916, he received the first United States patent for a snow-vehicle using the now recognized format of rear track(s) and front skis. Many individuals later modified Ford Model Ts with the undercarriage replaced by tracks and skis following this design. They were popular for rural mail delivery for a time. The common name for these conversion of cars and small trucks was Snowflyers.〔("Snowflyers Replace Dogs in Frozen North" ''Popular Mechanics'', December 1934 )〕 David Johnson, partnered with Paul Knochenmus, and Orlen Johnson, decided to make the first snowmobile. In 1954 they finished the first concept snowmobile, designed to make hunting more accessible. They decided it was good enough to show to their company's CEO, Edgar Hatteen, to back mass production, but Edgar was skeptical of its value and turned it down. So they sold it to a lumber yard for $465. However they were still determined to make the first commercial snowmobile. The second concept snowmobile rolled off the assembly line in 1956; they called it the Polaris Sno Traveler. The original models weighed over and had a top speed of about . In order to publicize it and show its reliability, Edgar led three snowmobilers on a trip through the Alaskan wilderness. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Snowmobile」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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