Though snowmobiling is in broad economic terms a niche, highly regional, highly weather-dependent, market, it is, as a pastime, an integral part of rural northern Michigan’s winter tourism economy, and outdoorsy culture.
Two of the big four snowmobile companies are folding up shop after this year. The economic headwinds contributing to industry uncertainty (for snowmobiles, and the larger powersports sector) are various.
Well-known brand Arctic Cat announced in December it would stop building new snowmobiles sometime in early 2025, citing soft consumer demand. Ironically, a snowy winter has given riders in Michigan more chances to ride the trails as manufacturers survey a changing landscape.
By the trailhead near Starvation Lake
In a part of Michigan called the snowbelt for how it gets dumped on with lake-effect snow from Lake Michigan, snowmobiles outnumber wheeled vehicles in the parking lot of the Hideaway Bar. Inside the wood-paneled watering hole with football on every television, Curtis Goings is dressed, like nearly every other bar patron, in thickly insulated overalls. His matching snowmobile-riding coat hangs from the back of his barstool while he waits for his food. He’s an Indiana resident here with his friends as a snowmobile tourist on their first return trip to these parts in two years.
“We got a group of about ten of us. We’re always out there drag racing. We’re always out there having a good time,” Goings said.
Snowmobiling is a thrill. The speed, the fresh air, the beauty of the outdoors.
“This whole week we’ve been up here we’ve had beautiful weather,” said Goings. “But the time before that, we couldn’t come up because they didn’t have snow.”
Last winter, there was barely any snow across much of the Midwest — which together with Canada makes up the cradle of the snowmobile sales market. The year before wasn’t great either, snow-wise. The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA) says out of the entire United States and Canada, only Minnesota, Wisconsin and Quebec are home to more registered snowmobiles than Michigan.
It’s not uncommon for a snowmobile rider to ride 50-100 miles in a day, or more. The sense of freedom, speed and power of operating a snowmobile also requires precaution and responsibility, because of the risk of injury or death. The rider is only separated from the uncaring frozen earth, or tall strong trees, by the sled below, a helmet and winter gear. There is no seatbelt, no cockpit enclosure. It’s really fun.
With snow piled high across the snowbelt now, Goings’ gang won’t waste the opportunity.
“Oh no,” Goings said. “We’re doing more riding tonight.”
After a hot meal they hop on their sleds and rip down the trail again.
Snowmobil-e-conomics
People who make and sell snowmobiles are just as dependent on the weather.
“It’s the gravy train when snow hits,” said Lenny Sims, Vice President of Specialty Vehicles at J.D. Power and Associates. “If it's a good winter, the snowmobile market does pretty well. When it doesn't, it's a struggle."
Sims said sales also did well during the height of the pandemic, when consumers were demanding ways to get outdoors and do something fun. Now, Arctic Cat’s parent company Textron says demand is down, and it's pausing production at Arctic Cat, to consider “strategic alternatives” in the powersports market -- which includes not just snowmobiles, but the kinds of side-by-side and off-road-vehicles.
Aside from low snow years, inflation, high interest rates and other expenses might be some of the reasons why demand seems slumping.
“[Consumers] are facing all of these other increasing factors and the pie is only so big for discretionary income,” said Jamie Katz, equity analyst at the investment research firm Morningstar.
Katz said consumers in 2025 seem to be more hesitant to finance a major purchase, and are being careful about looking for deals rather than splurging. A brand-new snowmobile can cost upwards of $20,000.
Though the snowmobile market has its fair share of hardcore enthusiasts, a well-maintained snowmobile can easily last a decade. Even relatively serious riders might not feel pressed to buy new, very often.
“There's nothing on the new sleds that's any better than what I have on my own sled,” said Karen Mittendorf, Executive Director of the Michigan Snowmobile and Off-road Vehicle Association. She said she rides a 2014 model-year snowmobile.
“For me to go out and spend $25,000 on a new sled doesn't make a lot of sense,” Mittendorf said.
ISMA says sales of snowmobiles have ranged from roughly 100-150,000 sleds sold annually for about a decade — stable, but far from the nearly quarter-million new snowmobiles manufacturers sold annually in the late-’90s.
According to the association, the average snowmobile rider is 54 years old, and spends about $2,500 on snowmobiling expenses per year. The small businesses catering to snowmobilers and their need for parts, gas, food and lodging, benefit.
Dan De La Rosa, Hideaway co-owner, said the bar has been helped by the growth in popularity of side-by-sides, and off-road vehicles — other ways locals and tourists alike can enjoy Michigan’s multi-use trails, sans snow. But the snowmobile season is still crucial to revenue.
“This is a snowmobile bar,” De La Rosa said. “Come here on a Saturday, I’ll be working the door. I put a bonfire pit outside. We’ll be 50 deep outside waiting to get in.”
De La Rosa, agreed with Taylor’s analysis that snowmobile manufacturers over-anticipated continued pandemic-driven demand that has since softened.
Katz said rival companies Polaris and Ski-doo have been overwhelmingly dominating snowmobile sales. Arctic Cat and Yamaha were riding far behind. Yamaha announced plans to abandon the snowmobile market after this year back in 2023. Multi-billion dollar conglomerates like Textron, or Yamaha, no doubt have other products in other markets which generate far greater revenue, said Katz, and Bob Taylor, owner of Adventure Centre Arctic Cat near Marquette, Mi.
In late January, Taylor said his dealership was mostly hurting from a lack of snow. He said snowmobile dealers are offering rebates on recent model year sleds because, he said, manufacturers produced too many after the spike in sales during the pandemic. He also blamed the Biden administration for spending that he thinks contributed to inflation.
“This is going to take a couple of years to figure out, in my opinion,” Taylor said. "We’ve been doing this for 28 years. I wouldn’t want to be a new dealer doing this right now."
Taylor said he’s received assurances from Arctic Cat and Textron representatives that the company would continue to provide support for parts and service for existing customers. Textron declined an interview request for this story.
Taylor could get the snow he needs in one storm. But another open question for the future of snowmobiling is how it will be affected by climate change. Longtime Northern Michigan residents will tell you winters are milder, now.
“People who have only been around ten, 20 years might not notice the real differences, but people who've been around for decades see,” said Nancy Langston, an environmental historian and professor at Michigan Technological University. “Some winters are cold and snowy, some are warm. But on average, the trends are really changing.”
Langston said some scientific models forecast that climate change could increase snowfall in parts of Michigan, for a time, because of warmer temperatures contributing to a trend of less ice cover on the Great Lakes. More open water against cold winter winds is a recipe for lake-effect snow.
There’s still a chance another company could swoop in to buy Arctic Cat, and attempt to revive it. Taylor thinks there are interested parties. After all, snowmobile riders like James Bischer are a passionate bunch who go to great lengths to find snow.
“We’re from Ohio where we don’t get snow anymore,” Bischer said. “I think I got seven sleds?”
Bischer laughed, and said he’ll be keeping them for a while.
The telltale ripping sound of snowmobile engines echoes through the trees, and the almost pleasant oily stink of exhaust mixes with the icy air. Some snowmobilers openly worry about the future of their favored hobby. Riders are aging. Winters are changing. And fewer companies are making sleds for the next generation.
