AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com
THERE WAS a time not all that long ago when a mountain snowmobile was simply a trail sled with a longer track. But these days, mountain sleds have become much more specialized. They now have a lot of mountain specific features, like deep snow powder intakes, altimeters and powder tracks.
One area that has greatly improved in recent years is running board design. In deep snow the running boards often quickly fill up with snow and before long a rider can be forced to stop and clean them off to cut weight. Or you may need to clean them because you’re slipping around so much on the snow and ice that build up on the boards.
The trick with running boards is a design that will provide traction while at the same time allowing snow to clear out before it turns to ice.
Polaris and Arctic Cat running boards both provide great traction, but can be prone to holding snow on their tops. The long raised edges atop a running board often hold the snow.
On the other hand, Ski-Doo’s boards provide less traction under most circumstances, but are easiest at allowing the snow to clean out. This is because there are only small upward edges that can hold snow and much of the running board has downward edges making it easy to stomp snow through.
Progress continues to be made on the board front, but it’s an area of ever changing technology and design experimentation.