Ski-Doo is a brand name of
snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, 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 ...
manufactured by
Bombardier Recreational Products (originally
Bombardier Inc.
Bombardier Inc. () is a Canadian business jet manufacturer. It was also formerly a manufacturer of commercial jets, public transport vehicles, trains, and recreational vehicles, with the last being spun-off as Bombardier Recreational Pro ...
before the spin-off). The Ski-Doo personal snowmobile brand is so iconic, especially in Canada, that it was listed in 17th place on the CBC's
The Greatest Canadian Invention list in 2007.
Ski-Doo also has its own range of
snowmobile suits.
History
The first ever Ski-Doo was launched in 1959 as a new invention created by
Joseph-Armand Bombardier. The original name was ''Ski-Dog'', but a
typographical error
A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling mistake) made in the typing of printed (or electronic) material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual type-setting (typography). ...
in a Bombardier brochure changed the name Ski-Dog to Ski-Doo.
The first Ski-Doos found customers with
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
,
trappers,
prospectors,
land surveyors and others who need to travel in snowy, remote areas. The largest success for the snowmobile came from sport enthusiasts, a market that opened the door to massive production of snowmobiles. This popularity led to ''skidoo'' (sometimes ''ski-doo''), with the derived verb ''skidooing'' (or ''ski-dooing''), becoming the traditional generic term for snowmobile in much of Canada.
In 1967 and 1968, Ski-Doos were used on the first indisputed overland expedition to reach the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
, lead by
Ralph Plaisted and including Bombardier's own
Jean-Luc Bombardier, reaching the pole on 19 April 1968.
[ ]
In early 2016, Ski-Doo announced that they were releasing an all-new line of engine/chassis fusion snowmobiles, most of which would be sporting
two-stroke engines with 800cc motors that were specifically designed for the newer snowmobiles. The company then announced that their new line of
model year
The model year (sometimes abbreviated "MY") is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured.
...
2017 snowmobiles would feature an 850cc motor known as the Rotax 850 E-Tec. The motor was redesigned with a new chassis, making the snowmobile both more agile and more responsive. Ski-Doo named this newer chassis/motor combination "Gen-4" and released it in several different models, such as the Summit, MXZ, and Renegade.
References
External links
{{wiktionary, Skidoo
Ski-Doo Forums* Ski-Doo.com
Ski-Doo Snowmobile model history
Bombardier Recreational Products
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1959
Snowmobile brands
Tracked vehicles
Vehicles introduced in 1959
1959 in Quebec