A new line of snowmobiles in 2012 helped drive up Arctic Cat's income.

A lineup full of new snowmobile models plus strong sales of all-terrain vehicles helped Arctic Cat exceed analysts’ expectations for yearly sales and earnings. The Minnesota-based maker of snowmobiles and ATVs reported a 26 percent increase in net sales and a 130 percent increase in net income for Arctic Cat’s just completed fiscal year.

For the year-ended March 31, Arctic Cat reported sales of $585.3 million versus sales of $464.7 million for the previous year, and earnings of $29.9 million, up from $13.0 million. Analysts were expecting sales for the year of $579.5 million.

In the company’s earnings release, Arctic Cat President and CEO Claude Jordan said “double-digit sales gains in our snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicle segments were fueled by the introduction of innovative products and technologies,” which included the new ProCross and ProClimb snowmobiles, and Wildcat side-by-side vehicle.

Arctic Cat’s 2012 model line-up helped drive snowmobiles sales up 38 percent to $250.4 million compared to $182.0 million in the previous year. Arctic Cat says it had five of the top 10-selling snowmobile models for the 2012 model year.

The company’s outlook for the 2013 fiscal year assumes industry-wide ATV and snowmobile sales in North America will be flat to down 5 percent, and flat to up 2 percent, respectively.

In light of yesterday’s news about this season’s ISOC Pro Open snocross champion switching to a different snowmobile race team for next season, it seems appropriate for this week’s Friday’s Fast Five to be about other racers who made blockbuster defections to other brands or teams.

Tim Tremblay switched Ski-Doo snocross race teams this week.

1. Tim Tremblay — Warnert Racing to Scheuring Speed Sports
On the heels of winning the ISOC Pro Open class championship in March, Ski-Doo racer Tim Tremblay is jumping ship from Warnert Racing to Scheuring Speed Sports. This move is interesting because with the switch, Tremblay doesn’t change brands and goes to a team that is, arguably, of the same caliber of management and resources. Both Warnert and Scheuring are independent, but well-funded snowmobile race teams.

2. Blair Morgan — Arctic Cat to Ski-Doo
No. 7c changed snocross racing when his stand-up riding style made him virtually unbeatable in the late 1990s. Known as “Superman” for flying over finish-line jumps with his feet extended off the back of his Arctic Cat race sleds, Blair Morgan signed with Ski-Doo before the 2001-02 race season and continued his domination. Looking back, Ski-Doo’s acquisition of Morgan made perfect sense as the rider-forward REV chassis that worked so well for stand-up riding debuted that season in the Pro Open class.

In 2006, Corey Davidson ran his first I-500 cross-country race on a snowmobile not built by Polaris.

3. Corey Davidson — Polaris to Yamaha
Nobody would’ve ever guessed that Corey Davidson, a lifelong Polaris cross-country and enduro racer, would jump ship to another brand — much less Yamaha, but he went international and inked a deal with Yamaha before the 2006 race season. Davidson lives in Holt, Minnesota, which is near the United States/Canadian border and about 50 miles from the Polaris snowmobile factory.

4. Robbie Malinoski — Arctic Cat to Yamaha to Polaris and now with Ski-Doo
Robbie Malinoski is one of only three snowmobile racers to win both a Pro Open and Pro Stock snocross championship in the same season. His career started on Arctic Cat and then in a shocking move he jumped over Yamaha in the 2007-08 season, where he was the first — and only — person to win a snocross final on a four-stroke. After a challenging campaign for Blue, Malinoski moved to Polaris and now rides Ski-Doo MX Zx sleds for Scheuring Speed Sports.

He was always an odds-on favorite to win. Blair Morgan changed snocross racing with his stand-up driving style.

5. Toni Haikonen — Ski-Doo to Arctic Cat
Toni “The Flying Finn” Haikonen switched from Ski-Doo to Arctic Cat shortly before the 1999-2000 snocross season started. Following a great snocross career for Ski-Doo and several near-wins in the I-500 cross-country race, Haikonen would file in as the No. 2 driver on Team Arctic behind Blair Morgan. Unfortunately for Haikonen and Arctic Cat, he turned in disappointing results on ZR Sno Pro sleds.

What snowmobile racing team or brand switcheroos do you think were the most surprising? Talk about it in the ‘comments’ section below.

Quebec native Tim Tremblay has been signed by the Scheuring Speed Sports race team based out of Aurora, Minnesota, leaving the Warnert Racing Team with which he won the International Series Of Champions (ISOC) Amsoil Snocross Championship Pro Open points title this past winter.

Tim Tremblay is switching snowmobile racing teams, two months after winning the national points title.

The move comes as a surprise to most observers, yet it has several limiting factors that keep it from being a blockbuster move. First, Tremblay, 25, stays on Ski-Doo snowmobiles, so no brand switch is in play. Secondly, he’s moving from one super team to another, so it’s not a dramatic move up or down the snocross team pecking order.

Still, to have a points champion announce a team switch less than two months after earning the national title is attention getting. He also joins an expanding team – according to the Scheuring Speed Sports press release (below), it is keeping both of its Pro drivers, the popular and strong veteran Robbie Malinoski (third in points this year) and the Pro Rookie of the Year, New York-native Darrin Mees.

From Ste-Jeanne-D’arc, Quebec, Tremblay burst on the scene a few years ago and claimed a Semi-Pro Open points title in the 2008-09 ISOC season for the Warnert team before jumping to the classes in 2009-10. Once there, he immediately made his mark, winning the Pro Super Stock championship and finishing third in Pro Open. The following season (2010-11) Tremblay finished third in points in Pro Super Stock and Pro Open.

For the 2011-12 season, ISOC narrowed the Pros to one class – Pro Open – and Tremblay shined. He won four ISOC nationals (in Shakopee, Minnesota; Pontiac, Michigan; and two finals at Fargo, North Dakota) as well as high-profile victories at unaffiliated events – the Eagle River World Championship Snowmobile Derby and the Grand Prix de Valcourt.

It will be interesting to see how the high-quality Warnert Racing team fills the hole Tremblay is leaving. Here’s the press release from Scheuring:

Champion Tim Tremblay will come off of the Foremost Insurance Warnert Racing snowmobile and move to the Scheuring Amsoil/Rockstar/U.S. Air Force Ski-Doo.

Aurora, MN (May 9, 2012) Steve Scheuring, owner of Scheuring Speed Sports, is pleased to announce the signing of defending AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series Pro Open champion Tim Tremblay. The two time Pro Champion will join the reigning Team of the Year for the 2012-13 ACSS tour, racing out of the AMSOIL/Ski-Doo trailer alongside top pro riders Robbie Malinoski (third overall in points) and Pro Rookie of the Year Darrin Mees.

“With the addition of Tim to our race team, and with Robbie and Darrin already on board, we will be a force to be reckoned with this year,” said Scheuring.

For Tremblay, the move is one he believes will bring continued success and stabil­ity as he enters the prime of his career.

“Steve Scheuring has a true professional race team and his team never stops working on being better, and that is the team I want to race for,” said Tremblay. “The AMSOIL/U.S. Air Force/Rockstar/Ski-Doo sleds they put together came out of the holeshot strong at every race last year. And the way the Fox Shox handled the rough national tracks was impressive. I am excited to race for Scheuring Speed Sports and still stay with a great company like Ski-Doo.”

Since moving back to Ski-Doo, the AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports team has been one of the most consistent race teams on the national circuit, finishing with two riders in the top five in points last year.

“Ski-Doo is a great company with a rich history of racing and winning,” said Scheuring. “We are constantly sharing ideas with the race group to develop and improve future products that will make there way to the consumer’s snowmobiles.”

The official unveiling of the new-look AMSOIL/U.S. Air Force/Rockstar/Ski-Doo team will take place at the annual Sno-Baron’s Grass Drags September 8-9, 2012.

For continuing information visit www.scheuring-speedsports.com

Many snowmobilers and other friends of snow and cold weather will say that the winter of 2011-12 is the winter that never was. That was true across most of the Snowbelt, but that couldn’t prevent the crack(ed?) staff of Snow Goer from getting out to test and photograph snowmobiles and a bunch of hard parts, helmets, jackets, gloves, traction products, jackets and other snowmobile accessories — all for stories that will appear in issues of Snow Goer magazine this fall and on SnowGoer.com.

We also got out and explored some or our favorite riding areas, and we visited a few places that weren’t so familiar to us. More time on the freeways, extra nights in hotels and many gallons of fuel was required to do our work this winter, but we’re excited to show the photographs and write about our experiences from the trail.

Here is a collection of shots that we took while snowmobiling this winter. Most of them are pictures of aftermarket parts and apparel that we evaluated for the Cold Tested department, but we threw in a few photos of friends and co-workers to show the “scenery and people” side of our job, too. Click through the photos to get a glimpse of what aftermarket product tests and travel stories you’ll soon be able to read in Snow Goer magazine and on SnowGoer.com. Scroll down to leave comments or questions.

Team Arctic won many races on Arctic Cat ZR 440 snowmobiles.

1. Arctic Cat ZR This one was an easy choice, and all Cat would have to do is change the vinyl on the Sno Pro 500 — which would actually make it a ZR 500. Even though the ZR 500 was an over-achiever in terms of engine performance, we’re bigger fans of the ZR 440 because it wasn’t built for the masses like the 1998-2002 ZR 500. The old ZR 440s — 1993 to 1997 — were hero sleds, and a re-badged Sno Pro 500 could be a hero, too, with some refinements.

2. Ski-Doo Nordic BRP’s snowmobile division has more utility models in its lineup than Motley Crue had groupies. There are Skandics, Expeditions and Tundras. The Nordic name evokes images of a brawny, rugged northerner — Scandinavia, in fact — so why not throw back 40 years to a once popular Ski-Doo model and replace the Tundra Xtreme with Nordic Xtreme?

3. Polaris TX-L Polaris brought back the Indy name for 2013 and based it on an existing platform, but the new Polaris TX-L would be an entirely new snowmobile. It should have a liquid-cooled engine — the reason for the ‘L’ — in the 80- to 100-horsepower range, and a smaller chassis with reduced suspension travel that will lower it for better handing. To reduce weight and size, and to bump up the cool factor by being different, spin a 14- by 116-inch track around the rear suspension.

A 4-banger, the 1992 Yamaha Vmax-4 won the Snow Goer Snowmobile of the Year award.

4. Yamaha Vmax-4 This snowmobile is currently being built, but it’s more widely known as the Yamaha Apex. The key trait of the Vmax-4 was its four-cylinder engine, and the Yamaha Apex has a four-cylinder, four-stroke engine — so maybe it should be called the Vmax-4² instead. Just like with the new ZR that Arctic Cat should build, all Yamaha would have to do is change the graphics on a current model and roll it out to the masses.

5. Ski-Doo Formula S or SLS The MX Z nameplate might be the most over-used label in all of snowmobiling.  There are four MX Z platforms — X-RS, X, TNT and Sport — and six engine choices in Ski-Doo’s 2013 lineup, so why not reduce the lineup and make the MX Z Sport models Formula models instead? The liquid-cooled versions — 600 Carb and ACE 600 — would be the SLS models and the 550 Fan would be a Formula S.

What model name would you like to see your favorite snowmobile manufacturer use again? Leave your comments below.

That pink color scheme on the 1993 Arctic Cat Thundercat drew unfavorable reviews from some owners who responded to a survey from Snow Goer magazine.

The musclesled class was starting to gain speed — literally and figuratively — during the early 1990s, and the 1993 Arctic Cat Thundercat led the league in displacement with a 900cc triple-cylinder engine. Other class competitors in 1993 were the Polaris Indy Storm that had a 750cc triple-triple, Ski-Doo’s Mach Z had a 780cc triple-triple with RAVE variable exhaust, and Yamaha’s 750cc Vmax 4 had four cylinders that fed into two exhaust pipes.

The reed-inducted Suzuki that powered the Arctic Cat Thundercat had three, 38mm Mikuni carburetors and a set of triple-tuned exhaust pipes that bellered a wicked note when it blazed across a lake. Output was in the neighborhood of 160 hp.

The 1993 Arctic Cat Thundercat was built on the then-new AWS III chassis with a 39-inch ski stance and 7 inches of suspension travel up front. The rear end had the FasTrack rear suspension — first introduced on some 1992 Arctic Cat snowmobiles — with 8.5 inches of travel.

Snow Goer magazine conducted an owners’ survey about the 1993 Arctic Cat Thundercat and published the results in the February 1994 issue. As expected, the most talked about feature of the Thundercat was its engine. With 5 being the top grade a category could achieve, the Thundercat scored a 4.9 in both acceleration and top-speed categories. Throttle response scored a 4.8 out of 5.

“[It’s] a factory-built stock sled that goes over 100 mph without putting on pipes, polish, porting, cutting heads and walking home a lot. I really liked the performance this sled delivers,” wrote John Green of Viroqua, Wisconsin. “There is no wonder about the thunder here.”

Oddly, the Thundercat speedometer registered up to only 100 mph, so riders had to estimate their machine’s top speed. When Snow Goer tallied the survey respondents’ results, the average top speed was 118 mph, even though speed-runner Jim Dimmerman set a snowmobile speed world record of 113 mph in 1993 on a Thundercat. Hmmm …

Along with the 1993 Arctic Cat ZR race sleds that debuted in the fall of 1992, the Thundercat also used the super-sticky Wilwood hydraulic brake for Arctic Cat, and owners raved about it. “This brake could stop a tornado in the sky,” Green said. “Everyone that drove [my sled] loved it.”

Owners described the Thundercat chassis as solid, safe and stable, which is especially important to bring it down from the high speeds that the Thundercat could reach. “I was really impressed at how well it handled in all conditions,” said Alan Schroeder of Morris, Manitoba.

Some of the sled’s stability was due to its weight, which was reportedly near 600 pounds. “The overall feel of the sled I really enjoyed. It handles very well …” said Milton Flickinger of Annville, Pennsylvania. “I do wish there was a way to drop 50 pounds off the sled.” Another owner said it was difficult to move the sled when loading or moving it in his garage.

There’s no doubt that the 1993 Thundercat was an instant classic because of its behemoth engine and bright pink graphics, and it was part of a golden era of snowmobiling. By the early 2000s, the triple-triples had passed out of fashion as snowmobilers were clamoring for machines powered by lightweight, twin-cylinder engines. Arctic Cat ceased production of the Thundercat snowmobile after the 2002 model year, but the name recently enjoyed a resurgence as part of Arctic Cat’s 2008-10 ATV lineup.

Which 2013 snowmobile do you think will be a classic 20 years from now? Post your comments below.

A full spread was devoted to the Thundercat in the 1993 Arctic Cat snowmobiles brochure .

Mmmm... is there anything better than a bag of jerky when out riding?

(1)    Jerky – Some on our staff wanted to narrow this down to beef jerky, but there’s no reason to be so limiting. Just this year at Rode Reports, we snacked on buffalo jerky on Monday, turkey jerky on Tuesday, beef jerky on Wednesday then back to buffalo on Thursday while out looking for sasquatch. No, this message is not sponsored by Jack Link’s, but if they wanted to be our official jerky supplier, that would save us a ton of money at convenience stores.  Plus, associate editor Tom Kaiser kind of looks like sasquatch…

(2)    Chocolate-based candy bar – A mostly-frozen Snickers bar is a joy to pull out of the backpack on a cold winter day. Yes, it really satisfies (hey, there’s another sponsorship package available here – quick, somebody find out who the marketing schmuck is at Mars Incorporated). But when we brought up the Snickers option around here, suddenly one staffer wanted to replace it with Rolos, also very good when cold. Score and Heath bars were mentioned next, followed by 3Musketeers (which, personally, I think are only good frozen – I never liked them at room temperature and would always trade them when they ended up in my Halloween bag). Either way, visit the candy counter when you stop for the two “ines” (gasoline and caffeine) on the way to your favorite snowmobiling destination.

A frozen Snickers bar really satisfies... honest!

(3)    Leftover Pizza – We’re not kidding here. That same great taste that made cold pizza so appealing when you were in college or living on your own (in other words, before you became “domesticated”) is still there.

(4)    Protein bars – Crunchy peanut butter Clif Bars, , Power Bars, Zone Perfect bars, Now Energy bars or our new personal favorite – the regionally distributed Tram and Grizzly bars from Wyoming-based Kate’s Real Food – are a great way to get a good-tasting burst of energy that really does fill you up. At about $3+ a crack, they don’t come cheap. Penny pinchers may want to opt for the breakfast cereal bars or chewy granola bars.

(5)    Pre-made Sandwiches – Take a cue from the kids’ soccer practice and field trips and pack some pre-made sandwiches on your next trip. We fell in love with the Smuckers Uncrustables on some ATV riding trips last summer, and found they are really good cold, too. They pack easily and, for some reason, taste really good when you’re far from home or beside a trail, despite being boring as hell when you eat one at home – the way White Castle sliders taste great at bar closing time, but horrible when you’re sober. Hey, there’s another marketing possibly: “Try Uncrustables — the trailside sliders.”

With a name like Uncrustables, they've gotta be good -- at least, when you're far from home.

Cable Willford runs his Yamaha FX Nytro MTX at a snowmobile hillclimb race in Idaho.

Yamaha is celebrating its history-making top-three finish in hillclimb competition. Cable Willford put his Yamaha FX Nytro MTX snowmobile on the podium recently at a Rocky Mountain Snowmobile Hillclimb Association (RMSHA) race in Idaho. He was the first racer to drive a four-stroke snowmobile to a podium finish. Here are excerpts from the press release from Yamaha:

Pleasant Prairie, WIS. — Aboard an FX Nytro MTX, Cable Willford became the first person in history to race a four-stroke snowmobile to a podium finish in RMSHA hillclimb competition at Schweitzer Mountain Resort in Sandpoint, Idaho. The feat happened on April 14.

With a blazing run of 1:02.937, Willford topped six other pro drivers for the position while also giving Yamaha its first RMSHA podium in recent years. Willford and teammate Kody Malmborg both put their Yamahas into the finals in seven different classes on Saturday, ultimately earning three more top-five finishes along the way. Simply put, the season-ender in Idaho was Yamaha’s strongest and most dramatic hillclimb showing this year, serving notice that its four-stroke snowmobile technology can match the best competing two-strokes.

About a quarter-mile long with 500 feet of vertical gain, the run at Schweitzer Mountain was shorter than some hillclimbs, but it included a series of technical challenges including tight hairpin turns through the trees and lift towers. Mastering these rapid-fire challenges required equal measures of power and handling, along with a boondocking-style technique that rewarded driver skill. Willford and Malmborg both rose to the challenge on Friday, each qualifying their FX Nytro MTX snowmobiles in five classes.

RMSHA racing is perhaps the most concentrated form of snowmobile competition — drivers get only one chance to qualify and then a single final run. When Willford lined his FX Nytro MTX up for the 600 Mod final, two racers had already run up the mountain and put good times on the clock. But Willford had a good start and then jumped the course’s downhill section — which many drivers simply rolled — picking up more time. From there, Willford blasted through the corners and maintained as much speed as he could on his way up the mountain, setting the third-fastest time in class to earn the historic podium finish.

“After my run we had some tense moments waiting for the other racers to make their runs up the hill, and we had a giant celebration when my time held up,” Willford said. “It was a very rewarding moment and it put the competition on notice that we are here and getting better. This is definitely a building block to competing for overall wins.

Share your comments about this story below.

This week’s category: Five must-have accessories for a 1995 Polaris Indy XLT Special. You can’t let your sled look like the 704,637 other XLTs on the trail, so customize it like the other 609,845 people did.  Here’s what we suggest:

It's a blank canvas... what will YOU add to the XLT?

1. A pile of colored plastic crap  – That’s right, snap on your purple Rad Covers and running board trim, peel off the backing and stick on running board pads and bolt on the skid plate. You’ve quickly gone from a stock look to all-out obnoxious in three easy steps.
2. Snow Glows  – Oh wait, there’s more. If you really want to take your sled to “the next level,” Snow Glows neon light tubes need to be wired in and hung beneath the running boards. Nothing screamed “LOOK AT ME!”  better in the 1990s than the Snow Glows. Matching leathers with checkered flag embroidery add another 10 mph, at least.
3. Tinted Headlight Cover – Why keep it legal? The colored headlight covers that were so popular back then looked great, until your sled was wrapped around a tree because you couldn’t see where in the hell you were going.
4. Triple Pipes – Add noise and lose horsepower. The noise was a given, but if you didn’t dial in your jetting and clutching, many riders also went slower with the pipes in place. But hey, they sounded faster, and closed some trails.
5. A ”Piss On Arctic Cat” Calvin Sticker –  If you had a Polaris, you hated Arctic Cat, and vice-versa. Calvin was always looking for something to urinate on at the time, so why not?

So, that’s our list for today’s Friday Fast Five. What are your suggestions? Use the comment box below.

If you rode a Polaris, you hated the Cat guys, so wear it proudly.

We can’t speak for other magazines or websites, but Snow Shoot is one of the Snow Goer staff’s most-anticipated events of the year because it gives us a valuable opportunity to evaluate the new technology and designs — not to mention, we get to ride new snowmobiles! This year’s event was held in West Yellowstone, Montana, near Yellowstone National Park.

All of the action photos of 2013 snowmobiles you’ll see in Snow Goer magazine and on SnowGoer.com this season were taken at Snow Shoot, and our comparison stories and evaluations are based on rides we took during four days of testing.

While Snow Goer editors are riding and evaluating snowmobiles on trails and in the backcountry during Snow Shoot, a separate group of riders works under the instruction of Snow Goer Art Director Randy Kepner — riding in front of the lenses of photographer Wayne Davis.

Davis shot more than 4,000 digital images at the event last month. Click through the slide show to see brothers Adam and Mitch Brummond, Snow Goer ad sales director Mark Rosacker, factory personnel and even Kepner himself making the 2013 Arctic Cat, Polaris, Ski-Doo and Yamaha snowmobiles look so exciting and fun.