Making a “Top Ten” list of my favorite snowmobiles for 2019 should be an easy task, right? While it is exciting to think about those upcoming deep days of white bliss and hanging a leg on that beautiful untouched sidehill, it is only August.
As I type this, it is literally 100 degrees F outside and snowmobiles are not quite on my radar just yet. I’ve been on a personal quest to avoid thinking about the next fun season whether it be dirt bikes, hunting or snowmobiling and trying to live in the moment and focus more on each day. I know a few friends that would benefit from this as they scour the pages of their 2019 model year brochures they picked up in March when they snow checked their newest obsession.
I started making a list based on which of the new models I had the most fun riding. The kind of fun that puts a smile on your face during the ride and you laugh inside your helmet because you’ve got the butterflies in your stomach, irregular heartbeat, kid-in-a-candy-store-feeling of excitement. Of course, not everyone has the same opinion and not everyone has the same skill set when it comes to riding style. It has always been interesting to me how different a brand or model can feel, just riding across an open meadow. This is a good thing though.
Variety is key and we have a slew of choices when it comes to picking our favorite snowmobile. Or ten of them. Obviously living in the West and riding in the mountains you learn quick that horsepower is king and the larger displacement models are my first choice. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time on a 600 class sled. Even the 200 class offering from Yamaha and Arctic Cat will make you want to be a kid again. Those things are a riot.
My top ten list of snowmobiles reads like this:
- Ski-Doo 850 Freeride 165
- Arctic Cat M 8000 Mountain Cat Alpha One 165
- Polaris 850 Pro RMK 155 2.6-inch
- Ski-Doo Summit X 850 165
- Arctic Cat M 8000 Hard Core 153
- Polaris Pro RMK 850 163 2.6-inch
- Arctic Cat M 8000 Mountain Cat 162
- Ski-Doo Summit 600 SP 154
- Arctic Cat M 6000 153
- Yamaha Snoscoot 200/Arctic Cat ZR 200