I have seen the future of snowmobiling.
It’s a 7-year-old kid from Toronto, a 10-year-old from Old Forge, and a yet-unborn child from Grand Forks.
Three decades or so from now, these kids and others like them will be the snowmobile club members. They will be the people who buy the machines, clothes and other goods upon which an industry depends on. And they will be the ones who take their young families snowmobiling, thus perpetuating the sport you and I love so dearly.
This will be so because they fell in love with the sport because of the Arctic Cat ZR 200.
The newest youth snowmobile follows a tradition started with the 1971 Kitty Cat, the original kids’ sled, and continued with 2000 Z 120, a far more capable machine for young riders. Just as generations of riders fell in love with those machines, the new ZR 200 will be a beloved, seminal snowmobile for the next generation of sledders.
Only A LOT more so.
Because the ZR 200 is truly a “snowmobile” in a way that the Kitty and 120 weren’t. First, the 200 is legal to ride on trails, which gives it a versatility far greater than other youth models. Second, the small ZR is fully capable of riding in and through deep snow. And thirdly, the 200 is sized and powered to a level that will keep it fun and interesting for most kids even when they turn double-digit ages. (I should also add that adults will have an absolute hoot riding these things.)
It has real (hydraulic) brakes, CVT drive system, hand warmers and a host of custom accessories (with more to come).
All of this adds up to a machine that will bring more experiences to more kids in the full scope of what winter offers those who seek to explore it.
The future of snowmobiling has arrived in all its 200cc, fully suspended wonder. And that is why the ZR 200 is the ArcticInsider 2018 Snowmobile of the Year.
Thanks for reading.