Awesome Snowmobiles

Ice-drifting in a Miata is a fun way to spend a day. The guys at Garage 54 had a different idea for driving a Mazda in the winter. Their plan? Take the front half of a junkyard Mazda, attach an underbody sled, and slide it around on the snow. Since the donor car was front-wheel drive, no rear wheels were needed.

The guys from Grind Hard Plumbing Co. are known for their work turning Barbie Power Wheels and other kid’s vehicles into high-powered playthings for adults. A while back, they outfitted a Dream Camper with a 750cc Kawasaki UTV engine and 4-wheel drivetrain. Now they’ve upgraded it for wintertime with snow tracks.

Designed for use by snow resorts, this unique electric vehicle from Austria is basically the winter equivalent of a go kart. With its lower operating speeds and low center of gravity, it’s more beginner-friendly than a snowmobile, and looks like a fun way to spend some time when you’re not hitting the slopes.

(Loud) When you’re freezing your ass off in the winter in Sweden, one way to keep yourself warm is to strap your butt to a pulsejet powered snowmobile, and fire yourself down an icy straightaway at speeds up to 150 mph. (Thanks Ola Andreas!)

(PG-13: Language) Daniel Bodin pulled off one of the most insane freestyle tricks we’ve ever seen on a snowmobile. Somehow he managed to flip his machine upside-down not once, but twice. Watch the dizzying POV footage first, then see how it looked to the outside world.

Pro snocross and freestyle snowmobiler Levi LaVallee took to the streets of Saint Paul, MN, and turned the city into an urban playground for his snowmobiling antics. His snowmobile was fitted with special mods so he could ride and turn on asphalt in addition to snow.

Michal Bonikowski’s conceptual electric snowmobile features a sleek lightweight shell and an enclosed passenger compartment. While it might isolate you from the outside world, you could go insanely fast in this thing – if it existed.

Designed to give kids and small adults a comfortable vantage point from which to enjoy a ride in the snow, the Equinox 685 Snowcoach an enclosed trailer that rides on shock absorbed skis, and can be towed by a snowmobile or ATV.

Timbersled’s conversion kits let you transform dirt bikes from off-roaders into self-propelled snow-eaters which can tear up powdery slopes like a snowmobile, and catch some air as you jump over mounds of snow.

Yvon Martel’s MTT-136 is an all-terrain sled. Its electric motor lasts up to 130mi depending on its battery. It’s small and light enough to fit in the back of a family van but strong enough to ferry two people. Available in one or two tracks.

An insane hybrid sport combining snowmobiling with paragliding. In this clip, Parasledder Eric Oddy gets mad air when his chute catches some wind, and his sled takes off in British Colombia.

If you think the idea of falling down the side of a mountain sounds intense, just watch this video of a rider whose snowmobile wipes out and leaves him tumbling for what seems like an eternity.

Preparing for a New Years Eve stunt, Levi LaVallee jumped 361 feet on his snowmobile. Sadly, Levi was injured on a later run, and won’t be doing the stunt – but he still broke the record during practice.

The 2011 Yamaha Apex is the world’s first snowmobile with electric power steering, drastically improving driver stamina; test one out for 45 minutes at any of Yamaha’s Sno-Safaris.

First social networks, then ISPs, and now entire mountains: the Google Snowmobile brings Street View to the slopes of Vancouver’s Whistler Mountain, just in time for the winter Olympics.

Ken Block takes his monopoly on awesome to new heights with the Subaru WRX STI TRAX: it’s a 400 hp/400 lb-ft torque carbon fiber snowmobile with steel skis and heated RECARO seats.