BRP TO DONATE UP TO $1 MILLION TO CANADIAN SNOWMOBILE CLUBS

Press Release –

As part of its 50th Anniversary celebration, BRP and its Ski-Doo® dealers will donate up to $1 million to Canadian snowmobile clubs for snowmobile trails through the Ski-Doo Million Dollar Club Support Program.

Regardless of the brand they own, every Canadian snowmobiler will be able to participate in this fundraising program.

For each snowmobiler submitting a certificate at their Ski-Doo dealership, BRP will donate $10 to their snowmobile club through the program.

Program certificates are available in all Canadian snowmobile magazines, at fall snowmobile shows, and on ski-doo.com.

An advertising, public relations and direct mailing campaign will also be launched to encourage snowmobilers to participate.

“Launching a grassroots funding campaign to benefit clubs is a natural fit with our 50th anniversary celebration because Ski-Doo was right there at the beginning to help establish the very first organized snowmobile trails in Canada,” said Alain Villemure, vice-president and general manager of the Ski-Doo / Sea-Doo division. “We’ve always recognized and appreciated the hard work our clubs and volunteers carry out on snowmobile trails — and how important those trails are for the safety of the sport.”

The top club in each of the following regions: Quebec, Ontario, Atlantic Provinces (New-Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador), Saskatchewan, and Manitoba will receive a limited 50th anniversary edition of a 2009 Ski-Doo MX Z snowmobile to use for additional fundraising activities.

There will also be parts, accessory and clothing incentives for clubs that reach 75% or more participation from their membership.

Press Release –

TEAM Industries, the design leader in CVT technology and manufacturer of over 500,000 CVT’s per year, is proud to announce they have acquired the Thunder Shift and Heavy Hitter product lines and related intellectual properties of Thunder Products.

The Thunder Shift and Heavy Hitter shift weights and CVT tuning components will become TEAM products and TEAM will work directly with Thunder Products’ distributors. Thunder Products will become a full-line distributor of TEAM aftermarket products.

Mark Schiffner, General Manager of the TEAM aftermarket division comments, “We are very excited about having the Thunder Shift and Heavy Hitter shift weights as TEAM products and are incorporating them into our snowmobile clutch kits. The tunablilty of these shift weights is second to none. The ability to fine-tune in the field instead of having to get a new spring or cam made will give our racers and end users the performance edge.”

As part of the agreement with Thunder Products and its president Lonn Peterson, TEAM Industries will obtain the exclusive rights to Lonn’s patents for adjustable shift weight (nos. 5,562,555 & 5,692,982).

Call 218-844-3283 for a free TEAM snowmobile or ATV catalog.

Press Release –

Team Arctic is readying its rider weapons of choice for this season’s ISOC National Snocross Tour, and the allegiance of Tucker Hibbert fans will be happy to know he is on board prepared to win.

Hibbert will pilot his 2009 Sno Pro 600, and is mentally and physically prepared to improve upon his 2008 Stock Championship winning season.

He also crushed the competition at ESPN’s Winter X games, capturing the gold medal – by a large margin – and adding a seventh medal overall to his collection.

It was Hibbert’s third victory at the event; the 24-year-old is still the youngest athlete ever to claim Winter, or Summer X gold, doing so in 2000 at age 15.

“Tucker is one of the best racers to watch; he has a way of making race fans cheer for him that aren’t necessarily Arctic Cat loyalists,” said Mike Kloety, Team Arctic Race Manager. “We expect Tucker to do very well, especially with all the changes we’ve made to the Sno Pro 600. This combo should be stronger than anyone has ever seen.”

“I’m looking forward to racing in the new ISOC series. I’ll be at all the national ISOC races leading up to the Winter X Games. This will be my tenth Winter X competition and at every one of them, I’ve chosen to ride an Arctic Cat. That’s a testament to the quality of Arctic Cat’s Sno Pros and their dedication to winning in the sport. I’m proud to be a Team Arctic rider and hope to lead the way to another winning season!”

In other Tucker Hibbert related news, Arctic Cat will be the title sponsor of his #87 Arctic Cat/Monster Energy-wrapped 250F in the Lites division at the AMA Toyota Motocross Championships in Millville, Mn., August 16-17th. For more information, please visit www.tucker-hibbert.com.

For more information on Team Arctic racing, please visit www.arcticcat.com.

Press Release –

By the year 2020, tourism will be the world’s largest industry – predicts the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. 

Today, Travel and Tourism in North America is a $2 Trillion Dollar business and accounts for millions of jobs and generates billions of dollars in state and federal tax revenues. 

Clearly tourism is an important part of North American’s product inventory and tourism overall continues to grow.

A very important part of that Tourism growth is the snowmobile community which includes the products, the trails, the resorts, the restaurants, and the many great amenities available for winter tourists. 

A quick look at the snowmobile numbers supports our claim as an important part of the economic engine of North America.  Registrations of snowmobiles in the United States for this past year are now over 1.625 million snowmobiles – a 2.6% increase from last year.  In Canada there are over 708 thousand registered snowmobiles – a 1.5% increase from last year. 

Miles ridden by snowmobilers in North America jumped 17% this past season.  The average snowmobiler rode over 1040 miles this past winter. 

Sales of snowmobiles worldwide increased 2% to 163,753 units and notably Parts, Garments and Accessories sales increased over 17% this past season vs. the season before.  Yes, 5 key measurement indicators of the snowmobile community reported positive gains and as you can see, in some instances double digit growth.

We know the record snowfalls reported in parts of North America were important related factors to the increased riding activity and registration numbers. 

Those increased numbers are showing up in new economic impact statements from states and provinces, reporting that Winter Tourism spending overall was up in 2007-2008 vs. the winter of 2006-2007. 

Much of the increase can be attributed to an increase in snowmobiling activity.  Final reports of sales tax collections and room taxes are still to be finalized but the reports are positive. 

Tourism and Travel Bureaus and Commerce departments are consistently telling the ISMA office that snowmobiling is becoming a larger part of the winter economic action picture than ever before.

A successful 2007-2008 winter should be followed by a successful 2008-2009 winter.  Average temperatures in North America are falling and the forecast is favorable for good snowmobiling conditions. 

People want to get out and enjoy themselves escaping from the stresses of a normal work day and a less than entertaining TV schedule, so snowmobiling with friends fills the need.

The manufacturers are working closely with the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA) and the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations (CCSO) in the expansion and development of the Go Snowmobiling – Take a Friend Snowmobiling campaign. I’m confident we will introduce many new winter outdoor enthusiasts to the great family activity of snowmobiling this winter.