Today Textron Off Road (TOR) released information on several ATVs and UTVs for the 2019 model year. In its information sent to media, TOR called it a "First Wave Launch" which suggests additional wave(s).

For ATVs, the big news for wave one is a new Alterra™ 570 ATV; a very-updated 700 engine/transmission in many of the Alterra 700 models; and a reprisal of several models that saw limited visibility over the past year.

Click to read the details of the ATVs. 

What does an old forklift, Roger Skime, Edgar Hetten, David Johnson, Arctic Cat and Polaris have to do with one another?

More than I would have ever imagined.

Click to read a story about the origins of Arctic Cat, the founders of Polaris and the little known history of no ordinary forklift.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I'm thankful for bygone eras and the bunnies who played them.

I'm thankful that snowmobile companies steered clear of #scandal and paid no #hushmoney.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, Aug. 3, 2018.

Tucker Hibbert might have retired from professional snocross, but he hasn't stopped trying to make a difference in peoples' lives.

This Saturday, he's hoping fans, friends and family will join him at the 2018 Walk for Wishes^® Twin Cities event in order to raise money for Make-A-Wish^® Minnesota to help grant the wishes of children with critical illnesses.

Join Team 68 in person, or in spirit. Click for some primo info.

It looked a lot like Catfest at the Pennington County Fair in Thief River Falls, last week. There were Team Arctic racers, vintage sleds, new sleds and wheelers. And people. Lot's of people!

What's Catfest? It was a once-every-five-years celebration of everything Arctic Cat that occurred in TRF beginning in the late 1980s and through the 1990s.

By pairing with the Pennington County Fair (itself one of the most vibrant county fairs in Minnesota). the five day event had lots of added attraction.

I was lucky to spend an afternoon there. Click to see some pix.

The International Snowmobile Hall of Fame in Eagle River, Wis., recently announced its 2018 inductees and special award winners:

Dave Guenther, Volunteer, Breezy Point, MN

Curt Kennedy, Volunteer, Salt Lake City, Utah

Bobby Unser, Inventor, Albuquerque, NM

Stan Slack, Volunteer, Nova Scotia, Canada

Tim Haberberger, Groomer of the Year, Alpine, Wyo.

Cumberland Snowmobile Club, Nova Scotia

Bill Schumann, Volunteer, Manitowish Waters, Wis.

Congrats to all! Click to read about their accomplishments and dedication to the sport of snowmobiling.

One of the things I've always loved about Arctic Cat is the brand's brazen spirit to build some of the fastest snowmobiles, and then to celebrate it.

From Boss Cat to Thundercat, there's a long and powerful history of fast, badass snowmobiles and to-the-point advertising that talked about it.

Here are some of my favorites.

A week ago I had the chance to spend a day experiencing the all-new Prowler Pro utility side-by-side from Textron Off Road (TOR)

The occasion was a media event at a massive hunting ranch in California, where TOR provided a half-dozen Prowler Pros to ride, photograph and use to hunt pigs. Yes, pig hunting.

For 12 hours I rode passenger, drove and occasionally shot... photographs... of the new machine.

Click to read my six categories of feedback on the machine.

It's only a couple weeks until the Pennington County Fair in Thief River Falls, Minn., and the new-this-year Arctic Cat Village display.

More than two dozen beautiful vintage Arctic Cat snowmobiles will be on display, along with oodles of great memorabilia.

There will be plant tours and live bands.

New Arctic Cat snowmobiles and TOR side-by-sides and ATVs will be on display.

And there will be the great vibe that happens at one of the coolest county fairs anywhere.

It all happens July 18-22.

Click for a few more details.

I'm thankful for the space age, the new rage and the competitive stage.

I'm thankful for companies that don't just talk the talk, but that also walk the walk and TRULY deliver.

I'm thankful the dork in the red helmet rides with his eyes closed, because he's missing this right-hand turn.

And I'm thankful it's Friday, June 29, 2018.

After posting the pic of Nancy Kerrigan decked-out in Arctic Cat leather last week, I started thinking about some of the famous celebrities who have been associated with Arctic Cat over the years.

Click to see a few of them.

I'm thankful for the protective quality of leather and it's ability to withstand repeated knee-beatings with a baton.

I'm thankful I can escape the drama and intrigue of Olympic life and just go out for a rip with my buds.

I'm thankful the Pantera has a 2-up seat for riding with my friends (not Tonya).

And I, Nancy Kerrigan, am thankful it's Friday, June 22, 2018.

January, 2010. WOBLE Ride to Waconia, Minn.

Tired of the umpteenth sled-breaks-down-entire-group-stops-for-20-minutes-while-Pat-diagnoses-poor-sled-maintenance, Pete channels his inner Cory Davis and throws down a MONSTER WHIP on his Arctic Cat Puma.

At least it feels like a whip to Pete. And anything that feels like a whip on a vintage sled ALSO feels monstrous.

The massive crowd of 3 cheers wildly while the media captures the insanity for worldwide distribution.

Fame and fortune are only a few hundred thousand Likes away.

Nobody questions why Pete sends it on a vintage Cat while wearing a vintage Polaris one-piece suit.

Pat fixes his sled for the umpteenth time, the group reassembles and everyone rallies onto the lake in Waconia.

The planet keeps spinning, the universe keeps expanding and nobody yet knows anything about Larry or his Enticer.

Strange days indeed.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, snowmobilers didn't wear helmets. It was roughly the same era that snowmobiles had transitioned from rear-engine mounting to front-mounting.

I'm talking the late 1960s, which is older than the internet.

Once speeds and injuries and frostbite ramped up, so did the use of helmets. This was in the early 1970s, before Facebook and Instagram.

And like so many of the emerging trends in snowmobiling during those early years, helmets were all over the map in terms of shape, design and color.

Here are just a few examples. Beautiful, funny, weird, cool...these brain buckets deserve all kinds of likes and appreciation.

I wonder if 45 years from now, snowmobilers will look back on the ultimate lids of this era with the same level of smirk?

In a sign of the times, last Thursday the display sign in front of the plant in Thief River Falls changed.

Gone was the "ARCTIC CAT" that had stood for many years. In its place, the sign you see here.

I know that for many people in TRF and around the world, the change was shocking. Some people are a little saddened. A few are mad.

Everyone I talked with was also damn glad there's still a sign, still an Arctic Cat and is thankful that Textron stepped in when they did. Because they know that the alternative would not have been pretty.

Click to read some of my thoughts on the subject.

I'm thankful that Blair Morgan popularized the stand-up style of snowmobiling.

I'm thankful for the Bobby Flame-edition riser.

I'm thankful for function over fashion, yo!

And I'm thankful it's Friday, June 1, 2018.

I've spent about 30 minutes on the new Prowler Pro models from Textron Off Road. While not enough time for a full-blown report, it was enough time to determine it's absolutely the smoothest, quietest side-by-side I've had the pleasure to ride.

PERFECTLY smooth acceleration (no more whiplash) and deceleration!

So quiet that you can have normal (no shouting) conversation with the passenger while cruising off-road at 30 mph, both of you wearing full-face helmets.

No rattles, no vibrations.

Click to read the release from Textron Off Road.

The just-released 2019 Prowler Pro and Prowler Pro XT side-by-sides are loaded with sweet technology. Not rip up the whoops like a pro technology, rather, it's tech that delivers whisper-quietness and smooooooooth over everything.

Make the jump and read the bullets on this new over achiever.

When I was a kid, my friends and I would ride our BMX bikes every day in the summer. Usually, that meant we'd ride to one or a few of the areas with jumps within 3 miles of our homes. It felt free and wild and fun. This was when (and why) I fell in love with riding bikes.

At some point in my late-teens, these bicycle rides evolved. A mountain bike with gears replaced the small single-speed BMX bikes, and the rides became more about exploration rather than jumping (and hanging out with friends) sessions. I still ride bikes and they're still focused on exploration and adventure and distance, rather than sessioning.

Back then I was also a snowmobile kid. My brother, cousins and friends would rip around on the sleds, usually on short loops through the woods, jumping off snow banks left by plowed roads across lakes, having gladiator-style cattail fights, and so forth. It felt free and wild and fun. This was when (and why) I fell in love with snowmobiling.

Sound familiar?

My conclusion: Kids just wanna have fun. Click to see what I mean.