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On any given day at Wild Mountain ski and snowboard area, you typically couldn’t go without hearing the whine and shifting gears of a snowmobile at some point during your day. Whether a sled was going up hill to fix a lift or racing across the runs to aid a downed skier, or just getting cargo from the top of the hill to the bottom, that ‘wahhhhhhhhhhhh’ blasting from a snowmobile could be heard throughout the property.

But, starting this year, in an effort to reduce the operational carbon footprint, minimize the noise distraction and continue to streamline;  Wild Mountain is introducing two Taiga Nomads to its fleet.  These are the world’s first all electric snowmobiles.

The 120 horsepower machines are made for the elements found at Wild Mountain. The Nomads, which were ordered two years ago but are just arriving, can tow up to 1,200 pounds, which is great for pulling ski patrol and/or injured skiers in a sled.  They feature comfortable seating for two and the top speed is 75 miles per hour, so they can scoot across the vast Wild Mountain property in a snap. The machines are able to do all of that quietly and efficiently.

“We are already a certified carbon neutral business,” Kelly Annable, one of Wild Mountain’s maintenance team members, said. “And adding these will only help that.”

“We feel that it is our moral obligation to operate our business in a  environmentally responsible manner,” President of Wild Mountain Sara Larsen said. “We are continually looking to reduce our carbon emissions and, through these efforts, Wild Mountain was the first ski area in North America to achieve CarbonNeutral certification from Climate Action Partners in 2020.

“The new technology of electric snowmobiles is just another advancement toward reducing our impact,” Larsen noted. “It’s a small step, but we want to help facilitate adoption of this technology. As snowmobile electrification becomes more and more common across the country, the reduction of greenhouse gasses will be quite impactful.”

The maintenance team has had to make some modifications to the sleds to make sure they are perfect for the Wild Mountain slopes. That included removing the stock carbides and studs because they didn’t want the sleds to puncture high pressure water lines underneath the snow cover. It also meant adding side visibility lights and a light marker flag at the rear.

But, that should be the extent of the work that needs to be done on the snowmobiles. “The machines are very low maintenance,” Larsen added. “No oil changes. No gasoline. No spark plugs. Best of all… they go 0 to 60 in three seconds!”

The Nomads should have no problem lasting all day for the rigorous Wild Mountain activities. They have a 65 mile range on their battery, but Wild Mountain also purchased extra backpack chargers that will keep the snowmobile going if the charge were to run out. The backpack units are powerful enough to charge an electric car, so a snowmobile is light work. Charging the snowmobiles will take anywhere between 3 and a half to 4 hours, so they will easily be ready each morning for their rigorous uses.

The nice thing for the Wild Mountain crew is that the snowmobiles have the same style charger as electric cars, so Wild Mountain now has five EV charging stations at the facility, which are also popular among visitors. Annable said the stations are used daily and already feature the high speed charging capabilities.

“We’re excited to have the snowmobiles,” Annable added. “The public’s interest has been noticeable with skiers stopping to admire the machines and learning about them as well.”

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