NASJA 2: Density of Snowmobile Registration

I’m still playing around with statistics related to snowmobile ownership. Here’s another stat:

States with the least room for snowmobiles
1. New Hampshire
2. Michigan
3. Wisconsin
4. Vermont
5. Minnesota

According to this ranking, snowmobiling is more “dense” in New Hampshire than in any other state. That is, it puts a large number of snowmobiles in a relatively small space.

If you adjust for population density, the most “intense” snowmobile states are:
1. Massachusetts
2. New York
3. Michigan
4. New Hampshire
5. Wisconsin

I’m not sure if this last ranking makes any sense, but there you are. It’s fair to say that there’s a very strong interest in snowmobiling in New Hampshire and Michigan, with a few other states lagging behind.

More Comparisons
Comparing specific states can lead to some interesting questions. In the following comparisons, the first number for a state is its population; the second is the number of snowmobiles registered with the state.

Minnesota; 5.2 million, 240,000
Wisconsin: 5.6 million, 220,000
Colorado: 4.9 million, 34,042

These states have roughly the same number of people, but Colorado lags far behind in snowmobile ownership. Why?

The obvious answer is: The skiing is so much better there than in the flat Midwest! Everyone’s going skiing in Colorado.

But then let’s do another comparison.

Colorado: 4.9 million, 34,042
Utah: 2.8 million, 30,781

Idaho: 1.5 million, 48,413
Montana: 0.9 million, 36,757

Snowmobiling is much more popular in Idaho and Montana than in Colorado and Utah.

Why?

My first thought was “well, you have great skiing in Colorado and Utah.” Why would you go on a snowmobile when you can ski or snowboard?” But Idaho is no slouch in the ski area business; neither is Montana.

Perhaps skiing and snowboarding are less attractive in Montana and Idaho because it’s colder there? The cold would affect snowmobiling as well.