Page "Polaris Industries" Paragraph 7

However, the employees continued to be focused on building snowmobiles and soon a second model was created, called the Polaris Sno Traveler.

The first production model rolled off the assembly line in Minnesota in 1956.

The original models weighed close to and moved at a speed of about.

They came in a two-tone paint job ( white below blue with a strip or chrome trim dividing them ).

In order to publicize the new snowmobile and show their reliability and usefulness, in 1960 Edgar led three snowmobilers on a 1200 mile trek across the Alaskan wilderness, starting from Bethel, Alaska.

The trip took three weeks, and much of the time, Edgar struggled to maintain 10 mph over the snow.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner put them on its front page.

However, his absence caused problems for him with the company's board of directors.

Soon after completing the trip, Edgar left the company in June and started a competing company called Polar Manufacturing in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

The company name later changed to Arctic Enterprises ; in the mid-1980s it filed for bankruptcy amid fierce competition as snowmobiles became popular and other manufacturers jumped into the market.

The company emerged from bankruptcy and continues on today as Arctic Cat.