The Clean Snowmobile Club (CSC) at the University of Idaho has been competing in the annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge in Houghton, Michigan, since 2001 and has remained a presence on campus and among UI engineering students.
CSC, established in 2000, spent that year observing the Clean Snowmobile Challenge before ultimately deciding to compete the following year. In later years, CSC has gone on to place first in the competition three times and take several podium finishes.
The team, mostly made up of mechanical engineering students, takes a two-stroke snowmobile, and attempts to modify it, making it quieter and better for the environment. Uniquely, the UI CSC uses a two-stroke, snowmobile rather than a four-stoke as most other schools do, offering more of a challenge to UI students.
Ian Sullivan, a junior in mechanical engineering and co-captain for CSC, has been a member of the club since his freshman year and said he enjoys seeing newer members learn and involve themselves in the team.
CSC begins its fall semester first by recruiting new students. Though the team is open to all majors, its members are mostly mechanical engineers, with one or two other majors. Tasks are then divvied out to members, preparing the snowmobile for modification. Spring semester is crunch time, Sullivan said.
Nina Rydalch | Argonaut
In the 2017-18 season, the Clean Snowmobile Club competed with this 2017 Ski-Doo.
Many members return to campus early from winter vacation in order to catch up on projects in the mechanics workshop. A paper is then formatted and written, detailing the data gathered and the project at hand CSC turns in before competing in early March.
“Realistically, we have to have all of our projects finished and data collected by the time the paper is submitted,” said Alex Kiss, another team member. “That’s around mid-February, when the competition is in early March.”
Now reaching the end of the semester, Sullivan and Kiss said they are focusing on what the team can do to improve upon the snowmobile brought to this past competition.
Ellinor Karl, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, said the team is focusing on the sound pollution created by the snowmobile. Being under 18-years-old, Karl is limited in what she is able to take on with the team, however she said she has taken on other miscellaneous — but necessary — tasks.
“I do a lot of the graphic design, making posters and stickers to put on the snowmobile,” Karl said.
As one of two women in CSC, Karl has found little to no difficulties interacting with her teammates.
Sullivan said the team has given him experiences that have provided personal growth, relationships and engineering experience that he would not otherwise have received.
“It’s a good way to get yourself in the door,” Sullivan said. “This will give you experiences on a team that will stick with you.”
Mary Phipps can be reached at [email protected]