On the BBC coverage it’s ‘bobsleigh’.
In my neck of the Canadian woods, hardly anyone uses “snowmobile” colloquially.
Snow machine is a snowmoblie. “Buyin’ a new snow machine.”
Sled is a snowmobile. “Goin’ fer a toot on the sled.” “Gonna be busy sleddin’ this weekend.”
I live near, have worked at, and know many who now work at a couple of ski resorts. The machinery that produces man-made snow is referred to as “snow makers.” The process is referred to as “making snow.”
This is the only term I’ve heard for them (before this thread).
A snow machine is a utilitarian term used by people that live in places where snowmobiles are actually used to get work and chores done (not North Carolina I suspect). A Sled is the sports model with a special compartment to shovel money into. Calling it a sleigh will get you beat up Friday night in Red Deer.
The term ‘snow mobile’ is culturally equivalent to 'marijuana cigarette; practical, descriptive and not used by the locals.
Fear Itself:
That’s because they have 200 different words for it.
While, the inventor. Joseph Armand Bombardier, called it “B7 Snowmobile”. It was the first modern machine, with steerable skis in front and motorized tracks in back for power. In 1958, his company began selling the’Ski-Doo snowmobile’, and sales took off.
So snowmobile is what the inventor called it.
Given that one of the NBC bobsled/luge/skeleton commentators seems to be an Aussie (maybe a Brit? I don’t have the ear for accents I used to), I wonder if its a UK/US/Aussie English thing.