Fat Biking
Cruising across fresh powder on two super fat tires? Sign up.
Otherwise known as winter mountain biking, fat biking began in Alaska in
the late 1990s, as yet another adventurous way to make it across the
infamous 1,100-mile Iditarod trail. Mountain bikes with smaller, less
stable wheels couldn’t cut it through all the snow & ice, so Alaskan
Mark Gronewald designed a model with squishy, pumped up to only about 8
PSI, 3.7 inch wide tires, excellent traction, & a relatively light
frame to successfully make the trek. Now these balloon wheeled bicycles
are blowing up. Ski areas across the country are offering fat bike
rentals & use of their Nordic trail systems for recreational riding, just this month, the Winter Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado (mountaingames.com)
added the Winter Mountain Bike National Championships to its annual
events lineup. For more info on how, where, & what to ride, check out : surlybikes.com & fat-bike.com.
Airboarding
Boogie boarding is easy enough until you try it in the snow. The
Airboard is an inflatable, 48-inch long, A-shaped raft that you ride
head first down the mountain (Skeleton-style). Created by a Swiss
snowboarder looking for a safer way to enjoy the slopes post-injury, the
Airboard can be found all over Europe & was introduced in the U.S.
almost a decade ago. With grooves on its bottom to help control your
speed & easy to grip side handles to help control your turns, it’s
basically a more sophisticated version of the snow tube. How do you
stop? Turn hard enough to do a 90-degree hockey stop or simply
slow yourself down gradually by digging your boots into the snow. This
speedy slider can be found at several ski resorts across the country &
tons of places abroad. But if it’s not there, general snow tubing is a
solid alternate. For more info, visit airboard.com.
Snow Kayaking
Don’t act surprised you knew those thrill seeking river guides would
come up with a way to keep their kayaks in use during the winter months.
Enter snow kayaking. And yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like:
kayaking in the snow. Experienced kayakers hit the slopes sporting
helmets & cold weather gear to practice paddling down
terrain that’s similar to what it would be like if rapids were frozen
over & covered with snow. It’s not for the faint of heart. Most ski
resorts don’t allow the kayaks on site, so your best bet for
learning is in the back-country, with an instructor. Start with easy,
wide open hills with no obstructions & go from there. If you want to
compete, or see the pros do it, Monarch Mountain ski resort in Colorado
hosts an annual Kayaks on Snow race in April (skimonarch.com). For more details, visit kayaking.com.
Snow Scooting
If a scooter & a snowboard had a baby, it would be the Snow-Scoot.
Created in 1991, this sorta BMX snow bike was designed specifically for
hitting the slopes. Its base is pretty much a split snowboard, so you
still want to use the edges shifting your weight from side to side to
steer & control your speed through the snow, but instead of standing
sideways, as you would on a typical snowboard, you stand facing forward.
It also has handle bars to help guide your way down the mountain. The
trickiest part is getting on and off the lift: Attach the surf leash to
one foot & when the lift approaches, place the Snow-Scoot in front of
you, resting its handle bars on your lap & letting the board hang down.
Then, wrap your legs around its front. When you get to the exit, let
your board touch down, & glide off the lift. Lots of resorts let you
take the Snow-Scoot into their terrain parks. Find out more about how,
where, & what to ride at snowscootusa.com.
Ice Climbing
Chances are you may have heard about this one. But you thought it was
something only extreme adrenaline junkies tackled, right? Wrong. Turns
out anyone can climb up a frozen waterfall if they want to. You just
have to have the right gear and a good guide to get it done safely. Your
guide should set you up with mountaineering boots, crampons - sleeves
made of sharp blades that you strap on to the bottoms of your boots to
give you traction in the ice and snow, two ice axes, one for each
hand, & a helmet. There’s a good shot you’ll be belaying, which means
you’re connected to your guide & a sturdy rock above with a rope
that’s securely attached to a harness around your waist, so you can
climb without fear of falling. To climb, you essentially kick each foot
into the ice slightly above & in front of you, then swing each axe
overhead, hooking into the ice above you to pull yourself up. For more
info on how, where, & what to climb, check out apexmountainschool.com and theuiaa.org.
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