Snowbiking – The Extreme Sport of 2010
It has been waiting in the background, slowly growing in popularity and support, and now it is ready to be unveiled on the world properly. Snowbiking is basically the sport of travelling down a snowy piste on a modified bike. The idea was conceived over 50 years ago, but people found that using a conventional bike was ineffective and rather dangerous. For many years ski and snowboard fans have been working on advancing designs in the hope of developing something that worked. Sadly, many of the earlier models were bulky and difficult to steer, and it has only been in the last few seasons that a snowbike has been developed that really works.
The best snowbike on the market is produced by a Canadian company, and they are so confident that the sport will be a huge hit, that they are arranging the first even world championship for 2010. Snowbikes are not really freestyle or jumping pieces or equipment, but instead built for speed and manoeuvrability. This will be reflected in the world championship events that will be based around slalom and speed competitions. Unsurprisingly, the best snowbikes available today take heavy influence from powered snowmobiles. They maintain a lower centre of gravity and are steered using a bladed mounted to the front which can dig into the snow to change direction. This gives the rider much better steering control, but only one blade is needed as snowbikes are a lot lighter and do not travel as fast as snowmobiles.
Snowbike manufactures admit that snowbiking is not the easiest of extreme sports to master, but that it is well worth putting in the hours to master. Apparently learning how to snowbike shares similarities with learning to ride normal mountain bikes. It is a skill that takes a little while to get right, but it has a steep learning curve and once you’ve mastered it you won’t lose it.Snowbikes are now beginning to be made in multiple sizes so that people of all ages can enjoy the sport. A portable fold-up version of the snowbike has also now been made that can fit in a regular backpack.
Although many confident skiers and snowboarders will be keen to try out the snowbikes on the steeper and more difficult runs, it is advised that everyone should have a go on learner slopes first. Snowbikes are much harder to stop than snowboards or skis, and if you havent mastered the technique you will not only be risking your own safety, but you may be endangering the safety of other winter sports enthusiasts also.
Certain American ski resorts in fact have prohibited snowbikers on their slopes until more is known about the safety of the things. A large majority of slopes have opened their doors to snowbikes though, stating that if used responsibly, they are no more dangerous than any other winter sport. Despite the mild controversy surrounding the sport, it doesn’t seem to be putting people off giving it a go, and there are now a predicted 40,000 snowbikers in the USA alone.
