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Warren, Vermont - January 1, 2009
There are a lot of things you expect to see sliding down the mountain at Sugarbush resort... but this isn't one of them.
"No one has really seen anything like this in the east before and so it's a big deal," Brooke Scatchard says of his eye-catching ride. "People are excited."
It's called a snowbike-- the hybrid of a mountain bike and a pair of skis.
"It's an amazing feeling. It's not like skiing or biking. It's like a perfect blend of both of them," Scatchard enthuses.
Scatchard, 26, came up with the design. The UVM graduate is an avid mountain biker and skier and has spent the last 11 years tweaking his product.
This one-- called the sike-- is designed for cross-country treks and snowmobile trails.
The drifter has two skis and no wheels-- best suited for the ski slope.
"I call it the drifter because the turn you're doing; you're not carving, you're just totally drifting, sliding the turn and it's a really cool feeling," Scatchard explains. "It's like the perfect turn on a mountain bike."
The challenge to this sport is trying to control your speed. The key is to turn uphill into the slope and you use your feet if you have to.
Only two ski resorts in Vermont currently allow the bikes: Sugarbush and Jay Peak.
Some prohibit them because they're difficult to load on a chairlift.
"As long as it's safe and they have lanyards. That's our biggest concern about letting people slide on a different vehicle, so to speak," says J.J. Toland of Sugarbush.
Scatchard is working to find a manufacturer to mass produce the bikes.
"I work probably ten hours a week on these," he says.
The downhill bike sells for anywhere from $800 to $1,000. The cross-country bike-- about $500.
"There's a lot of mountain bikers that don't ski, so I'm hoping they will be interested in getting up on the mountain. It feels much similar to mountain biking," Scatchard says.
While some don't know what to think...
"Some people will actually stop and ask, what the heck is that thing?" Scatchard says.
Others can't wait to try it.
"No one thought in 1982 that snowboarding would become the force it is today. Will it happen to snowbiking? I guess that the market will have to decide that one," Toland says.
"I think this is the year it's going to blow up and really get more than me and a few people riding them," Scatchard says. "It's so popular every time I go out. Just a huge crowd."
An adventure to remember and a new way to play in the snow.
While snowbikes are relatively new to Vermont, the first was actually developed in Austria in 1949. The sport didn't really catch on in the U.S. until about 10 years ago.
Sugarbush actually used to rent out about two dozen snowbikes but they weren't very popular so that was discontinued. Those bikes were very different from the ones today and that's why Brooke is hopeful his version will catch on.
Click here for more information on snowbikes and on where you can use them.
Keagan Harsha - WCAX News
