Winter sports fans are in for a treat this year as a little known activity has been gathering momentum and will make its mark properly this season.The sport of snowbiking takes place on a normal piste and involves traveling down the mountainside on a modified push-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. Rather than being built for tricks or jumps, snowbikes are normally purpose-built for control and carving ability. 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 are lower to the ground than normal bikes and have a blade at the front of the bike attached to the steering column. 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. Although a very different movement and balance is needed, once you learn the skills, it will be something you never forgot.Now that adult snowbikes have proved a success, women’s and children’s snowbikes are starting to be manufactured. There are also multiple extras now, such as stabilisers, headlights and even horns.
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 haven’t 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.
In fact there have been a number of ski resorts in America who have banned snowbiking from their slopes until they have done their own safety tests. Most resorts however are allowing snowbikers, but recommending that people take care when using them and when around other people using them. 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.
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