Go With the Snow
By Sandie Parrott
 

For all those nonskiers who are worried they won’t have anything to do while the rest of the group is speeding down the mountain, listen up: There is more to do on that powdery white stuff than ski and snowboarding. If you haven’t tried dogsledding, airboarding, skibiking, zip-line riding or spending the night in a yurt, you’re missing out on some action. Everyone may even want to take a day off the slopes and join in on the fun.

Sit back, listen for “hike” and enjoy an energizing dogsled ride through the countryside on Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs, MI (218 miles from Flint).  Nature’s Kennel (www.natureskennel.com) owners Ed and Tasha Stielstra promise to make this the “ride of your life.”

“Dog sledding is an extreme sport, but the course is set up for a great ride with professional drivers and teams, so there is no danger,” Ed says.

The Stielstras and their teams are the real deal, having competed in the legendary Iditarod and the UP 200 Sled Dog Championship in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which Ed won this year and Tasha won in 2006. The dogs slow down a bit for the tours, which range from 30 minutes to an hour. On the longer excursions, guests have a chance to pet the dogs, take photos and savor a cup of hot chocolate.

For a sledding experience of a more modern variety, try Airboarders (www.air.boarders.com), a got-to-have-it, inflatable, A-shaped winter toy. Barbara Thomke, director of public relations at Vermont’s Smugglers’ Notch Resort, says it is safer and easier than tubing. “Riders lie face down instead of feet first, steer by pushing up on the grooves underneath (tubers cannot steer), or use their feet to turn and slide down our dedicated trail,” she says. (While it is safe, helmets are recommended.)

If this doesn’t sound thrilling enough, hop on a snowbike and “pedal” down the mountain. Take the Brenter Snowbike (www.snowbike.us), for instance, designed with a long seat, straight handlebars and two short skis instead of wheels. According to Roger Hollenbeck, national representative for Brenter, about 30,000 people have ridden since 1996 (based on rental figures).

“The product is for people that have never skied, used to ski, or tried to learn and gave up,” he says, adding that Colorado is the most snow bike-friendly state.

Chris Marriott, Colorado resident and snowbike champion, couldn’t agree more; his favorite spots include Copper Mountain, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Winter Park. Once an avid skier and snowboarder, Marriott took up snowbiking after suffering from two knee injuries. “I thought winter sports were over,” he says. “Then I discovered the snowbike; it makes me feel like a kid.”

How does riding a snow bike measure up to skiing and snowboarding? “It is easier to learn than skiing, and it’s a great introduction to snow sports. I teach people, and in 15 minutes they have huge smiles on their faces, in 30 minutes they’re making turns and enjoying it,” Marriott says.

It’s one thing to stay in a luxury ski-in/ski-out resort—and quite another to stay in a yurt, a domed tent with a rigid inner frame patterned after Mongolian nomadic tents that originated thousands of years ago. The yurt village at Salmon Hills (www.salmonhills.com) in Redfield, NY (131 miles from Rochester) offers electricity and heat—some units have a shower and bathroom—while the community yurt is equipped with a kitchen so you can cook. Sylvia Yerdon of Salmon Hills says, “Our yurt village has been up for over 10 years. They all have 5-foot moon roofs, and are very popular in the winter, especially our large lodge that sleeps up to 16 people.”

For a ride that takes you off solid ground, ZipRider (www.ziprider.com) is the ticket. Guests are secured into cloth harness chairs before flying through the air at 45 to 60 mph. Soar 70 feet above the ground at Wildcat Mountain Resort in Pinkham Notch, NH (82 miles from Portland, ME), which offers views of New England’s highest peak, Mt. Washington. And in Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, CA (186 miles from San Francisco), take a ride on the longest zip line in the continental US, at 3,300 feet. Construction is underway on a four-cable ride at Sno Mountain Resort in Scranton, PA (124 miles from Philadelphia).

Scared of heights? Don’t worry. “We have had so many people ride who were petrified of heights,” says Sarah Cylvick VP of ZipRider. “Once the gates open and you start zipping away, the ride is so smooth that most people feel completely safe and secure, and enjoy the ride instead of focusing on how high they are above the ground.”

Just ask 86-year-old Birgitta Nilsson. “Try it—you must do it! It was a sensational feeling,” she says. “It was fantastic, a new dimension in life!”

Any of these adrenaline-pumping experiences—flying through the air, riding an airboard or a snowbike, or being pulled by a careening dog sled—will add a new element to winter life as you know it.