Something new on the mountain - airboarding

By Tom Banse
Northwest News Network

I'm hurtling down the mountain on what looks like a big, puffy sled. It's different the Yankee Flyer I grew up with because this one you can turn with the handles. And if you get going too fast, you can do a somersault like I did...or pivot and skid to a stop like a skier.

If the Winter Olympics are giving you fantasies about plunging downhill head first in daredevil style, we have a way to approximate the feeling without shelling out for a trip to Turin. It involves a sleek, inflatable sled and a cooperative ski resort. In the Northwest, there's Schweitzer Mountain in north Idaho...and the Hoodoo Ski Area in Oregon's central Cascades.

"You can throw it in the sled category, but really it's not a sled. They're starting to now have their own category out there: bodyboards for snow," says Teri Smith who provided free introductory rides at Hoodoo on a recent Saturday.

A Swiss snowboarder invented the Airboard as a way to stay on the slopes while recovering from ripped tendons. In the U-S it remains an eye-catching novelty. Over and over, the demo rep answers "what is that?" next to her pile of gray Airboards.

Snowboarder Shane Bjornsted decides to try out the new toy, egged on by a friend. Smith issues the tall fellow a mandatory helmet and sends him and his buddies to the top of the slalom course.

"I was surprised that Hoodoo was letting people do it, actually,” says Bjornsted. “But it looks likes fun. Hopefully it's not as dangerous as it looks."

One by one, the Salem, Oregon man and his friends take a short running start and flop headfirst onto the course. They quickly get the hang of carving turns by shifting weight or dragging a foot.

At the bottom, Bjornsted says it was a fun change of pace he might try again. But his friend, whose idea this was, is unimpressed.

The American distributor claims airboarding is catching on faster than snowboarding did in its early years. A few Northwest ski areas embrace the new ride. But it's unwelcome elsewhere, just like back in the days when snowboarders were considered out-of-control menaces. The Airboard company won over Hoodoo ski area general manager Matthew McFarland.

"So they brought me a sled that they claimed was super maneuverable. People do that all the time,” he says. “ ‘Oh, we have this sled that's so maneuverable. It's the best thing in the world. You can stop it on a dime. Will you let it on the hill?' I always tell them, 'I'd love to test it.' And then it never works. Luckily, to my surprise, the Airboard worked."

Hoodoo is a smaller ski area that's willing to try new things to appeal to all ages and abilities. McFarland says he's frequently asked if high performance sledding is the next big thing. He's skeptical.

"People love it. But with resorts being tentative toward letting people do it everywhere, it's hard to sell,” McFarland says. “Hard to tell people to go out and pay 280 dollars to buy an airboard when you can't go use it anywhere."

At least if you want a lift ride. Schweitzer in Idaho allows airboards, but during night skiing only in a designated area for safety reasons. Hoodoo is the only U-S resort to give the low-to-the-ground riders full mountain access. McFarland knows of no incidents or accidents involving Airboards at his uncrowded mountain.

Later this month (2/25), another Hoodoo manager will try to defend his American speed record on an Airboard. The pace to beat plunging downhill is 62 miles per hour.