Skibike Riding For Oldies - Age Is Just A Number

I had some interesting feedback recently in the comments section.

Everyone on the blog seems to be young and experienced with no little info for us oldies that have skied for years and want to continue. I tried hiring with a lesson in Grand Bornand, but no foot skis, only pegs, so would have preferred foot skis to start with to get confidence.

It's a fair comment that a lot of the writers here are experienced, but none of us are exactly spring chickens, in just over a year's time I will be eligible for SAGA membership. The skibike blog has always focussed heavily on freestyle riding, as its the type of riding I was interested in from the outset. It's only recently that I have felt at home riding this way, having started with skibob style riding, like so many others.

Anyone who is new to the sport should join the blog's Facebook Group, where you will find plenty of kindred spirits, building their first skibike and making those first tentative turns in the snow. If you need further inspiration, here is a picture of Fred Tissue.

Fred Tissue - 75 years young

He is 75 years young, has recently started freestyle skibike riding, as disability has prevented him from continuing with skiing. This week I watched one of his latest videos; he was tanking down the slopes, standing up on the pegs whilst riding off piste and even managed to feed himself a fine snow sandwich when he overcooked a turn.

With a skibike age really is just a number.

Slush Puppies - Grand Bornand Skibike Ride

The weather forecast for today looked to be pretty grim, I had no intention of doing any riding and organised to visit Serge Mermillod at the Firem factory in Villards sur Thones. I got up stupidly early expecting a painful drive over and ended up arriving 45 minutes early. I took a stroll around the village to pass the time, it was a ghost town; one church, one bar, one graveyard.

Back at Firem, Serge and I went through some recent additions to his website mainly connected with the recent arrival of a new model, the VS 614. By the time our chores were accomplished it was nearly lunchtime and contrary to the forecast the weather looked quite promising for the afternoon.

Villards sur Thones is only about 15 minutes from both La Clussaz and Grand Bornand, both of which are skibike friendly. Serge suggested we ride in the afternoon and offer I gladly accepted. It was 3 years ago that I first rode with Serge, it's always fun, his passion and enthusiasm are infectious. I always end up going too fast, today was no exception.

The temperature was so high it felt positively muggy and although the sky was quite overcast, the snow at all levels was melting into slush. This made for sticky conditions, hell for the skiers falling over their tips; we were able to just blat through it with impunity. For once the stickiness of the snow meant that you could head down the fall line and the speed would built to a point where you couldn't go any faster. I think I surprised Serge that I could almost keep up with him now, it must be all the time I have spent trying to keep up with Carl Day.

The speed would built to a point where you couldn't go any faster

On our final run we swapped skibikes so I could sample the VS 614. There might be better skibikes for making a 30 foot cliff drop and others that are lighter or cheaper. But as an "all mountain" go anywhere machine it is without equal. You can take it on piste at blistering speed with stability and poise. You can take it off piste without bottoming out. Sit on the saddle or stand on the pegs? Yes both positions work equally well. It is probably the best skibike for carving out there, no need to run a foot in the snow for balance, yet it will drift too. Then there's the foot brake system, love it or loathe it, it works. For some it is what they want and what makes them choose Firem over other premium skibike manufacturers.

VS 614 - as an "all mountain" go anywhere skibike it is without equal

Me, I just like the opportunity to have a go and ride with Serge.

Back On The Dole - Part II

I have had such long days recently and with so much commuting from the North side of Geneva to the Alpine resorts 40 miles away, adding up to 3 hours a day spent in the car. I needed a break and wanted to stay this side of Geneva, so chose to have another go at skibiking at La Dole.

I had an extra hour in bed and relished the 40 minute drive up the Col de la Faucille and along the ridge to the ski station. The morning was a little misty, but looked like it would soon clear and best of all, the chairlift was running today, I bought my ticket and headed over to it.

The chairlift was running today

As promised there were absolutely no issues, I was straight on and off the whole day long, over and over again, without so much as a raised eyebrow. This is the way French skibiking should be, but of course, I am not in France now. La Dole is an anomaly, the ticket booths by the road are in France, but most of the pistes are in Switzerland. As far as I could tell, the clientèle are exclusively French and Swiss, they all seemed genial and chatty, one old boy gave me some useful local knowledge about Les Diablerets which is on the hit list for next week.
The bad news I gleaned, is that from tomorrow, the weather is set to become turbulent again with (gasp) rain and the freezing level rising to 2100 metres. This is depressing, all the lovely fluffy snow will slump and if it re-freezes will be hard and crusty, exactly the sort of snow no-one likes, good bye joyous off piste excursions, you will be missed. Today was a day to cherish every available second.

Today was a day to cherish every available second

I have to ride with Macedonian based Avalanche SkiBikes in two weeks time so I focussed on improving my off piste riding at higher speeds and turning on steeper gradients. The two aspects are inter-linked, if I mucked up the turns I found myself going blisteringly fast. It is worth all the effort; inevitable involuntary dismounts and fresh bruises. There is something so special and free about blatting across the hills, suspension going ten to the dozen, without constraint or limit, laying down first tracks in the snow.

Laying down first tracks in the snow

I also took advantage of the emptier pistes to let the skibike go, safe in the knowledge that for a change there was no-one out there to run into, I even bagged another black run in the process. I began to wonder whether my long awaited Jedi skibike skills had been delivered, but the truth is that the snow, even on piste, was deep, soft and yielding. If you can't put in a good turn in these conditions, take up a different hobby.

I even bagged another black run

In conclusion with its 4-seat chair lift, La Dole offers one of the most diversified ski areas of the Jura mountains.
It is situated between 1230 and 1678 metres of altitude and has around 20 km of slopes, from the easy green one to the black one and is therefore suitable for both beginners and the experienced. What an awesome day, if it rains tomorrow I can lie in and do some domestic chores.

La Dole - suitable for both beginners and the experienced

Combloux - Like Meeting With An Old Friend

Combloux is another one of those places that no-one has ever heard of, which is surprising, because it's across the valley from Megeve, a discrete resort for those seeking the classier end of ski holiday market.
Combloux used to be a favourite of mine, mainly because it has been consistently skibike friendly since my first visits to France. I've not been back for at least two seasons, as other domains have taken precedence.
Today, I was to renew my friendship with this little known area; a clear and crisp morning in Geneva was a good start. But the clouds had lingered over the mountains and when I arrived in Combloux the dull morning sky looking like burnished steel.
I chose to have a quick scout around on skis, familiarise myself with the layout and check with the lifties regarding skibike access. I always feel that if you ask them as a skier half way up, or down, a mountain they take you a bit more seriously than some fat English duffer with bad French who's plodded over from the car park.
Combloux is part of the "Evasion Mont-Blanc" Domain, so the lift prices are a little higher than you might expect, but still below the Grand Massif and way below nearby Chamonix. So what does the price get you? Almost all the chairlifts are now of the slow loading/unloading detachable design and are 5 or 6 seaters. This is ideal for freestyle skibikers who can step off safely without risk of being mowed down by the chair if they are not the fleetest of foot (like me).
The lift pass covers the adjacent areas of Jaillet, Le Christomet and I think La Gietaz too. Whilst still on skis I went down to Jaillet, as I have a work colleague who rates it highly, the main uplift is a gondola system, the lifties confirmed that if a skibike can be fitted inside they will carry it.

Jaillet gondola - if a skibike can be fitted inside, they will carry it

At about this point the leaden skies lifted, the flat light gave way to bright patches of sunlight and I headed back to the car park to make the transformation into skibiker mode.

There are plentiful wooded blue runs above Combloux to flatter any rider, with 800m of vertical drop served by a relay of two chairlifts, it makes for a great training area. There are some steeper red runs, which are all worth attempting, even if you are not the strongest rider, as there are run off areas to the side of the piste to escape into if things go pear shaped.
I made a trip over to the Le Christomet side of the station, the ride down appears short on the piste map, but is actually a long descent along what appears to be a summertime mountain access road. Once down, a chairlift will whisk you up to the summit of Le Christomet from which there are some splendid challenging runs back down. The Chevreuil was an absolute treat, feeling somewhat trickier than a blue, I gave it a few goes so that I could learn the curves and know when to go faster and when to hold back.
I got a little over confident and headed onto the Aigle black run, it was very mogulled but seemed way to easy to be considered a black until I found myself at the top of what can only be described as a cliff. For once I followed my own advice, as given to Mark Bayston just a few days earlier.

When the slope seems impossibly steep and you don't want to risk turning across the fall line. Ride wide traverses from one edge to the other and when you reach the edge, get off the skibike, turn it around and get back on.

I got a little over confident and headed onto the Aigle black run

Yes I know it's cheating, but if you don't like it, as the locals keep telling me, "go stick your head in a pig".

It is worth noting that to get back over to the Combloux side you have to use the Pres chairlift, as it is non-detachable you are supposed to ride straight off it. The lift operator had a few choice words even though I only put a foot down before getting on the pegs, pretty slick by my usual standards.

I found my visit to Combloux to be like meeting up with an old friend, but one who now cooks a wicked curry, does massages and owns a pub. The whole area seems so much bigger now skibikers are being accepted outside of the core of the station. Maybe one day we'll even see skibikes parked next to the Mercedes in chic Megeve.

Combloux - the whole area seems so much bigger now

Praz De Lys Or Sommand? - Two Little Gems

I didn't really want to go out today, but if I don't push myself now I will only regret it once the season has passed. So I headed for the ski station of Praz de Lys / Sommand, located roughly between Mieussy, Taninges and Les Gets, it is almost part of the Portes du Soleil. If it was, the prices would be double and the car parks would be full of Range Rover Evoques and not battered Peugeots 306s, in my books this is all good news. Wikipedia says similar and explains why it is so.

Sommand is noted for the beauty of its varied landscape of beautiful forests and open panoramic views. It has almost none of the over development and mass tourism infrastructure characterised by many nearby resorts. This is due to the area being a protected nature reserve which allows only low impact sustainable development. Its focus is on providing a uniquely family friendly resort while leaving other resorts, like Les Gets/Morzine/Flaine to cater for the Northern European "package holiday" and "youth" market.

One unique feature of Praz de Lys is they have a ticket kiosk in Mieussy so that you can sort lift passes en route, once you arrive you are straight out on the slopes. I have been here a number of times before, normally by following the road running from Cluses to Les Gets, taking a left turn not long after Taninges, then driving up what must have once been a goat track, to the mesa high above.

A squall blew in, bringing driving snow and poor visibility

This time I tried the route up from Mieussy, which turned out to be a thoroughly gnarly hairpin climb up an extremely steep escarpment. I followed a Peugeot 306 up the hill, its exhaust pouring black smoke as the owner thrashed it mercilessly to avoid being overtaken by an Englishman. At the top of the hill the road leads off towards the ski station of Sommand, having taken one wrong turn I found the car park by the chairlifts set about my business.

The lifties were a little bit confused about my apparatus, went into a huddle and collectively decided that I was OK. I have skibiked this area before, but never made it over to this side of the hill. But from that point onwards there were no issues elsewhere, all the chairlifts are the older constant speed type, each was dutifully slowed down and sped up for me without issue. Now I know how Royalty must feel when they pay places a visit.

A great snow stash at relatively high altitude just an hour from Geneva

What I particularly wanted to do was the off-piste below the Haute Fleurry chairlift, I had a moment of Nirvana riding that slope at the very end of last season and wanted to feel it again.
Unfortunately last year the weather was calm and balmy, this year no sooner had I got to the top of the chairlift than a squall blew in, bringing driving snow and poor visibility. Furthermore, I learned that slope quite well last year and I was on the looked out for a particularly evil set of rocks that defined my line of entry. They had completely disappeared, such has been the volume of recent snowfall. I made it down, but my descent had not been as elegant as I would have wished. I wasn't to have a second bite at it either, as the Haute Fleurry chairlift closed soon afterwards due to the wind and didn't reopen.
I took a lower level route back to Sommand and warmed myself up with a vin chaud, eavesdropping on a bunch of French retirees having a typically Gallic post lunch conversation about the life preserving virtues of Royal Jelly.
I went back out on the hill for a couple more circuits and then decided to finish the day on SnowBlades, I needed the loo, so used the facilities of the nearby restaurant and had another vin chaud, just to be polite. A friendly fellow who works there wanted lots of information about skibikes, I offered a demo ride when I get my spare bike back, who knows, we might have another skibike fan.

In conclusion, if you're the sort of person who likes bling and glitz or wants snow to be accompanied by 24 hour entertainment, you would absolutely hate Praz de Lys / Sommand. For me, as a great snow stash at relatively high altitude, just an hour from Geneva, it's a gem.
Access can be an issue when the weather is severe, both roads are steep and narrow. You don't need a 4x4, but winter tyres and snow chains are a must, even if the chains never come out of the boot.
It has a wide variety of runs, about 75% being accessible by the chairlifts. There are some advanced areas that I still haven't had the chance to test, so I hope I can get back when there's snow and I can see better where I'm going and exactly what I'm running into.
Best of all, the lift operators seem to be laid back about what you bring on the lift and have been consistently skibike friendly for two years running now.

Getting Back On The Horse - A Spot Of Mentoring

OK I will have to take back what I wrote about the Grand Massif in my last post, today was the sort of amazing day I remember having in this area. I was back to meet with Mark Bayston, who is hiring my bike for the week, the last time we rode together was on a sledging hill in Derby about this time last year. He then took a late season holiday in this area and had a reasonably good time, but did manage to crack a rib in the process. It takes a lot of guts to "get back on the horse" after such an experience. Today I could see how he was getting on and perhaps do a bit of mentoring to point him in the right direction.
He had only arrived last night after a bad ferry crossing followed by 500 miles of driving in heavy rain. The plan was to ease him back into the saddle gently, with a succession of pleasant, easy, blue runs to cruise along and maybe the odd spot of unchallenging off-piste.

We met in Morillon and kicked off with a couple of warm up runs on the wide Sairon piste, Mark seemed to "dial-in" very quickly and soon settled down to some very tidy linked turns working his way methodically down the run. We met up with Mark's family for a quick refreshment break and the weather, which had been snowing quite heavily on and of suddenly abated and the sun burst through.

A couple of warm up runs on the wide Sairon piste

We headed in the direction of Les Carroz and its charming wooded runs, but Mark was unimpressed with the firm nature of the runs immediately above the town, so we headed over towards Vernant taking advantage of the bountiful off piste areas. Both of us managed at some point to get ourselves sunk in the "quick sand". Next we hit the bowl under the Grand Vans chairlift above Flaine.
We made out way down in Flaine Forum for a well deserved beer, I checked the time and to my amazement and horror realised that it was nearing 4 O'clock, I couldn't face the prospect of getting stuck in Flaine for a second time. We postponed the beers for later and hurried towards the Grand Vans Chair.
Scurrying off I was accosted by a wildly gesticulating snow boarder, who turned out to be local lad and Blog regular, Fabrice Mercier, hopefully we will ride together soon.

Mark Bayston - his skills were progressing so fast

We then had to head down the Dolomie run which had developed monster mogul fields, just what you don't need when you're in a hurry. Mark did amazingly well, for someone with a weeks freestyle riding behind them, to get down a steep monster mogul at a steady speed and in control is quite an achievement. To do it the first day of your holiday, when your body is telling you to it's had enough, doubly so.
We made it to the Corbalanche lift with time to spare and arriving at the Tetes des Saix, realised that we were home dry, from that point on it would all be downhill.
This gave us an opportunity to savour the ride, stop for that well earned beer and give Mark's family a chance to catch up with his eventful day and do a final grand run at sunset back to their Morillon 1100 base camp.
By the time we got back, the lifties told me that the telecabin down to Morillon village had officially stopped, but I could still jump in if I was quick; or take my chances by riding down the closed piste to the village. I had a few last minute arrangements to make with Mark, so opted for the latter option. It was a remarkable experience riding in the gathering twilight through the trees and chalets back down to the village, the pink and orange glow of the setting sun bouncing off the snow on the high peaks all around. With around 500 metres left to ride, I discovered why this piste was closed, the surface was little more than icy slabs and bare earth. At which point it was time for an evening stroll through the woods.

Both of us managed to get ourselves sunk in the "quick sand"

Why was this ride so different from the last? No crowds and on a Sunday too, this defies explanation. The weather wasn't too god at the start of the day, with snow and grey skies, but from mid day one of the first few bluebird days had arrived. There were no issues with queues anywhere at any time.
I shall meet up with Mark at the end of the week to ride again, his skills were progressing so fast he will no doubt have a few recommendations for me by then.

The Joy Of Skibiking - No Pain All Gain

Without further ado, here's a great report on his recent trip to Ellmau, Austria by novice skibiker Andy Cadney.

I’ve got to admit I was desperate, trying to lean forward on a left knee that was pouring hot lava up my thigh while some smart alec Austrian sadist was yelling ‘no, you must more weight on the front have’ (or words to that effect and I’m not taking the mick, his English was still Kilometres better than my German).
Season 3 of snowboarding, this time in the Austrian resort of Galtur, and my past sins were catching up with me. Nine months before, walking down stairs I’d felt a stab of pain in my knee. Ah, a pulled muscle/ligament damage/sprain, off to the Doc, duly despatched to the physio who, after a moment of pummelling delivered the verdict ‘arthritis in that left knee, you’ve maybe 10 years with exercise and care, after that it’s an artificial one’. Oh crikey.

Maybe 10 years with exercise and care

Then ‘oh, can I take a photo of your legs, I can add them to the archive, for teaching purposes’. This wasn’t a come on, in the far mists of time, or 1979 as it was then known, I’d managed to bend a set of motorcycle handlebars into a ‘U’ shape by striking them firmly with my shins, during an attempt to vault the bonnet of a stationary Saab 99 while travelling at 70mph. Unfortunately the bike insisted on staying on one side of the car while I continued on my travels, in the process demolishing both shins, my left elbow, left arm, and collecting an impact fracture of the right wrist when the road came up to hit me.

Very bent shins

The result of this was not only bent handlebars and few scars on my arms, but also very bent shins, as all they could do to in the late ‘70s was slap plaster round broken bones (however badly fractured) and pump you full of penicillin.

Fast forward to the start of the 21st century and I start being able to afford skiing holidays. All great fun, but within 2-3 days of the start of each holiday unforgiving ski boots are wearing holes in my non-standard legs. I tried everything, gaffer taping (gaffer tape, the must have accessory for EVERY winter sports holiday) socks over the lumps, cotton wool, shaping bits of foam, coughing up for pricey boots and heat formable inners. I suffered for 5 holidays, gaining a lot of ski experience but never really being more than an indifferent skier, as I tried to learn carving turns not in snow like everyone else, but in a sea of pain.
Hence the switch to snow-boarding, ahhh...., comfortable boots at last  (but too late!). Now we find that like an awful lot of middle-aged people (how did that happen? Outrageous, in my head I’m still 21) my joints are falling apart, winter sports nemesis.

While all this had been going on I’d carried on with the motorbiking lark (are you MAD I can hear you shout, nope, merely reckless). I’ve largely switched to off-road motorcycle sport and I found that, despite snow-boarding causing excessive discomfort, I could still wear large motor bike boots and ride off-road bikes without succumbing to screaming agony.
So in an idle moment I did a little research on ski-bikes (I think I’d seen them in the ski-hire shop in Austria).
Thus I found Mark’s blog and also info about the Brenter bikes. Salvation!
I determined to have a crack, as it was my last chance to keep those wonderful winter holidays happening.
An Open University course and work meant that I had to wait a couple of years before trying it out, but finally, in 2014, the wife and I reckoned we had the time and the money to book a holiday.
I jumped on to the internet and fired off about 20 emails to hire shops in Austria which seemed to be the country where they were popular and common.
It was a mixed bag of responses, with plenty of ‘no’,  along with some ‘yes’ but quoting silly money or plainly only having one bike to rent out.
I finally got a line on a shop in Ellmau, Austria that was a Snow Bike centre. Prices were reasonable, and it was obvious there was a fair stock of bikes.

  Sunday morning - meeting Hans

I booked everything I needed, including tuition, and then booked a holiday with Thompson to match! (no point booking a holiday in a place with no bike availability!)
So, all set.
Once we arrived I rolled up on Sunday morning to meet the owner, Hans, who ran the snow bike business along with Mike who looked after the ski/snowboard side. Hans’ English was a bit limited, but Mike made up for it by being pretty fluent. Both Hans and Mike were really friendly and helpful and I was duly issued with a bike and all the related bits and bobs, and given a kit run through (mostly about how to hang the foot skis round my neck when walking).
I was also introduced to the instructor and despatched off with all requisite equipment and directions to the meet up point.
Unfortunately my appalling sense of direction meant that I missed the meet, as I went in the wrong direction, somewhat embarrassingly.
Once I finally clicked to what I did wrong, I found the nursery slope, but it was bare of instructional resources. After a little dithering I decided to best thing to do was just start.

I decided to best thing to do was just start

A bit of mucking about got me sitting on the bike with foot skis on in the obligatory manner. The whole plot (me included) did begin to slide off, toboggan style, but as in total I had 4 sets of edges I found it incredibly easy to control. Having lots of ski and board experience did help but it felt dead easy and basic to dig the edge of a foot ski in to stop any undesired movement. The simplicity was helped by only being required to emulate a sack of potatoes, none of that tottering, leaning and squirming associated with initial struggles with ski or board.

I duly carved a weaving track down the slope with a semblance of control, appearing I suspect to innocent bystanders something resembling a tired water boatman skating the surface of a pond. Round the bottom of the button lift (I wasn’t going to have a crack at THAT, thanks very much) I was just considering skittering towards a ski bus stop, with the intention of dragging this contraption to the Funicular (Ellmau has an excellent, if somewhat aged Funicular railway that serves the nearest, rather low at 1900 metres, Alpine foothill), so I could get a bit of height without having to face an unknown like a T bar or chairlift, when hey, ho, I spotted a fellow ski-biker.
Well several, as I’d found the instructor with the other poor saps trying to get their heads round this lunacy.

Something resembling a tired water boatman

I managed to kind of loop round them, skidding to halt next to the line. ‘Hi Andy’, ‘Hi’, and off we go. And first task is up the next steepest nursery slope on a T bar, a little instruction and it’s pretty obvious and easy, T bar under the bum like a skier, and just  let the bike ‘freewheel’ (if that’s the right term) with the bars against the legs. It all worked surprisingly well.
Then we are instructed to do gentle curving turns down the slope, in single file. It was all very smooth and easy, I mean crikey, unlike any other snow sport appliance you’ve got STEERING. Top.
The instructor, Gerhardt (I’ve got to call him something, rather than just ‘instructor’) had a quiet word with me. ‘Just slide your bottom back’, my bum promptly dropped into the slot designed for it, ‘and keep your knees together’ this helped a lot, but I never did really get the hang of it, more on that soon.

Unlike any other snow sport you’ve got STEERING

This success meant that we were led over to the Funicular (with a bit of sliding and slithering) so that Gerhardt could get us into the big time at the top of the mountain.
We all stumbled out of the station at the top, and lined up in the snow on our bikes. I had been really enjoying myself on the run down to the railway, feeling in control of speed and direction (and so easy, so fast!) , more than I’d ever done with snow-boarding or skiing (well, not without pain).
From here Gerhardt took us down a long blue, which I found easy, but unfortunately fairly soon one of the party managed to get carried away and shot off the edge of the piste. A bit unfortunate, and it resulted in a slightly twisted knee. This slowed everything down a little, but we navigated down this quite long blue in stages, pausing to allow the injured to catch up.
The piste was actually quite a testing one, and conditions were not nice and yet I did feel completely in control most of the time. Having steering, skis on the bike, and skis on the feet allowed lots of options, no matter how pear shaped it all seemed to be getting.
It was a pretty long piste, and though initially I been following one of the other group members, about half way down I kind of politely overtook and happily completed the rest of it on my own, even taking the last half mile red option without any difficulty (this was entirely accidental, but it gave me a lot of confidence).

Taking the last half mile red option without any difficulty

Arriving at the bottom of that piste ended the training session (I got a little Brenter driving licence from Gerhardt). It really set me up for the rest of the holiday. I had 5 ½ more days of snow fun with my missus, going on the slopes I wanted to, at the speed I chose, stopping where I liked and when I liked, without too much effort or importantly pain. Oh yes, and experiencing a major advantage of the ski-bike, when I stopped, unlike most other people, I had something comfortable to sit on. What a wonder for the person of later years.

In hindsight, one of the things I liked about the whole snowbike/skibike experience was that, unlike skiing, there wasn't endless 'more technique' to learn (or so I felt in my arrogant way!), with some bleedin' instructor going on 'you must lean more forward/backward/stand up more/sit down more' as I try to figure out what my body's doing apart from hurting.
Saying that, though I took to it straight away and could make my way quite rapidly down slope in uncoordinated flurries of snow, I did find sometimes I was forced to 'step off my machine'. I worked out that what generally caused any 'face first into the snow-ism' was my inside foot ski flailing about.
Though I was feeling a little prima donna-ish during the instruction session, feeling like I want to just rush off and have fun, Gerhardt was incredibly helpful, and every bit of input from him made a massive difference. You feel like it’s going well and you’re in control, but just a few minor changes would make a massive difference.

Towards the end could not crash pretty reliably

I tightened it all up through the week, and towards the end could not crash pretty reliably, so was feeling pretty smug, possibly even arrogant. This didn't stop me getting a lecture from Hans the snow-bike-shop-man about keeping my knees tight to the bike, so keeping foot skis parallel. He even produced a bungie cord to wrap round my thighs as a training aid. I was a bit miffed at the time, but looking at the photos my feet are out about a metre from the bike, so maybe he's got a point.
The really important thing about the whole experience was how the Brenter bike didn’t pound my existing injuries. Where both skiing and snow-boarding caused me a lot of pain due to the amount of stress that was put through my lower legs and knees, this just didn’t happen with the Snow Bike. Most of your weight is taken on your bum, and your legs just contribute to ancillary control. My poor technique meant I felt a little bit of strain, but it would be easy to tighten up, and to keep legs virtually strain free.

Some of the others in my instructing group seemed to find riding the Brenter a little harder to pick up than I did (I think my two wheel experience helped a lot) but the progress of the whole group was certainly a lot faster than the average group of ski or snowboard learners. Several of the students in my group that I spoke to were trying out the snowbike as an option due to leg injuries. They do seem a great choice for those who love snow sport but are now struggling with body wear and tear of one sort or another. Sports people with disabilities get a lot more publicity than they used to, and quite right too, but there seems to be a dearth of information about options on how to carry on once you succumb to the ravages of time and earlier foolishness. Several people I spoke to on lifts were interested, and a couple of people since I’ve got back, who I just randomly chatted to, who were on the verge of giving up on winter holidays have asked avidly for details.

Most of the people involved in snow-sport holidays (reps, ski instructors, ski hire shop assistants) are young, fit and enthusiastic about either skiing or snowboarding so aren’t aware of the difficulties some more ‘mature’ holidaymakers face, or the options to avoid them. The medical profession’s usual reaction (apart from discussing the quality of the resort you last visited) is to say ‘you better stop that activity then’. Maybe Brenter’s marketing department need to get together with the package holiday industry to fill a gap in the market.

I was quite surprised how much I did enjoy the Brenter

I was quite surprised how much I did enjoy the Brenter. My ambition was (and still is) to get into the ‘pegger’ style ski-bikes, probably building one, as these appealed to my motorcycle dirt bike sensibilities (and riding style), and I’d booked the holiday really to get a feel for the whole thing, how difficult lifts, t-bars were, what the reactions of other slope users was, that sort of thing. However I really did get into using Brenter, and mucking about with it (I was experimenting with 360 degree turns half way through the holiday). There seemed to be loads more potential to try out, for instance I didn’t get into carving turns, even dealing with steep icy slopes looks interesting and my speed was still building up. So, though my ambition is to get into ‘pegger’ style ski-bikes, I can see myself having a holiday or two renting a Brenter, to really find out what they can do.

With thanks to Hans and Mike at www.snowbike-ellmau.com

Snowbike Wilder Kaiser
Hans Selb,
Dorf 31 – A-6352 Ellmau (INTERSPORT-Skiverleih),
Tel. 0043 664 1528757,
info@snowbike-ellmau.com