What is SkiRider?
Few people really know how to instinctively stand weighting their feet evenly, consequently nursery slopes the world over tend to be littered with would be skiers embarrassingly, and often painfully, face down in the snow. Anyone who has attempted the arduous journey to mastering snowboarding can tell you things are not much better – like skiing, heel and toe weighting is critical in order to apply edges, add to that the need to weight the leading foot then transit your weight either to the toe or heel when turning, it is small wonder that many a novice’s enthusiasm turns to despair and an unwillingness to spend more money on improving past that first week.
According to the US National Ski Areas Association, focus has to be made on the transition from learning to enjoyment as that is where the future of winter sports is to be found.
Snowboarding came to the rescue of the ski resorts in the ‘80s but now even those participant numbers are showing signs of flattening off. Today the winter sports industry is once again looking for the next big craze to breath fresh life onto the slopes and the signs are that Skirider could be just the ticket!
Skirider was the brain child of Andrew Hubert Von Stauffer and has been designed and developed to allowing rapid transition from learning to enjoyment. This is due to the unique design that takes is intuitive, and requires no other special equipment – making the investment for the absolute beginner relatively painless and considerably less complicated. Add to that Skiriders sheer simplicity of use and you have a snowsport that is highly attractive to beginners and returning, rusty skiers and boarders alike.
Experience has shown that if you have ridden a scooter then you can pretty well master the Skirider within a very short space of time. Although it handles admirably on all snow types, its true beauty comes to the fore in deep powder where turning on skis or boards require greater strength and puts considerable strain on knees and ankles. Like a scooter the turns are made through a combination of weight distribution and handlebars but unlike skis and boards there are no uncomfortable bindings. Keeping the front steering ski free is a simple matter of stepping back onto the tail of the Skirider – no more aching back and calf muscles as you try to keep the nose of your snowboard up.
The result is less pressure on the back, very low risk of strains or breakage as you are not attached to the Skirider and knees that aren’t screaming at you with the promise of osteoarthritis to come. Something that makes the Skirider appealing to both beginners and veterans alike!
Ski lift operators seem impressed too – tests show that Skirider is effortless to both embark and disembark and integrates seamlessly with other slope traffic.
Skirider could just be the breath of fresh air we have all been waiting for, all the signs suggest it will get more people onto the snow at a time when the industry is desperately looking for new participants.
The team at Skirider took the concept and developed into the product we are now offering. Based in South Wales UK we have traveled the world, testing and improving the product as we go. We are now in mass production and can offer Skiriders at an affordable cost to all.
