Kristen Lummis, braveskimom.com

“To skibike, forget everything you know about skiing and everything you know about biking. It’s really not like either of them,” explained Bryan a Winter Park skibike instructor. It was a frigid January morning and my family and I were sitting on skibikes at the top of the flat bunny hill. Surrounded by adorable four-year-olds in brightly patterned ski suits, we were out of breath and out of our element. I was also beginning to fear that Bryan might be out of patience. 

Skiing? Biking? Yeah, We Do Those

At the beginning of our lesson we were confident and excited. My oldest son joked that “Today might be the day I die,” but in his mind “death” would come not from skibiking, but from the embarrassment of wearing snowboarding boots. We all ski, we all bike, and we're not totally unathletic. But we had some serious misperceptions about skibiking. We mistakenly thought that skibiking would combine the skills necessary for skiing and biking. We anticipated steering with handlebars and carving turns. Simple enough, right? Wrong. Skibiking is its own discipline requiring its own set of skills. The stance Bryan taught us was similar to mountain biking, or motocross, but that was about all that was familiar.

Instead of brakes, skibiking uses friction for speed control and this friction comes from skidding. The skidding comes from shifting weight onto the front ski, leaning and letting the bike drift uphill. If we tried to steer the skibike with the handlebars and by leaning the skis on edge, we did okay on flat terrain, but on even the slightest pitch we were out of control.

Gravity Assist

At the end of the first run, we were tired and a little discouraged. I know Bryan could sense this, because on our second run, he focused simply on having fun and gave up on intensive instruction. By the time we reached the base the second time, we were smiling, laughing and having a darn good time.

Like anyone learning something new, we had to take several steps backward before we moved forward. As we transitioned from super-flat beginner slopes to green runs with a bit more pitch, the skibiking began to get easier. A little gravity went a long way, but it gave us a taste of fun. Instead of being frustrated with what we couldn’t do, or shouldn’t do, we began linking skidded turns and using fishtails to slow our speed.

License? Or Learners’ Permit?

Although virtually unknown at many resorts, skibiking has been allowed at Winter Park for 12 years. Interest in the sport led to licensing.

Participants, like us, sign up to learn four basic skills: the Skidded Traverse, Garland Turns, Fish Tail Turns and Hockey Stops. If participants demonstrate each of these skills at the end of a 2-hour lesson, they earn a license. "Skibiking is really a lot like snowboarding was in the 1980s. It's relatively new, so many mountains aren't really sure what to when someone shows up with a skibike," explained Bryan. The license proves that riders have taken a class and have basic competency. More importantly, a license is required to rent skibikes from Winter Park and to skibike at other mountains that require licenses.