Airboarding: redefining a childhood tradition

By Stephen Hlawaty
Outdoors Columnist

Nothing recalls the magic and bliss of childhood as vividly as the image of sledding down a snow-covered hill underneath bluebird skies. My childhood sledding experience begins with the Soup Bowl, a gigantic ditch in Forest Park of Queens, N.Y.

I remember running as fast as I could with my Flexible Flyer before launching myself - headfirst - out and over the Bowl's abyss. Had it been an Olympic event in 1976, I could have been a contender in the skeleton in Innsbruck. The Soup Bowl was filled with a medley of different sleds, from Flexible Flyers, toboggans and plastic saucers to trashcan lids, bags and even car hoods. The recipe for fun was clear: sled by any means available.

Recently, I sledded on a device that just might deliver me a tastier childhood, one that I can enjoy as an adult. In a curious combination of one part snowboard, one part dinghy and a dash of attitude, Airboard's snow body boards draw from the performance features more commonly associated with snowboarding and whitewater rafting. Made of a tough urethane/nylon material, the Airboard is an inflatable sled. But unlike other inflatable sleds on the market, the Airboard includes bottom runners that run the entire length of the board. These runners track very well in variable snow conditions, like the ones we see in Colorado's backcountry.

Not surprisingly, Airboard President Ann-Elise Emerson likens Airboarding to a kind of extreme sledding. And I agree. The day that I packed my friend's Airboard inside my backpack and snowshoed to the top of Monkey Bowl just east of Cameron Pass made a believer out of me. After taking 3 to 5 minutes to inflate the thing, I leaped on and headed down the slope. Although it rides higher than my Flexible Flyer, it's also faster and smoother. Controlling the Airboard was a breeze. I could actually feel the board tracking underneath. Never has sledding provided me with this much control. I built a little kicker at the bottom of the bowl to see how much air I could grab. For all I know, this thing was made to fly, too. I determined then and there that I must have one.

According to Emerson, Airboards "are great because, unlike traditional sleds, these boards don't need special snow conditions. They can handle it all, from piste to off-piste terrain." What this means is that airboarders can ride the same terrain that skiers and snowboarders can. The Airboard is designed to be ridden head first, on your stomach, with your arms slightly bent on the top rails of the board. By leaning your body into turns while driving the runners into the snow, airboarders generate greater control when carving and stopping. These boards stop much like you would if on a pair of skis. What's more, these boards offer enough control that you could actually carve figure-eight turns in the snow.

Since its introduction into the United States two years ago, airboarding has been drawing much attention. While airboarding has been a competitive sport in Switzerland, Austria and Germany for several years, Hoodoo Ski Area in Oregon held the first USA Airboard competition last month. Presently, there are seven ski resorts throughout the country that include airboarding on their slopes, with Keystone Resort representing Colorado.

The Airboard lineup includes the Classic, the Kid's and the Freeride (available in Autumn 2005) snow body boards. The Classic is a 150-liter chamber board and can accommodate an adult weighing up to 250 pounds. This board excels at riding the groomed trails of area ski resorts. It retails for $269. The Kid's board is 70 percent smaller than the Classic. Kids between the ages of 6 and 12 will find this board to be a perfect fit and will appreciate that the board weighs only 3 pounds. It retails for $149. The Freeride has a 200-liter chamber and is 3 inches wider than the Classic, the Freeride is designed for deep powder body boarding in the backcountry. It retails for $299. Now that's my kind of board. Each model includes repair kit and hand pump.

For nostalgia, I might take one last ride on my Flexible Flyer before otherwise upgrading to Airboard's revolutionary improvement in a centuries-old childhood tradition. Suffice to say, my adulthood sledding experience begins with the Airboard.