In North Idaho, we experience four seasons – not only when it comes to weather but also outdoor sports and adventure. With five ski resorts, expansive lakes, accessible waterways and mile upon mile of national forest and wilderness, there is no shortage of space to play, regardless of the season. And we take our recreation pretty seriously. Four-wheelers, mountain bikes and dirt bikes traverse the mountain trails during the summer. Snowmobiles, snowshoes and backcountry skis abound in the winter.
In 1996, Vernal Forbes, an ex-Hewlett Packard executive living in Nampa, Idaho, came up with something new: a snow bike. His idea was to take an existing motorbike, remove the wheels, and convert it to a snow vehicle by adding a ski on the front and tracks on the back. In 1998, he tried out his first prototype, and in 2007, he launched 2Moto and the Radix snow bike conversion kit. As Derrick Driggs, a snowbiking legend, says, “The history of snowbiking really begins and ends in Idaho, as it is truly an Idaho-born sport.”
Granted, finding a way to ride your bike – like really ride your bike – during the winter, instead of stashing it under a cover in the garage, has been the dream of motorcyclists and dirt bikers for decades. From the Nazis’ 1936 Schneekrad to the 1973 California-built Snowjob, the first conversion kit, the snow bike trail was broken for not only Forbes, but also Allen Mangum, founder of Timbersled, which started in Sandpoint and is now the most widely recognized snow bike kit brand in the world.
Motorheads, break out your bikes. Snow riding is now a reality.
Personally, I’m more of a non-motorized bike person, but I’m married to a man who often states, he enjoys “pretty much anything with two wheels.” I am a sometimes-passenger and often-observer in this extensive Steve McQueen club, and I can appreciate the thrill of having a powerful engine beneath you that takes you to speeds and places you never thought possible.
Jeremy Deming, Coeur d’Alene resident, North Idaho native, and former semi-pro snowboarder and wakeboarder, got into snowbiking with the first Radix released in 2007. “We were riding those up by Sandpoint and at Trestle Creek,” he recalls. “We were doing snow-climb events and snocross events. We would pull up at intersections and people would be like, ‘What is that? I’ve never seen anything like that!’ And they still do that.”
When Mangum tested his first prototype in the mountains around Sandpoint, Deming and his friend Derek Mahoney were right there. Says Deming, “It was just so much better, his very first version, than anything else. He had a slam dunk right from the beginning. Then the sport really took off.”
The world’s first snow bike race took place in 2009 in McCall, Idaho, put on by 2Moto. American Freestyle Motocross rider Mike Metzger competed. He came in fourth in the Legends Results, with Mahoney taking third. Seven years later, snow bike racing was officially added to the X Games. And dirt bikers everywhere rejoiced.
So, beyond the obvious speed and adrenaline rush, what is the appeal of snow biking, especially in light of the fact that we already have snowmobiles? Mangum says, “Well, there are now two winter motor sports to enjoy in the mountains. One’s not better than the other. They’re just different.”
A snowmobile is pretty simple to operate and doesn’t require a lot of experience. You sit on it, push the throttle and go. “With any motorsport vehicle,” says Mangum, “you go places in a hurry and cover some terrain.” When it comes to snow biking, if you’re not a motorcycle rider, you might have a harder time. Still, any amount of motorized two-wheel experience easily translates to riding this snow machine. It’s narrow and agile. You can bob in and out of trees, ride off the groomed trails. In tricky situations, it’s easy to get out. When it gets steep, you can traverse to the top and enjoy the birds eye winter wonderland view.
AS WITH SKIING, SNOWBOARDING OR DIRT BIKING, YOU BECOME ONE WITH YOUR BIKE. YOU FEEL THE ACCELERATION, THE SUSPENSION, THE NUANCES OF THE TERRAIN AND FIND THAT SWEET SPOT IN FRESH SNOW.
As Deming describes it, “As the snow gets deeper, it just gets easier and easier. Snow bikes are really hard to ride on hard pack and ice. They’re fidgety. The ski wants to go where it wants to go, and it seems like you’re always trying to fight it. But once you get into some soft snow, everything smooths out.”
For Deming, snow biking marries two of his greatest loves: snowboarding and dirt biking. “When you point a snow bike down hill, to me, it feels like a snowboard,” he says. “And, it’s a new thing. How often does a new sport come around anymore? It just doesn’t.” With only a couple years of professional recognition, snow biking is definitely a sport waiting to be discovered by motorbikers everywhere.
In 2017, Deming invited a few friends up to Gold Creek Lodge just outside of Lakeview on Lake Pend Oreille for a weekend of snow bike exploration in the Coeur d’Alene National Forest. Nspire photographer, Joel Riner, joined them on a snowmobile, but got the chance to put down his camera and run a few trails on a snow bike. “It took me back to motorcycle and dirt bike riding,” says Riner. “I hadn’t been riding for a long time, but it was quite fun.”
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The day’s ride took them through untouched snow to the top of Packsaddle Mountain. They killed their engines and contemplated the pristine winterscape outspread below them — frosted pines, quiet mountains, and the icy blue lake stretching to the horizon.
In that moment, despite all his years of riding, Deming felt they were experiencing something extraordinary. “We were just a small percentage of the planet who were able to see those thing that day,” he says. “Pictures do it some justice, but when you’re up there at the top of one of those peaks, and you can see all around you, and there’s no one around for hundreds of miles, it’s unforgettable.” N
By S. Michal Bennett
Photography By Joel Riner
As Featured In: Winter/Spring 2018
May your trails be crooked, winding, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.
Edward Abbey, Author