GRAVITY GEAR.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

SANTIAM PASS - Saturday is Winter Carnival at Hoodoo Ski Area, where every day is now a three-ring circus when it comes to "alternative" modes of skimming the slopes.

Breaking out of the rigid skis-and-snowboards-only mold observed by most downhill resorts, Hoodoo is offering its customers a trio of new options for gliding, sliding or riding down its ski runs.

Snow bikes, scooters and inflatable body boards - each of which adds something different to the sport of snow riding - are available in Hoodoo's rental shop, along with traditional skis and snowboards.

Snow bikes are sawed-off bicycle frames with skis in place of the front and rear wheels. They're ridden just like a bicycle except in place of pedaling, the rider keeps his or her feet - clad in ski boots with short ski-skates attached - in contact with the ground for stability and help turning and braking.

Snow scooters are like a two-piece snowboard with a waist-high handlebar attached to the turnable front section. They resemble a child's sidewalk scooter, right down to the fact that you can ride them in your sneakers instead of boots.

Airboards are inflatable body boards designed to maneuver - and stop, if need be - while schussing down snow-covered slopes at high speed. They're ridden head-first in the prone position. Curved, hard plastic ribbing on the underside of the Airboard allows the rider to control direction - or do the equivalent of a sideways-sliding "hockey stop" - by shifting weight.

All three devices represent different ways to have fun on the ski slopes, said Matthew McFarland, Hoodoo's general manager, who's fond of "all the fun snow toys."

"I'm just crazy that way," McFarland said. "I think anybody who has an alternative way to have fun on the slopes should be able to do so."

Hoodoo has had its fleet of alternative rentals for only about a month and never has advertised the new gravity-powered gear. But public interest is already starting to build due to word-of-mouth stemming from the devices being seen in use on the mountain.

McFarland is also putting together a "demo day" event in which Hoodoo and a couple of manufacturer representatives will provide free test rides of snow bikes, scooters and body boards. That event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16 (Presidents Day). However, McFarland recommends that people check the Web site www.hoodoo.com or call 822-3799 to confirm the schedule before heading up because that date is still tentative.

Even without any promotional effort, "the Airboard has gotten amazing popularity," McFarland said. "Just in the last couple of weeks it has really gone off. I'm surprised. ... After a couple of runs, everybody that does it hoots and hollers and has a good time."

The Airboard rents for $18 a day (not including lift ticket). First-time renters are required to take a short instructional course in its use. The lesson is an extra $10.

Once a person learns how to use weight-shifts effectively, the Airboard "is very steerable and controllable," McFarland said. "The same thing with stopping - if you steer it until it's going sideways, it will stop."

Nevertheless, the Swiss-made Airboard has no safety track record in the United States - so far, only two other ski areas allow them, according to McFarland - so Hoodoo is being cautious about when and where it can be used.

Airboards are rented only Mondays through Fridays, and during night skiing hours on weekends, when slopes are less crowded. And they may be taken only on the Manzanita Chairlift, which accesses runs that are more wide-open than some others on the mountain. The Manzanita lift, however, does give Airboarders access to the "Terrain Park," where more daring users steer them over jumps that send the inflatable sleds sailing through the air.

Ski bikes and scooters, on the other hand, are allowed on all lifts and runs at any time.

Those rent for $30 per day. Bike renters also must take a one-time introductory lesson (which mostly covers how to transport the bikes safely on the chairlifts) for $10.

McFarland purchased two different brands of ski bikes for his rental fleet.

"This is more of a carving-style bike," McFarland said, lifting a silver Snowcycle brand bike. "It doesn't have as much spring in the seat, so it's more for doing giant slalom-style turns" on groomed surfaces.

The other brand, Snowbike, is "more of an all-terrain ski bike," he said. You can do moguls, no problem. Deep and steep, anything. Because it's easy to weight and unweight yourself with the spring in the seat. You get a good motion going and you can really get good, sharp turns."

Both bikes are "very easy to learn to use," McFarland said.

"The two skinny skis on your feet act like outriggers, and help you with the weight shift," he said. "By the end of the first day, most people are doing black diamonds (the most difficult category of ski run)."

A skeptical reporter - who normally skis cross-country, not downhill - asked if he could see for himself.

With no instruction other than a couple of tips from Chris McAllister, a Hoodoo rental shop employee who's become a fan of both Snowbikes and Airboards, the reporter soon found himself carving turns through the Blue Valley run like it was a Christmas turkey.

With the mini-skis on his boots serving as training wheels, maintaining balance was no problem. Oh, he did get a little too aggressive turning into a sudden "stop" and topple over one time. But, sitting so close to the ground, it shouldn't even count as a fall.

Indeed, after one run, the reporter felt enough at ease on the Snowbike to follow McAllister down The Headwall, an ungroomed, deep-powder black diamond run that's one of Hoodoo's steepest.

Heeding McAllister's advise to sit well back to keep the ski tips from digging into the loose snow, the reporter negotiated The Headwall on the Snowbike without incident. Had he been on regular skis, he would have taken them off and crawled down.

Such an easy learning curve should make ski bikes attractive to nonskiers who have been leery of falling all the time as they attempt to learn to ski or snowboard. In addition, one ski bike company says its target market is older skiers with bad knees - who could benefit from the reduced strain of sitting on a bike seat rather than using their knees as shock absorbers.

"If the snow bike manufacturers really pushed it here, I think they could be quite a segment of the market - 10 or 20 percent," McFarland said. "This is a huge sport in Europe."

The snow scooters, meanwhile, so far haven't picked up as large a following as the Airboards and bikes have.

"The Snowscoot, everybody who rides it either really likes it or hates it, one or the other," McFarland said. "It's about 50-50."

One of those who really likes the Snowscoot is Kaly Harward of Eugene, who bought one after trying the sport at Hoodoo.

A lifelong skier and snowboarder, Harward said the scooter "is a little more challenging than skiing or snowboarding - but not too difficult to have a good time on it. It provides a break so you can go in a different direction and still be on the mountain. ...

"Another thing that appeals to me is not wearing boots. I've never been a fan of those clunky ski boots. When I found out I could just wear my Nikes on the snow scooter, it really impressed me."

CAPTION(S):

Hoodoo rental shop employee Chris McAllister sails over a jump on an airboard that has a grooved underside that allows the rider to control steering and stopping. Hoodoo is the only area ski destination that offers the alternative snow ride. McAllister rides a snowbike, which is being marketed to skiers who want to protect their knees. Kevin Clark / The Register-Guard Dave McDowell rides a snow scooter, a device that can be operated in sneakers as opposed to the usual ski boots.