Snowskates

Snowskates are a type of snow sport equipment intended to allow the user to emulate the actions of ice skating or rollerblading on snow. They were first produced commercially in Germany in the 1930s.

Snowskates consist of a pair of flexible ski boots with integrated bases resembling sled runners that are approximately the same length as the boot itself, incorporating steel edges to grip the snow.

Sleddogs snowskates Oslo, Norway

Sled Dogs Snowskates is a winter sports company that is now owned and operated out of Oslo, Norway producing the current generation of snowskates. Since 2014, Sled Dogs Snowskates have produced a range of comfortable, lightweight snowskates for different user requirements (casual user to advanced user) Sled Dogs Snowskates combine the freedom and aggressive movements from inline skates and ice skates, with the freedom and challenge of slalom and snowboarding, without moving away from the key concept of 'Skates on Snow'.

The similar term snowskating may also apply to a skateboard for use on snow (which is a shortened term of "snowskateboarding").

History

Metal snowskates from Holland, 1865

Snowskates were invented in The Netherlands, and originally consisted of a simple wood runner that was tied to the users boots around 1865.^[1]

The earliest versions came in many varieties and they were mostly custom-made as opposed to commercially produced. The more well-known, commercially produced models came from Germany in the 1950s. The modern version of snowskates was invented by Swiss inventor Hanes Jacob in the 1970s.

Types and distributors of Sled Dogs brand snowskates

Available Sled Dogs snowskates types in season 2015–2016

Multiple types of snowskates and accessories are available at the official website and at the official distributors in more than 30 countries around the World.

In 2017 there are distributors in Europe, Russia, Cyprus, Australia and New Zealand, China, South Korea, Canada, USA and in South America.

The available models are named after Norwegian dog breeds: The Halden is the entry-level model claiming 'all-round practicality and performance; the Lunde is a special women's fit with a fleece inner lining; the Hygen is the racing model. The K9.02 model is the top model designed for freestyle and professional level users.

TV appearances

The skates were featured in British Channel 4 TVs show "The Jump" where celebrities (Steve-O, Dean Cain, Heather Mills, Brian McFadden, Stacey Solomon etc.) were competing with SledDogs snowskates in series 2 in 2015 and in series 3 in 2016. Both series were watched by over 2,5 million viewers.^[2]

SledDogs Bonefight race series

SledDogs Bonefight World Champion 2015-216 Luca Dallago

The first ever cross downhill competition using snowskates, called SledDogs Bonefight was held in Wagrain, Austria on the 20th of December, 2015.^[3][4] It was followed by 2 more races during the winter season of 2015–16. The next race was held in the biggest indoor ski slope of the World in Snowworld, Landgraaf, The Netherlands followed by the third race in Red Deer, Canada. The first ever SledDogs Bonefight World Champion was Luca Dallago who is also a top 10 athlete in RedBull Crashed Ice series.

The 2016/17 Bonefight tournament was held at slopes in Atholville and Nakiska in Canada and Wagrain in Austria. The World Champion in the women's tournament was jointly held by Karine Roy and Makara Martin, both from Canada, with Shaelyn Moltzahn, also from Canada, making up the top three. In the men's tournament, Luca Dallego from Austria held on to his world title for a second year, with Nathan Oostenbrink from Canada and Philipp Auerswald from Germany sharing second place.

The 2017/18 Bonefight tournament returned to Atholville and Wagrain and debuted at the Iceland Winter Games in Akureyri. Germany's Philipp Auerswald beat former title-holder Luca Dallago to the top spot in the men's event, with Canada's Samuel Nadeau taking third. Canada's Karine Roy took the No.1 spot for the women, followed by Iceland's Eva Maria Karvelsdottir and Finland's Miisa Klemola. The Freestyle Jump title was closely fought between Canada's Vincent Leblanc and Iceland's Isak Andri Bjarnason, with the title ultimately going to Bjarnason following a technical tie and an audience vote.

Ingi Freyr Sveinbjörnsson

Ingi Freyr Sveinbjörnsson

Ingi Freyr Sveinbjörnsson from Iceland is the most famous skater on SledDogs snowskates. He was special advisor/coach on UK TV series "The Jump" and he was the Top freestyle snowskater in the first international tournament in 2015. He has also been on television in South Korea. He also developed the following tricks on SledDogs snowskates: 360, 540, 720, frontflip, play dead, the twisted donut. As of June 2016, he held the fastest measured downhill speed record on SledDogs snowskates of 113 kilometres per hour (70 mph).^[5] until April 2018, when Jari-Pekka Rahkonen of Finland broke the record with a speed of 115.27 km/h ^[6]

References