REPRESENTATIVES

Owner/Manufacturer of Koski SnowSports

koskibrosbikes@outlook.com

I saw my first Skibob in 1961 on the slopes of Mt. Rose Ski Resort in Nevada at the tender age of 6. Little did I know how much this would later influence my involvement in the development of three cutting edge sports industries; Skibikes, BMX, and Mountain Bikes. In 1970 my family, during the height of the gasoline shortage, decided to open a bicycle shop because bicycle sales were going through the roof.  I took extra machine shop classes at Tamalpais High School and by the time we opened the bike shop I was a proficient fabricator. The Cove Bike Shop came to be known as the first mountain bike shop in the world.  We gained worldwide attention as the technical and innovative leaders in the mountain bike industry. From Japan, industry leaders, Shimano and Suntour, came to our shop for insight and advice. See page 15...  Popular Science vol#247 October of 2000

I saw a Brenter skibob from Austria at Homewood Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe, California later that year and decided to fabricate my own. Making use of my motorcycle / Moto-X knowledge I knew it had to have suspension and foot pegs.  I quickly realized rear suspension was not enough and built six more prototypes with front and rear suspension pushing the boundaries of available technology. The seventh prototype used a Montesa MX fork leg with a linkage system I designed and the back was a Fox Shox cutting edge motorcycle rear long travel air shock. Giving incredible performance, this bike proved to be the future of modern day skibiking. My first production run of Skibikes was in 1998 ( 50 skibikes ).  Rigorous ongoing research and development and business partnership with Jeff Butcher led to the production of the current FM series ( FM-1, FM-2, FM-3 ) pictured above. In 2001, Koski SnowSports had the first and only USA factory team at the Durango Skibike Festival. Koski team riders wowed the industry with their dynamic style of riding. These riders pushed the limits for all others to see.   

Before mountain bikes were called mountain bikes, in 1976 we went into business with Harley Davidson racer and “On Any Sunday” star Mert Lawwill to develop and market the Pro-Cruiser, (the first) large production run (600+ units) of a special built off road cruiser. We needed a purpose built fork for our new frame so I designed one and sent the blueprints to Gary and Craig Cook ( Cook Bros. Racing ) a BMX manufacturer in Los Angeles to build the fork to my specs. This collaboration with the Cook Bros. opened the door for other BMX manufacturers in Los Angeles that we dealt with to develop their own line of cruisers (SE Racing, Mongoose, Laguna, West Coast Cycle).

Innovations I brought to the mountain bike industry;

1) Aluminum rims

2) Aluminum handlebars

3) Aluminum brake levers

4) First custom built frame with a large production

5) First custom built fork 

Innovations I developed for the Skibike industry;

1) Long travel front and rear suspension

2) Foot pegs

3) Moto-X seats

4) Aluminum frames

5) Aluminum components

6) Moto-X style riding technique 

Adaptive Representative American SkiBike Association

Member Professional Ski Instructors of America

Adaptive SkiBike Instructor

Skibikejim@gmail.com

Jim Weiland is a below the knee amputee. As a volunteer adaptive SkiBike instructor, Jim has assisted at various ski school adaptive programs throughout Arizona.  

Jim has led instructional SkiBike clinics for adaptive ski instructors at:

Arizona Snow Bowl in Flagstaff, AZ

Sunrise Ski Park in Greer, AZ

Arizona Disabled Sports Foundation- Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center

monte_hand@att.net

Monte Hand has spent most of his life behind bars, in some form or another. He started racing BMX bikes at age 9 and continued on with that passion until he was old enough to legally drive a car. He also started riding dirt bikes at this point. Continuing on with his love of bikes and competition, he started racing mountain bikes at age 30, as well as dabbling in the triathlon races. In his 40’s, he started riding and racing motocross with the Sierra Old Timers and Over-The-Hill-Gang veteran racing clubs.

Monte’s passion for snowboarding started in 1985, when Boreal ski resort was requiring riders to get certified in order to use their lifts and ride their mountain. In 1991, he placed 6th in the California State Snowboard Series and went on to compete in the amateur nationals at the Timberline ski resort. In 1992, he spent a season as a snowboard instructor at Boreal ski resort. He even drew up plans for a full-suspension ski bike “snow scooter” in 1996.

As with many other “aging” weekend warriors, Monte had to seek out a new winter sport that was easier on the body, but yet keep him on the mountain. After hounding  Jeff Butcher for demo ride for a couple of seasons, he finally got a chance to demo a ski bike during the 2017/2018 season and the rest is history. He has collaborated with friends on the design and fabrication of accessories for ski bikes. Monte works as a systems analyst with the State of California supporting an integrated financial management system. 

Owner BuildASkiBike.com, SnowFunBikes.com

Kris@BuildASkiBike.com

Being an avid skier was large part of Kris’s life for many years, due to some injuries he was forced to try different things during the winter months. He first started traveling to warm places and tearing up some trails on ATVs and dirt bikes. That became a little expensive, so he decided to wait until summer months for those motorsports. 

He went from snowmobiling to riding a Timbersled, but nothing caught his eye quite like a ski bob. A recent knee replacement made him think he would never be able to enjoy the slopes again. Ski bobbing changed his life, riding now for about 4 years.

Kris is now the proud owner of the ski bob companies Snow Fun Bikes and BuildASkiBike.com which includes being the North American distributor of Stalmach Skibobs.  In addition he is the owner of Slalom Customs and works in the P&C insurance industry. 

rjd4931@gmail.com

A little about me, I grew up in Colorado and started riding bikes when I was  very young. I also was riding motorcycles at a young age. I took up mountain  biking in the early 90's and raced at a few national cross country races. I was  part of a team that raced the 24 hours of Moab for 8 years straight.

I rode my  first ski bike in 2006 which was a conversion kit with really skinny ski's. I  rode a few times a year until I got my first ski bike in 2012. I have been  hooked on this sport ever since. I like riding steeps, trees and moguls the most  with an occasional jump or drop. I enjoy taking new people up on the ski bike  and teaching them about this great sport and how to ride.

skibikewayne@gmail.com

I first skied at the age of 50. Throughout my skiing days I was in pain from old injuries . Then I discovered ski biking which changed my world. Now I am pain free on the mountain.  I started building my own ski bikes and volunteer for Adaptive Sports Association at Purgatory Ski Resort fixing their equipment. This includes custom machining and welding or whatever requests they have.   Really love promoting the sport! 

 lstormbirdl@gmail.com 

Leif Larson has been in the snowboarding industry for 30 years from semi pro snowboarder, to grooming and helping to build the terrain park for Mt. Bachelor in the late 90's early 2000's. His passion for gravity and frozen liquid have brought him enthusiastically to skibiking. After his first experience riding an early model skibike at Sierra ski resort nearly 17 years ago it never left his mind, and the seed was planted. In 2018 after the purchase of a Skibyk, he joined the ASA and shortly after, became one of our Western regional reps, helping to grow the industry and gain access to more resorts. In the summer months he fights fire as a wildland fire engine captain and outdoor wilderness school instructor for boys, focusing on mindfulness, leadership and self empowerment on the Lost Coast of California.  

leeherrington67@gmail.com

I grew up in the SF Bay Area and I was a casual skier since my teens making the 2 plus hour drive to Kirkwood, Bear Valley, Sierra a couple of times each year.  I was also an avid rider of all things wheeled including BMX, mountain bikes, and motorcycles throughout my life.  Ironically it was a mountain bike crash at work that ended my skiing hobby as well as my 29 year law enforcement career when I tore all the ligaments in my left knee.I never regained my knee stability after surgery and thought my days on the mountain were numbered until I saw ski bikes on YouTube.  I immediately recognized the ski bike as a way to get back to sliding downhill and chasing my snowboarder son on the mountain.

In 2020 my wife and I left the suburbs of Sacramento, CA and bought our dream home in southeast Vermont.  Within days of moving in the UPS man arrived with my SB200.  I’m still learning and can’t quite keep up with my son but I’m close.  Aside from ski biking I enjoy family activities, home improvement, and helping raise our two daughters who have Down syndrome.  Follow me on IG @cocobeasdad follow along on various dad adventures.

 eharrand@gmail.com

Born and raised in New Mexico, Eugene discovered skibiking in his mid 40s, bought a Koski Monotrac and attended the first Skibike Festival at Durango Mountain "Purgatory". He spent many seasons working with Randy Kimball to do Demos and teach others how to skibike. Over the years as the equipment evolved, Eugene converted several mountain bikes with the X-Bike kit and currently rides a Lensport Launch he fondly calls "Betty". Eugene now spends most of his ski seasons riding at Sipapu and Angle Fire in New Mexico.

 seneca1379@gmail.com

I am passionate about volunteering as a skibike instructor for the Adaptive Sports Association in Durango, CO. I ride a Stalmach XS3 World Cup skibob and race in the Nastar recreational racing league, and am working to recruit riders for a new U.S. Skibob Team. In 2022, I founded the U.S. Skibob Association, whose mission is to educate everyone about the sport of skibobbing for recreation, adaptive sports and competition. Our goal is to build an inclusive, passionate community so that everyone can experience the joy, freedom and connection to nature that skibobbing provides.

 Owner/Operator at Clear Creek Ski Bikes

clearcreekskibikesinc@gmail.com

@clearcreekskibikes on Facebook, Instagram & Tiktok

I moved to Colorado from St Louis Missouri in December 2014 and learned to ski and snowboard and fell in love with winter and winter sports almost immediately. What was originally supposed to be a 1 month vacation turned into a 9 year stay. After a few seasons of snowboarding I unfortunately sustained 3 major injuries to my right leg snowboarding in the 2016/2017 season and could no longer enjoy the slopes. While recovering from those injuries the following fall I happened to be working at the Ski & Snow expo in Denver and stumbled across an older gentleman selling a Crighton Snowmoto for $150, I bought it and gave it a try in the 2017/2018 season. After a few rough learning days at Arapahoe Basin things started to click even though my bike was way outdated, regardless I was hooked! That season I met a few friends who helped spark my passion for ski biking, first was Chris Schuler of Skibyk. Chris had a spare frame and some parts to sell me to keep my bike going and build a 2nd Crighton for my friends. Later on that same season I made a trip to Steamboat and had a great time on my Crighton until I ran into Josh Westfall from Steamboat Ski Bikes who put me on my first modern ski bike, a Lenz Sport Recon. With a few pointers from Josh we were off and riding with alot more control and response than my Crighton.. That day I knew ski biking was the sport I loved and snowboarding was no longer my sport of choice given the injuries and new hardware in my leg. After that afternoon on the Lenz I got in touch with Devin Lenz the owner and ordered a bike that very week. Now that I had my own bike with modern geometry and skis that were up to date I was able to progress a lot faster throughout the final months of winter.

When the following season was approaching excitement couldn't be any higher with my new found passion in the winter sports world. I was able to ride with a lot of great experienced people who were able to teach me the ins and outs of ski biking and help my riding progress exponentially. While approaching the 2019/2020 season Devin Lenz had mentioned rentals and I thought to myself I might be able to do that and got to figuring out what that would require. After a few weeks of research and some much needed help from others already in the industry I was able to get Clear Creek Ski Bikes up and running in December of 2019 and started offering Type 2 ski bike rentals in the front range of Colorado at 10 different resorts and ski areas. Since then I have had so many amazing opportunities to not only enjoy the sport I've grown to love but share that joy with hundreds of others in the past 5 seasons since opening. In that time I've learned so much from all of the people who make this sport amazing. Going into the 2023/2024 season I'm excited to be a representative for the ASA and continue growing skibiking as a sport! 

 Owner/Operator at TNGNT Skibikes

scott.carr@tngntskibikes.com

Bio coming soon

Co-Owner/Operator at Good Time Boys

geoffrey.manes@gmail.com

Geoff "with a G" Manes is a Arizona native, artist, craftsman, and one of the owners of Good Time Boyz Skibike Rentals out of Flagstaff. Growing up in the desert heat of Chandler AZ, I did a lot of freestyle bmx riding and skateboarding. As I got older, snowboarding and wakeboarding turned into my favorite sports because I was just trying to get out of the blistering heat once in a while. I would travel the 6 hour round trip drive from the Valley metro area up to Flagstaff to snowboard as many times a season as I could afford, but it never was enough to quench that fire. To say the least, I was addicted. 

Fast forward to 2019 after multiple failed attempts to get my girlfriend up on a snowboard, I suggested we try out those skibike things we saw a few times. I said, "Hey, let's rent one for a half day, at least you'll have a seat so your bottom won't be cold anymore."  We rode the rest of the day and we both had the best time ever!!

I immediately took to skibiking having the freestyle bmx and snowboarding background, To say the least, I was addicted.... AGAIN. By the time we got back home to the valley I had already found a gently used SB100 from a guy in a town near me and was buying a new one from Chris at SKIBYK. I can look back at those early conversations with Chris and actually see where my life took a really fun sharp turn. I had no idea how tight knit the skibike community is and it felt like being introduced to a family that I never knew I had. Since I started skibiking I have gotten to meet some of the best people, rode the best resorts, been on the news and in newspapers, entered contests, met some best friends and business partners, opened a company, went higher, went farther, went more technical than I ever imagined on a snowboard. I absolutely love this sport, the people, and for every upgrade skibiking has added to my life. 

As a representative of the ASA, I am grateful and will always strive to get that fire lit in others.