Airboarding-Adrenaline Rush!

From tubing to Airboards to snow bikes, mountain resorts and guides have been looking for new excuses to get people outdoors and new diversions to keep them entertained. Reviews are mixed on whether the Airboard can bolster ski visits the way snowboarding has, but supporters talk it up as a niche snow sport that doesn't stress the knees.
Some say riding an Airboard is like ultimate sledding. People who ride the six-pound Swiss invention slide down snowy mountain slopes face first on polyurethane air cushions that look like blowup rafts with handles and a ridged bottom. Riders have been known to reach speeds of more than 80 mph.
Hoodoo Ski Area in Oregon started allowing snow bodyboards three seasons ago as something new. Of the 869 season passes the ski area had sold by mid-December, two were for people who only do snow bodyboarding.
Still, it's a fun pastime for families with one person who doesn't ski or snowboard, or for people with weak knees, he said. In Aspen, more than half of winter visitors don't ski or ride, making Airboards a more inclusive activity.
It's like snowboarding. Twenty years ago, everybody thought snowboarders were the devil. Now everybody's saying hallelujah for snowboarding.
No resorts in Colorado or Utah allow Airboards, although Keystone in Colorado tried it for a season. Interest is growing though.
Emo Gear, the only licensed distributor of the Airboard in North America, started with five U.S. retailers in its first season in 2003. This year it has 90 in the U.S. and Canada, and this is the first profitable year for the Berkeley, California-based company as Airboards earn their own competitions.
It's new, exciting, anybody from 6 to 66 can do it. Unlike skiing or snowboarding, the learning curve is not as steep.
Kids models run $149, with the Airboard Classic running at $269.
Go to http://www.airboard.com and check out all the events that they have going on worldwide!!