Fat-biking craze comes to Silver Star

VERNON – There’s a new way to enjoy winter at Silver Star Mountain.

Fat-bikes, a new trend sweeping North America, will be making their debut on selected cross-country and snowshoe trails at the resort starting March 10. Participants have until the end of the ski season April 6 to embrace the opportunity. 
 
“We are conducting an official trial for fat-biking on two specific trails,” says Guy Paulsen, Nordic manager at Silver Star Mountain. “We want to make sure fat-biking is a good fit at the resort and doesn’t impact some of our core products like cross-country skiing or snowshoeing negatively.”
 
Fat-bikes got their start in the late 1980s when regular bikes were modified to allow racers to compete in the Iditabike (later to become Iditasport) race in Alaska. About the same time, bikes were being modified in the southern U.S. to ride the deserts in New Mexico.
 
Paulsen says he’s confident that the fat-bike trend, which combine summer and winter activities, will be a success at Silver Star.
 
“We are very encouraged at the growth of the sport and how it can fit into the healthy mountain lifestyle here,” he says.
 
A fat-bike is a bicycle with over-sized tires, typically 3.7 inches or wider, set on wide rims, Paulsen says. The frame of the bicycle has been modified to fit these wider tires and rims and is designed to ride on soft unstable terrain like snow and sand. They were originally designed to ride and race on the snow in Alaska and for touring in the deserts of New Mexico. Silver Star joins a long list of mountain resorts in both the U.S. and Canada that allow fat-biking or are in the process of testing its viability.
 
“We’re really excited to add this to our long list of activities at Silver Star,” he says. “It’s a unique way for our guests to get out on the trails and explore the beauty of British Columbia.”

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call (250)309-5230.