The Future of Snowboarding?

There are two key elements to snowboarding. The name of the sport offers a less-than-subtle clue to what these are. Snow and a board. The “ing” part is not important, so back to The Future of Snowboarding.

When we are unable to get to the beautiful snow-covered mountains with our board, what do we do? At the moment the answer is probably nothing. Some of us may try a bit of skateboarding but anyone over 21 will feel ridiculous watching some baggy-jeaned urchin pull off tricks that they can only dream of. So, we put our snowboard in the loft and we wait.

Places like Sno!zone do offer UK snowboarders somewhere to board when we are away from the mountains. But with three UK branches in Scotland, Castleford and Milton Keynes, these can be such a distance from your house, that it seems quicker to jump on a plane to the French Alps.

But wait. Snowboarders will soon be able to hone their skills without that key ingredient of crisp, white gold we call snow. That is the claim of the Australian company behind the Scarpar. Remember that name, in a couple of years it could be the new iPod or Sinclair C5.

The Scarpar looks quite impressive and is expected to cost about £1,500 when it hits the shelves of all good Scarpar retailers(?) next year. Although riders use a similar stance to that on the snowboard, the Scarpar is run on an 8hp electric motor and moves across grass, mud and wait for it….even snow.

So, will the Scarpar take off? Not literally of course, the Back to the Future II hoverboard failed to get further than the imagination of a generation of slackers. However, the Scarpar could well be the closest thing for the millions of kids who watched that movie and still believe (many now in their 30s and 40s) that they will eventually own one.

It may not hover but the Scarpar could be the next big thing. We will have to wait and see.