Perfect conditions for fat biking in the snow right now in Boise, McCall and Sun Valley

Rider in the Fatbike Fondo at Stanley Winterfest last weekend. (Courtesy Bike Touring News)

Fat biking at Jug Mountain Ranch (Jerri Lisk, Wyatt Lisk, Mark Lisk and Dave Kelly) 

Hi all,

I woke up Wednesday morning in Boise to 2-3 inches fresh snow in our front yard, and it continued to snow hard. Perfect day for a snow bike ride!

I cleared my immediate work stuff and took Huck over to Military Reserve to ride along Freestone Creek to the Central Ridge and climb to Shane's Summit. It's a 6-mile loop that takes about an hour. When the snow conditions move into the perfect zone for snow biking in the foothills -- as they are right now -- you have to seize the day and do the ride!

Being a Minnesota native, it gets my heart pumping when I see new snow. At times like this, I must get out and do something fun in the snow ... it's just in my blood.

My ride on Wednesday with Huck ... horizontal snow at Shane's Summit. 

As it snowed like gangbusters, I thoroughly enjoyed being out in the middle of a snow storm on the snow bike. I wore my ski helmet with goggles, and was perfectly warm with several layers of capilene on top and my backcountry shell ski coat. A gentle wind blew the light flakes almost horizontally across the Central Ridge area in the footies. I ran into a couple of trail-runners with dogs along the way, all grinning wide with rosy cheeks. Huck and the other pointers chased each other at full throttle, doing big circles in the powder, before going on their merry way.

I ride a custom-made snow bike that Dave Kelly of Eagle (vibecycles.com) made for me 4 years ago. It's pretty light, with carbon wheels and 4-inch tires. It's geared to handle climbs like the ride up to Shane's or Sidewinder. But when I'm pushing through 4-5 inches of new snow, with some foot tracks underneath, it made it a little more challenging on Wednesday. I loved the downhill, so smooth in the fresh *pow* with big tires! I felt great after the ride.

Taken in Stanley, Idaho during the Winterfest last weekend (courtesy Bike Touring News)

I did a spin class on Tuesday at the downtown Y with Eva, and she worked us hard on a heart monitor interval-type of workout. I thought about maxing my heart rate at 170 beats per minute during the spin class, and felt that I hit that red zone for sure on the steeper parts of the climb to Shanes. My glutes sure felt it the next day! And that's another reason we ride!

For my outdoor tip of the week, I'm giving you all a head's up that the conditions are perfect for snow-biking in the foothills right now. Trails are frozen with 3-4 inches of snow on top. The conditions in McCall and Ketchum/Sun Valley also are perfect for snow-biking. In fact, there's a Snowball Special Fat Bike Race in Ketchum on Saturday. There was a snow-bike race in Stanley last weekend. 

But it is kind of curious ... snow-biking, or biking in the snow with a fat-tired bike, never really took off around here in big numbers ... it's remained kind of a niche-market for a minority of riders who like to have a full quiver of bikes for all occasions!

I bought mine after snow-biking at Jug Mountain Ranch near McCall. That remains one of the better places to ride in SW and Central Idaho. You can ride on JMR's xc trails, which also are open to dogs, and you can ride some snow-bike specific trails. You can rent bikes at JMR before you go.

Watch the video by Mark Lisk!



I checked with a few bike shops, and they said the level of interest has waned for fat bikes in the Boise area. One of the issues is that you typically have to travel to snow to ride a snow bike. The bikes are big and bulky, so they're hard to transport unless you have a specialty rack or drive a large pickup. The times when there's enough snow in the foothills are rare, and inconsistent. So that is perhaps another factor.

"It's a big expense when there's limited application for it," says Ryan King, a snow-bike enthusiast and owner of Bike Touring News, a bike shop in NW Boise. "It depends on what kind of fat-biking opportunities there are nearby. And if you look at the trails over by Grand Targhee and the Teton Valley, they've got a pretty big following over there."

Pretty cool to be riding next to a herd of elk in Stanley! (Courtesy Bike Touring News)

If there were more snow-bike specific trails near Boise, there would be a bigger following, King says. "I think the ridership is there. It's definitely a niche-thing, but if you build the trails, the riders will come."

I personally look around at my mountain biking buddies, and none of them have bought a fat bike yet. They probably wish they had one today so they could enjoy the foothills trails. But to be honest, my snow bike spends a lot of time sitting in the garage.

Chris Haunold with Idaho Mountain Touring said they quit renting fat bikes because of the high cost of the bikes and slow rental traffic. "It was just too expensive to have them sitting there taking up space," he says. IMT still sells fat bikes and also plus-sized bikes with 3- or 3.5-inch tires. Meridian Cycle has two fat bikes for rent, but they used to care more. "The demand was much bigger 5 years ago," officials said.

Backwoods Mountain Sports in Ketchum also doesn't rent fat bikes any longer. There wasn't much demand for them, officials said. Sturtevants and Formula Sports do rent bikes in Ketchum/Sun Valley, but there isn't a big demand for them, officials said.   

John Yarnell, left, and Chris Wildt riding in Harriman State Park in Island Park, Idaho. Cool idea! (Courtesy Chris Wildt)

Lars Hedin rents and sells fat bikes at Gravity Sports in McCall. Their rental traffic doubled this year compared to last year, he says, but he thinks fat bikes would be more popular if there were more places to ride. "The big key to fat bikes taking off is working with Bear Basin to open some specific biking trails or mixed-use trails," he says. "I have high hopes for the future."

Tamarack Resort allows fat bikes on their Nordic Trails, and they are planning to build more snow-bike specific trails, Hedin says. People also can ride at the Activity Barn and on the North Valley Trail south of McCall. Those trails are great for a shorter low-key ride in my experience.

Bogus Basin allows snow-biking on three of their Nordic trails -- Nordic Highway, Sidewinder and Mores Mountain Trail. Note: The trails need to be frozen and firm for snow-biking to be allowed. Bogus also has fat bike rentals -- $53 for a 2-hour rental and $74 for a full-day. The amount of snow-biking traffic has not grown that much yet, but people call to check on trail conditions almost daily, officials said.

The Idaho City Park and Ski Trails are open to snow-biking as well. The trails will be groomed for this weekend. Two trails that you might try in that system are the Skyline Loop, and the Banner Ridge Trail over to Banner Ridge yurt and the Elkhorn Yurt.

I would close by saying I find fat biking in the snow to be super fun. The bikes have great traction with the larger tires, and I'm glad my bike is geared for steeper climbs. I'm also glad I invested in a lighter frame and wheels so that my snow bike is roughly the same weight as my mountain bike. I would recommend giving a fat bike a spin in the snow, and see what you think.

BTW, King is having a winter sales special on fat bikes and winter riding accessories right now at his bike shop, Bike Touring News.

Have fun!
- SS