The Snowtunnel crew talks about riding the prototype
26 Nov 23
Snowtunnel Prototype: From Backyard Build to First Snow
After 8 months finishing the build of the Snowtunnel R&D prototype in Darren’s backyard, it was surreal to see the chillers go to work and the snow start growing. Regardless of how often you’ve seen it, we were all still in awe of the scale of it, and couldn’t wait to get in and ride.
It’s fair to say we were blown away by the experience. The Snowtunnel is incredible, challenging, a crazy experience and all round just fun to session with your mates. We had skiers, snowboarders, snow tubers and snow scooters going, all while the sun was shining in Dandenong and the temperature reached 29°C (84°F) outside.
It’s a proper challenge and we were fired up to want to keep sessioning (despite the off-season sore muscles) to build up our skills and keep improving to “conquer the beast” as Darren calls it.
The Snowtunnel is an incredible, challenging & crazy experience.
We were stoked about the skiing session by Scott especially when he amped up the speed, carving huge “giant slalom” turns above 70° angles on the wall and dropping back in with heaps of speed and momentum into his next turn. His quote for the day says it all “if I did that once a week throughout the off-season, I’d be so much fitter and ready for the ski season”.
Sam rode the Snowtunnel non stop, and the improvement over the testing period was huge. As time went on, we ramped up the speed and watched as he carved similar lines on his board as Scott did on his skis.
Daniel took on the tunnel on the board and ski’s, showing how versatile it can be. Chris battled on the first day, but started to get a few moves and find his feet on the second day.
One of the highlights was testing our learning bar concept. We proved without a doubt how well the Snowtunnel can give beginners a real “sliding on snow” experience, lean into a few easy turns, or even learn how to ride switch in a controlled and safe way… before you go the mountain.