Snike

Snow bikes

During the day, Peter Ros works as an IT manager at a large insurance company. In his spare time, he likes to put his hands to work and build challenging constructions. While he was in Austria on a skiing holiday with friends, he saw a snow bike for the first time. ‘I can do better than that,’ was his initial reaction, to which his friends smartly replied: ‘All right, so that means we’ll be racing down the mountain on your snow bike this time next year.’ Peter is a man of his word, and one year later, in 2014, the group of friends were indeed racing down the mountain on Peter’s snow bike. The experience was such a success that Peter couldn’t leave it at that.

Peter: ‘There is more involved than simply building a snow bike that could properly, and above all, safely glide down the mountain. It needs to be compact and convenient enough so you can carry it with you on the various types of ski lifts and so you can take it with you in the car. This snow bike meets all those conditions.’ Back in the Netherlands, Peter decided to work out the details of his snow bike. Peter purchases various parts, such as the skis, from Austria and other components from local suppliers – or he builds them himself. In his workshop in the countryside near Terwolde, he then assembles the snow bikes.

The snow bikes are sold and rented under his brand name, Snike. Peter initially thought that young people and hipsters would become the primary target audience for this type of winter sport. As it turns out, the elderly and people with minor disabilities were the most enthusiastic about the snow bike as an alternative to skiing. That makes sense because skiing puts a lot of strain on the knees and upper legs. The snow bike takes away this strain. Peter: ‘The greatest compliment I get is from people who cannot ski or can no longer ski because of minor disabilities. They say that thanks to the Snike, they can enjoy skiing once more. I love hearing how every time people return with a rented snow bike, they can’t stop talking about how wonderful and easy it is to ski with a snow bike.’

Peter has produced about 50 Snikes in total, of which he rents out 10. Since 2020, Peter works together with a winter sports shop in the central part of the country to help him rent and sell his Snikes. There is also a market out there for enthusiasts from traditional winter sports countries. Finding a good starting point from which to branch out into these countries is the next step. But for now, the Dutch and Belgian markets are big enough for Snike.