By Ty Walker
The Mountain Times
It’s not skiing. It’s not snowboarding. It’s snowskating. It’s a cross between skateboarding and snowboarding.
It might best be described as skateboarding on snow. All Sharlet Herrin knows is that it’s a whole lot of fun speeding down the mountain on her 39-inch custom made bi-deck snowskate, which looks like a skateboard with a small ski attached in place of wheels.
The eight-year-old Sandy Grade School third-grader from Rhododendron goes snowskating on Mount Hood at Timberline Lodge whenever dad can take her, which is about once a week. She’s been doing it most of her young life, her father Stuart Herrin said.
“I used to carry her in my arms then a friend from Canada told me to have her stand between my legs and ride tandem,” Stuart said. “That opened up a whole new experience for her.”
Sharlet gradually started snowskating solo, with dad following behind on his own snowskate. She has developed an unorthodox style by sitting on her snowskate and riding it like a sled.
It seems to suit her just fine as she entered a competition in March at Lookout Pass Ski Resort in Idaho. Sharlet won 2nd place at the 10th anniversary running of the Sorta Natural Banked Slalom in the 17-and-under age division.
She followed that with a 1st place finish in the jib contest at the Trash Can Jam on Silver Mountain. A jib course includes fun boxes, riding rails and making little jumps.
A snowskate is a hybrid of a skateboard and a snowboard, intended primarily to allow for skateboard-style tricks on the snow. There are many types depending on the brand or style of snowskate.
In the classroom, Sharlet said she was happy to be awarded a Certificate Of Virtue from Sandy Grade School for being kind in February. “Thank you for being you,” the certificate read.
Lookout Pass is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of the northwestern United States. In the Coeur d’Alene Mountains of the Bitterroot Range, the pass is on the border between Idaho and Montana, traversed by Interstate 90 at an elevation of 4,710 feet above sea level.