Two Central Otago ex-police officers, a currently serving cop and a
Queenstown design firm have created an award-winning, high-performance
snow sled, which will soon have its global launch.
In December the Stealth-X high-performance sled, the flagship
product of Snolo Sleds, will hit the market after six years of market
research, prototype creating and testing. This month the carbon fibre sled won the silver medal for the
concept and experimental section in the New Best awards - New Zealand's
top industrial design awards. The sled is designed to be used on both hard, compact snow and soft,
powdered snow, and is a far cry from the wooden sleds of old that were
designed to run down a gentle slope. Snolo Sleds director and marketing manager Sean Boyd said the sled was no child's toy. "I'm not an avid skier or snowboarder but I like to go fast. I
wanted to create a sled that took me to speeds that would excite me," Mr
Boyd said. Early test runs on an average gradient slope showed the Stealth-X was capable of speeds of more than 65km. In a design first, the sled can also steer and stop in much the same way as a snowboard. "That's the market this sled is set to compete with. It's taken the
old-fashioned factor away from a child's plaything, and made sledding
into a seriously cool adult pastime that wants to rub shoulders with the
traditional sports of skiing and boarding." The sled comprises three main parts; a seating shell, a single front
ski with foot pegs, and an arm, that connects the two. It can also be
pulled apart in one action, and worn as a back pack. Mr Boyd engaged Queenstown design firm 4Design in 2010 to take his
"raw but well-functioning" prototype and at his request "made it look
good". He funded the early stages of production himself, then after
realising he needed help with the last push, recruited friends Mike and
Liz Williams to join the cause. The trio then set about creating Snolo as a company and marketing the product. "The result is now the most recent new addition to the snowboarding and skiing fraternity," Mr Boyd said. The Stealth-X will be launched for the northern hemisphere winter
and Mr Boyd and Mr Williams will soon leave for China to oversee
production. The Stealth-X will be available in New Zealand in time for
the 2013 winter. Price $3000
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