The One Most Frequently Asked Question about Snow Skating

They're very hard to find.  They used to be sold at sporting goods stores, as well as a few online dealers.  Then, the Sled Dogs company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  They've reorganized as xdogs.com, but they aren't selling snow skates there.

I've found a few online stores that still say they have Sled Dogs in stock.  Here's a list of links, but I can't tell you whether they have much in stock or not:

• Adventuretime Online also advertises snow skates, but at last report, their Web site wasn't functioning properly.
• http://www.skiskate.com/sled.html - They have SD200's (the old model without metal edges), SD150's, SD250's, Half Breeds, and K9's. They don't look like closeout prices, though.

You might try eBay, the online auction place. You can find just about anything there.

Their Web site says that they don't have a U.S. distributor yet. You can check them out at www.sleddogs.no to see if they have some means of selling to you -- maybe they can do a factory-direct type deal.

But I really like Sled Dogs and their product really looked like it had a chance.  Why are they bankrupt when the sport looked like it was going to take off?

For several reasons, which I've already mentioned elsewhere on this site: they had a lot of technical problems with the K9 model (mainly that the buckle for the base kept falling off), and they couldn't afford the expenses for the "Yellow Snow" infomercial because they didn't get enough sales.  Also, here's an interesting article that says that the company's financial practices were pretty questionable; they spent a lot of money that they didn't really have.

I'm disappointed.  I'll never be able to buy Sled Dogs.  What else can I do?

Try skiboards.  They're becoming a lot more popular now; in fact, I think their popularity will make it really hard for some company to keep producing Sled Dogs when skiboards are more proven.  I bought a pair of Line Jedi 89's last month; other brands include Dynastar Twins and Salomon SnowBlades, to name a couple popular ones.

But I still want Sled Dogs.  (Or, I need some accessories/spare parts/whatever.)  Can you help me find something?

You might be able to buy spare parts or new Sled Dogs from the Norwegian company, though it might take some special arrangements if they don't have a U.S. distributor.  If you're looking for an online retailer, try searching with Google, or try some of the online auction places like ebay.com and stribauctions.com.  I really don't know any magical secrets to finding this stuff, and I don't have any inside contacts at the company that can help you.