Rocky Mountain to sponsor fatbike dual slalom at Swiss Snow Epic

Rocky Mountain Bicycles has come on board as a sponsor of the inaugural Snow Epic winter biking festival in Engelberg, Switzerland. The Snow Epic is a three-day, five-event fatbike race from Jan. 14 to 18 in the heart of the Alps, where riders will roll on groomed trails and slopes that are usually the province of alpine and Nordic skiers.

The Canadian bike company will sponsor the Rocky Dual, a floodlit dual slalom race on Friday, Jan. 15. Rocky Mountain tested the Blizzard, its entry into the fatbike market, on some of the Snow Epic courses last April. The Blizzard has the distinction of being the one of the first fatbikes with suspension; the bike has come a long way from the 853-Reynolds steel hardtail Rocky Mountain sold in the early years of this millennium.

Surly and Salsa made some of the first fatbikes, but the phenomena has taken off over the past five years to the extent that most bike companies have a low-geared, wide-tired machine in their stables.

For more information about the event, visit the Snow Epic website.