I brought the snow skates up to Vermont last week, and nobody recognized them at all. Typically some old-timers will remember them from the 1990s, but I guess Sled Dogs never penetrated the Vermont market even when they were still being sold. Virtually everybody assumed I was descending the mountain in ski boots, and they remained impressed even after I explained that the reality was somewhat less insane than that.

We got about 18 inches of snow one night, giving me the opportunity to re-learn just how worthless these things are in deep powder.

SledDogs as I spin down the mountain at Bromley, Vermont

In related news, the company that currently owns the rights to the sled dog name and design has given up on their plan to re-enter the U.S. market this season.

“Sled Dogs snowskates will sadly not be available this season. We thought it would, but due to quality issues with our production, we have to postpone the re-launch to next season. We are not happy about this and understand that our customers are the same. However we can not sell products that do not have the quality that is up to our standards. We will re-launch the webpage when we have products of right quality in stock in our warehouse. We do not know now when this will be but most likely it will be for next season.”