Industry News
This post was written Trina Thomas
Competition is his middle name, which explains why Brodrick Nickens defied the odds, skiing just under 100,000 vertical feet in one day on his Sno-Go ski bike at Beaver Creek Resort, CO, on April 6, 2021.
The former D1 athlete committed an entire day on the slopes to break the previous record of 90,000 that was held by Jonathan Boblitt. Nickens completed his day with 46 lift rides and ski biking 98,669 vertical feet.
“My obsession with competition started long before this one but the idea that somebody had an all-time vertical feet record, set and stone at Beaver Creek sounded quite appealing. I wanted to see if I could beat his record on a fairly new product. The first time I attempted to break the record I got there about 9:45 in the morning and finished with about 83,000 vertical feet. I realized I needed to be there in the first chair of the day the next time.”
– Brodrick Nickens
When attempting to break a record like that, you’re lucky to even get a restroom or lunch break. For Nickens, he kept his momentum going during his second attempt to break the record on Apr. 6, arriving to take the first lift of the day and continuing until the last lift of the day, only eating some pop tarts and drinking water to refuel while on the lift.
“There’s definitely no stopping. If you do the math on it I spent about six hours on a lift chair that day for two hours of riding so it was a rather long day of sitting on my behind but at the same time quite fast throughout the entire day. I was zooming down the mountain.”
– Brodrick NIckens
With an average speed of 50 mph, Nicken’s was first inspired to break Boblitt’s record after seeing a news article.
“I saw the article posted that someone got 90,000 vertical feet in the same day which, by no means, is a small number. The competitive side of myself said, ‘all records are meant to be broken and I will be that person who breaks your record. Not only will I break your record, I’m also going to do it on a ski bike that is unproven.’”
– Brodrick Nickens
The former offensive lineman for the Nebraska Cornhusker Football team rode his first ski bike on February 11 and ended up breaking the record two months later.
“That’s a testament to how well these ski bikes are put together for user-friendlines. It’s just nuts. If I would have made it on one more chair lift I would have broken 100,000 vertical feet.”
– Brodrick Nickens
The Nebraska native moved to Breckenridge, Colorado in fall 2020, and started a new business venture in the spring called Oneup Sportz, offering Sno-Go ski bike rentals. The idea for his business was inspired by his mother not loving to ski or snowboard when they go on their annual family ski trip.
“I wanted to give her additional options besides skiing and snowboarding that would give her the ability to get out, have fun with the family, and do it for multiple days and not be tired, exhausted, and mitigate the risk of injury while doing so.”
– Brodrick Nickens
Oneup Sportz offers Sno-Go ski bike rentals to the Summit County area. For more information, visit the Oneup Sportz Website, Instagram, or Facebook.
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