Issue link: https://owlkids.uberflip.com/i/1529222
Racers compete in the East Coast Snocross Series, an annual event in cities across Canada and the US. Want more freezing fun? Flip the page! > That's Sno Awesome! EVENT: Snocross What combines daredevil leaps with the thrills of an off-road motorbike race ... on snowmobiles? Snocross! This growing sport has racing associations across Canada, the United States, and Europe. Snocross courses are full of many twists, turns, and jumps. Some of these jumps are as high as 9 m (30 ft.)—more than the height of a giraffe! Racers can spend several seconds in the air before they land again. Protective clothing, such as helmets and body armour, is very important for safety. As for the vehicles, these snowmobiles are pretty special machines. Most have a top speed of around 210 km/h (130 mph), though they travel at about half that rate through an actual race—they have to go slower to handle all those turns in the course. TEXT: JOHN CROSSINGHAM CONSULTANT: SCIENCE WORLD BRITISH COLUMBIA PHOTOS: DREAMSTIME (FLYING SNOCROSS AND ICE SURFING); BOSSE LIND (ICE YACHTING); ALAMY (SNOCROSS) ILLUSTRATIONS: JACQUES GOLDSTYN (SNOWFLAKES); MIKE DEAS (HOOT) IT'S ALL IN THE MOTION When a snowmobile flies up into the air, some of its fast-moving energy gets stored in the jump. That energy is released as motion again when the snowmobile comes back down to the ground. Landing on a downward slope lets the moving energy—and the vehicle and rider— go smoothly down the hill. owlkids.com 13