McHenry, Md. — Kris Carr gets paid to push people off the side of a mountain.
The skinny 15-year-old asks if you're ready and then, using his hands or feet, sends you zipping in an inner tube down a slick, snowy slope that somewhat resembles a bobsled track. When the ride down the 750-foot-long trail is over, a rope tows you back to the top for a repeat performance.
Snow tubing, which can be enjoyed by virtually anyone, has become the miniature golf of winter sports at ski resorts. Chute attendant Neil Cardiff helps 6-year-old Barrett Clark, of Charlottesville, Va., carry his inner tube up the last portion of the deceleration hill at Wisp Mountain Resort in McHenry, Md.
Snow tubing is the latest attraction here at Wisp Mountain Resort in Western Maryland, a 3 1/2-hour drive from Washington, D.C. As a winter hobby, it's cheaper and safer than skiing or snowboarding. Another advantage? It requires minimal physical prowess: just the ability to sit down and hold on.
As mountain resorts increasingly offer new ways to hurl yourself down the mountain Wisp also offers "snow cycling" on mountain bikes outfitted with skis for tires the term "ski area" is fast becoming limited and outdated. And in the process, snow tubing, which can be done by virtually anyone, has become the miniature golf of winter sports.
Pat Kitchen, of Bethesda, Md., recently visited Wisp's snow tubing park with his 6-year-old daughter, Keri. Kitchen said he is glad that ski resorts are becoming "more user-friendly. Not everyone can ski."
According to a survey by the National Ski Areas Assn., 43 percent of winter mountain resorts planned to offer snow tubing this season. Wisp is the first to do so in Maryland, joining Wintergreen and Massanutten resorts in Virginia and Snowshoe Mountain and Canaan Valley in West Virginia.
Resorts in Colorado that offer snow tubing include Winter Park, Vail, Telluride and Steamboat Springs.
"We're dealing with the Internet generation now, Generation XYZ whatever you want to call it," said Bill Quigley, Wisp's chief executive. "These kids grew up on video games and have short attention spans. We need to keep them interested. Otherwise, they'll be deciding for their parents not to come here. That's why we offer so many snow toys."
Wisp's snow tubing park, set off from its ski area, cost about $1 million to build, he said.
Already there are hints of a trend. Hidden Valley Resort in Pennsylvania has expanded its snow tubing park and has added "snow playgrounds," little igloos for children to play in.
Snow tubing is "still relatively new, and a lot of resorts are just beginning to get into this," said April Darrow, a spokeswoman for the National Ski Areas Assn. "It's a lot less expensive."
Nationwide, the average weekend day ski lift ticket for an adult rose from $40.09 during the 1995-96 season to $47.94 last season. At Wisp, an adult ticket costs $42, and that doesn't include the rental of skis, boots and poles.
By contrast, a snow tubing pass at Wisp, which is good for two hours and includes the use of a tube, costs $14.
Skiing is just too expensive for Brent Shoemaker of Mount Savage, Md.
"There is no way we could afford it with a family of five," he said after schussing down the mountain in an inner tube. "But this we can do together."
His 11-year-old son, Brent, seemed to be having a blast: "It's like a roller coaster. Even going up is fun," he said as he headed toward the rope tow.
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