Brice Hoskin skis, but he's a sledder at heart. "Sledding is much more visceral," he said. "You're lying down with your face six inches from the snow, and no matter how fast you're going, it feels like lightspeed." Hoskin moved to Silverton and started making sleds professionally after selling his Flagstaff, Ariz.-based publishing business in 2002. He started with Scandinavian-inspired kicksleds you can ride down an icy street like a skateboard, then improved on tradition with the Ultimate Flyer, an easy-to-steer wooden sled with molded plastic "skids" that buoy it up on the softest of snow - like the stuff that falls on Silverton. The company grew "tenfold" in 2003, said Hoskin, leading him to outsource the manufacturing of the popular flyers to China while keeping the high-end kicksled orders for his three-person team in Silverton. $100 to $400 retail.

Made by Mountain Boy Sledworks Inc., Silverton, (800) 989-5077, www.mountainboysledworks.com. Available at numerous retailers; a dealer locator is on the website.