Big, comfy ride

POWDER MOUNTAIN -- Bigfoot may still be an elusive unproven monster, but here's something that is not a hoax.

A new kind of creature has been creeping up the mountain, eating up new terrain and gobbling up rarely-seen vistas at Powder Mountain. The new monster, as in monster off-road vehicle, is a rock-crawling, eight-seater that seems to have its own monster superpowers.

"Powzilla," created in the depths of the Powder Mountain maintenance shop by Roger Arave, the resort's snow safety director, and Evan Miller, head mechanic, is definitely the King of the Mountain. Using a full roll-bar cage, buggy springs, differential locked front and rear axles and really big tires -- 42 inches dropped to only 6 pounds of pressure -- there's not much Powzilla can't conquer.

"They (Powder Mountain employees and CEO Gregg Greer) were just talking about trying to do tours with ATVs, or something family friendly, maybe those side-by-side ATVs," Arave said. "I overheard and told them for about half of what they'd spend, I could build this. So I sketched it out and gave him the drawing."

Arave, who has been involved in off-roading since he was 17, and Miller, an off-road vehicle expert, used a 1986 red Chevy Suburban as their starting point. It was an old lodge vehicle that had been driven into the ground, and rusted out. They cut the body off down to the chassis and built Powzilla from the ground up, even welding on a new floor.

Arave estimates it took about one month of solid work to create Powzilla, and he said it was the best kind of work: Paid fun.

The power climber has a foot of clearance under the axle and 3 feet to the rocker panels.

And it needs all the clearance it can get on the trails that Arave and Miller let Powzilla explore.

"We've tried to integrate the areas where we're doing Snowcat skiing, so we're not just cutting down trees," Arave said of the Powzilla tours.

The trails that tours are offered on can vary from extreme, almost vertical boulder climbing, to mild dirt-road winding. But it's a smooth ride either way, said Miller.

"The big tires -- there's a lot of rubber and low air pressure, so they wrap around the rocks to pull you up stuff. It gives you a full body massage," he said, laughing as the tires bounced down a log- and rock-filled ravine. Both Miller and Arave said that Powzilla gives people who wouldn't otherwise be able to a chance to see Powder Mountain wildlife and terrain when it's not under snow.

Powzilla can take up to seven guests and reaches viewpoints and terrain that are rarely seen at Powder Mountain.

"It's a nice, slow, scenic tour," said Arave. "We don't do anything too crazy."

Ashlee Hyden, a concierge at Wolf Creek, was impressed after a recent 21/2-hour trip on the White Pine Basin Loop.

"That was more comfortable than I thought," she said.

Arave said he hopes to build another vehicle if the tours grow in popularity. "We'll call it Ski-Rex," he said.

Tours ranging from extreme to mild can be arranged by calling Wolf Creek Adventures at 745-2000. Prices are $75 per adult and $35 for children. Arave said they plan to offer the tours until the snow flies.