In 2012 alone, GOPR, a volunteer rescue organization in Poland, rescued more than 7,350 off of the Krakow mountains. With that type of workload, the rescue team needed a unique kind of vehicle that could handle the unique conditions in the mountains. Although they were already equipped with plenty of standard vehicles, GOPR needed one that could speed through the snow and let an injured person lie down flat.

Design firm Lange & Lange designed the GOPR Rescue Snowmobile to fill this need. The bright yellow vehicle looks a little like Pac-Man with a backpack. It can traverse difficult terrain and withstand all kinds of weather conditions to quickly reach the injured person. Two skis on the front help it travel across the snow while a caterpillar track on the undercarriage propels it quickly over all kinds of terrain.

The bubble-like front of the rescue-mobile was no accident. It provides a maximum view of the surroundings so that rescuers can spot the injured person quickly. The boxy part in back allows the patient to lie down flat, which is often very important when transporting an injury victim. The vehicle is affordable enough that GOPR’s rescuers will be able to make swift, life-saving rescues in their bright yellow snow machines.

The post Bubble-Shaped Snowmobile: Saving Injured People in Style first appeared on Gajitz.

What the strange dry-ground Flyrad unicycle does for rollerbladers, this device – called the SkiZee – does for skiers. It is, more or less, a motorized tread that propels skiers over flat, snowy ground. The 10.5 hp engine provides a decent amount of push, letting skiers zip along like they’re going downhill.

The SkiZee is more humane than a dog team and presumably quite a bit less environmentally disruptive than a snowmobile, but it can help skiers get around quickly and easily. It doesn’t take all of the physical effort out of the sport; it simply makes it easier for skiers to travel further and ski longer before tiring.

Rather than using poles to provide thrust on flat or nearly-flat land, SkiZee drivers hang on to the device’s handles. The driver grips the handles just the way one would grip ski poles, but the handles house the electric starter and help the driver navigate over snowy terrain with little effort. And for a reasonable $2,500, the SkiZee is not a bad investment for skiers who’d rather just take in the scenery.

The post Skiing + Snowmobiling = Raw Power of SkiZee Snow Tread first appeared on Gajitz.