Sherbrooke's Ambition Snowskates promotes daredevil winter sport

A company founded in Sherbrooke, Que., is hoping it can convince you to try out a winter sport you've likely never heard of: snowskating.

A snowboard-skateboard hybrid, snowskates are used in urban and rural settings to do tricks and slide down hills.

Sherbrooke's Alex Blais founded Quebec's only single-level snowskate company, Ambition Snowskates, when he was still in his teens.

He says he's seen everyone from toddlers to baby boomers hop on and have fun.

"It's always surprising how good people are right away."

'Oh, you're going to break your neck'

Blais says when he shows people the boards, he oftenhas to convince them that it's safe.

"Usually they think that it looks really dangerous because you don't have bindings ... So at first, the reaction is, 'Oh, you're going to break your neck.' ... But obviously it's actually even safer because you're not attached to your board," he says.

To promote the sport in Quebec, Blais travels around the province, hosting two or three events a week where people have the opportunity to try out a snowskate.

He has also built an online community for snowskating, with devotees of the sport from around the world posting videos of themselves doing tricks and wiping out.

A passion that started young

Though Blais grew up skiing, he says he never looked back after he triedsnowskatingfor the first time.

"I picked up snowskating when I was 11 years old,"he says."[Back then] they were more built like toys."

His transition from being a fan of the sport to starting a company was swift.

"At some point I figured, if we want to take this farther we have to make better products...So that's kind of how it all started."

At 14, Blais founded Ambition Snowskates, building snowskate prototypes in his garage. A few years later, he sold his first board.

Now, Ambition employs about 15 people, and sells products in 16 different countries.

'Now I'm 27. I started so young, it's been awhile that I've been doing this ... I've had time to grow up."