WINTER SPORTS -- Three-pin skiing guru Nils Larsen of Curlew is exposing his latest wares this weekend, inspired by his 2005 expedition to the remote Altai Mountains of China.

See a video of Larsen's exposure to the backcountry horsemen who made skis to keep track of their stock over the deep winter snow at the flanks of the Himalaya. They nailed horse skin to the bottoms to give them grip.

These skis inspired the Hok model of Altai Skis (both pictured above).  The Hok is short and fat with a simple three-pin binding (or a more  traditional strap binding) and a built-in skin patch on the bottom.  They are great for bushwhacking, variable snow conditions and just dinking around -- a hybrid snowshoe-ski.

The Demo Day is Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. with guided tours to try the skis on snow.  The day concludes with the Open House starting at 4 p.m. at the Altai Skis Shop in Curlew, with refreshments from Republic Brewing Co.

Info: 509.779.0030.