Snow bike business rocked by big theft

The owner of a Cromwell snow bike business says it was ‘‘a kick in the guts’’ to have thieves clean out all his gear from a storage container just before the start of the winter season.

Hamish Goodall started Snowmoto in 2018 with a shipping container full of gear, after discovering the sport in Canada. He arrived at his shipping container late on Thursday afternoon to find it empty, with almost $100,000 worth of gear gone.

Goodall said his first reaction was: ‘‘I just couldn’t believe it! It’s a bit of a hectic start to winter.’’

While he is partially insured, Goodall said this would not be enough to cover the cost of the equipment. He is offering a $10,000 reward for the return of all the stolen gear, which includes four specialist Kawasaki bikes as well as new winter safety equipment, avalanche backpacks, helmets, goggles, boots and tools.

Goodall said the theft wouldn’t stop him operating for his fifth season. He already had more than 100 bookings ahead of the season, starting in mid-June. This was as much business as he did for the whole of last season, when he just ‘‘scraped by’’ due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and border closures.

‘‘It’s looking like it’s going to be a good one,’’ he says. ‘‘I’ll be able to operate still, but it’s just going to be a battle to get up to speed with all the gear.’’

Goodall has posted details of the theft on Instagram and Facebook, prompting more than 1000 shares and a huge amount of support.

‘‘Hopefully, the power of social media will get some of it back, and then I will just have to work super hard and make some special orders and try and get some stuff replaced, but we will be back for winter,’’ he said.

Goodall imports the gear to build his bikes. He estimated that there were fewer than 20 of the bikes in New Zealand, and said he knew all the owners.

The shipping container was in a remote location, and he last visited it a couple of weeks ago.

Half of his bikes were at another workshop, and he already has some more Camso track kits on order, as he planned to expand.