Every week, the 26-year-old former professional road biker from Reading, VT will dispatch his exploits on Backcountrymagazine.com. Conor teamed up with BACKCOUNTRY Magazine, Patagonia, Garmont and Genuine Guide Gear to put together a bio-fueled North American ski tour that will take him from the Kootenays to the La Sals in search of snow—and vegetable oil to keep his motor running.
For BACKCOUNTRY Editor Adam Howard, the only thing better than running a vehicle on maple syrup is running a rig on veggie oil. The Howard family's Vermont home is off the grid and powered by solar energy and a wind turbine. So getting on board with Conor was a no-brainer.
"Conor's trip embraces something we all aspire to do, but can't," Howard says. "Hit the pavement with no strings attached, in search of good people and good snow. The eco-travel aspect is appealing to like-minded backcountry skiers and riders who recognize the environmental and social impacts of their pursuits."
A penchant for travel and a desire to do it in an environmentally sound fashion inspired Conor to convert his 1982 Mercedes-Benz 240D to run on waste vegetable oil. The white four-door is a hybrid of sorts—part RV and part sedan. A roof rack and an enormous ski box adorn the roof of the car. Conor sits behind a dashboard covered by a citizen's band radio and an inverter, amidst the gauges and switches that control the vegetable oil conversion. A bed has replaced the passenger and rear seat and provisions for the trip are stashed below. The right side of the engine bay holds the majority of the conversion components, including a flat plate heat exchanger and a heated fuel line and valves for switching between diesel and vegetable oil. A heated auxiliary fuel tank and heated fuel filter are mounted in the trunk.
In order to do the majority of his driving on vegetable oil, Conor has made connections with fellow vegetable oil enthusiasts across the U.S. and Canada. However, there can never be too many sources of oil—so if you have some to spare (he will make fair trades), please email Conor at conorhurley@hotmail.com
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