Anybody ever tried using a large truck tire inner tube on the snow being pulled by a kite? I know people go tubing down the slopes. Don't get much snow in southwest Missouri to justify buying a snowboard.

Might be a bit too heavy and have too much traction. But I've never tried it, so if you've got one lying around. It might be worth an attempt.

It could be fun with enough drag to keep the wind on your kite....................... And a ride back upwind when you get to the end of your run.

You packed yet BeamerBob for Cali?

The trick is to use the kite to up hill and then free tube back down!! A whole day of tubing fun and no walking.
With my luck the wind would be blowing down hill!!

Here's a dry land version with a snow disk attached to the inner tube - good call on the uphill pull if possible, otherwise your going to do a lot of walking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AUuvWE_NzA

I think a good spray of sylicone or some morning dew would have helped to keep it under him!!

myself !!

i have a tube made from skidoo specialy made for sliding down the slopes.

i use a waterski set up and cut the rope to 25 feet and i sit my kids (one at the time) they hold on to the handle and the other end is tied to my harnes.
i then put my skis on and tow the kids with my kites loads of fun.

works best on a hard surface otherwise the snowtube digs in the fresh snow and slows me down to much.

you do have to negotiate turns carefully hehehe as that tube is coming fast behind you and will swing by with one hell of a pull..

fun way to get the kids involved

can't wait to get going

steff

Quote:

Originally posted by stephdip myself !! i use a waterski set up and cut the rope to 25 feet and i sit my kids (one at the time) they hold on to the handle and the other end is tied to my harnes. i then put my skis on and tow the kids with my kites loads of fun. you do have to negotiate turns carefully hehehe as that tube is coming fast behind you and will swing by with one hell of a pull.. fun way to get the kids involved steff

I do the exact same thing with my kids on a suicide saucer instead of a tube. I think I had a 10' rope and I'm going to go shorter this year because while they have a ball, as mentioned you need to negotiate the turns as they come whizzing by you and usually end up wrapping around my legs if I don't gradually slow down at the end of the runs.

hahaha

they never wraped arround my legs but the fist time we
were cruising fast the first turn i had the kite already heading in the other direction for the turn whent they went by me hehe by the time my brain said ohhh sh@#*t
i had two opposit forces pulling with me in the midle:o
i did a nice face plant in the snow

ahhh the fun
i did start out with a shorter rope but long works better for me anyways gives more time to slow down before they zip by laughing their heads off..i think i have more like 20'

i like the saucer idea i'm going to try that ,,sounds like it may stay on top more..and go faster hehehe

Friend of mine did it on a saucer in the snow. with handles and no harness. He said it was a blast cuz you're getting pulled around and flying backwards, upsidedown, etc... I think it'd be fun to try :D but with no intentions of going to a certain locatino :P

Do you guys go so far as to have a release of some sort on the tow line? I'm pretty sure I can sucker my nephews into going for a ride ; )

well in my case

the kids hold on to the handle,the same type you find on a water ski pull rope.
so if they get scared they just let go ;-)

never happened

hehe in fact so they don't get tired of holding on they now pass the bar they hold trough a handle on the front part of the tube wich has a shape sort of like an inflatable 2 place boat.
they get on their belly hold on and off we go.

all you need is a tube or saucer but don't use a tobagan because they have tracking ridges (not sure if i'm using the propper term here) molded into them and they will track and go where it wants to go where the tube just follows you.

on my end i use a quick release thingies you use for mountain climbing makes setting up easier and if something happens i ditch the kite and can disconect the set up fast.

we got snow yesterday and another 15 cm tomorow woohooo a little more and the field will be ready

I larkshead a tow line to a looped rope handle I affix to the saucer. On the saucer there is a predrilled hole for hanging the saucer or adding a cord handle so that's where I make the attachment. This means the kids don't need to hold onto the line to get moving they just have to hold onto the saucer. I have no quick release but the kids wear helmets and are bulked up with their snow gear so if things go bad they can roll off and not experience any more discomfort than they would if they crashed sledding.

I larkshead the tow line to rings on the back of my harness. This year I'm planning to attach an extra kite bar I have to the tow line and have the kids hang on to that if they can. I think that might ?? allow them to stear it a bit if they can put pressure on one side of the bar vs another. If they can't I'll just go back to the tow line attached directly to the saucer.

The kids love it and at their age (10 and 7) even if they crash :bouncing: the bigger the better (so long as no one comes home bleeding). :o

There are a couple guys up here that have hauled their little ones around behind them....gotta give it a go. Wifey says I'm not allowed to take Anna until she's old enough to decide for herself whether she wants to go or not (she's just past 6 mos now). The nephews though.....well they're fair game!:evil:

Any "DO NOT...." rules to follow? Like "do not take too much of a dive to get going - just smooth and easy" and "try to avoid pendulum transitions"?

Common sense rules apply. No jack rabbit starts or you'll pop them out of the saucer.

No powered turns with hard redirects - you'll either dump them on the turn or they'll whip around faster than you and wrap your legs in the tow line.

No jumping.

Pad them up with at least a helmet and goggles if you've got them because they'll be low to the ground and get snow in the face if the snow is loose and powdery.

Bundle them up as they'll get colder faster then you since they are passive participants.

Other than that its all laughs and smiles

Great ideas guys, I was looking at a saucer yesterday. Getting family involved, it doesn't get much better. Now for some snow and wind. I was thinking the tow idea could work on ice too. Let it snow Let snow Let it blow!!!

like b-roc said

make sure they are well covered with helmet ,gogles are real important and i get them the hot pwas thingies they add into the mittens and boots they do get cold fast..

with practice you can have a little fun with the pendulum effect in turns as they gain speed and laugh like hell but you have to control it so they don't pull to hard and fast ,just do long smooth turns.

we got the first snow storm today :singing: but the field we use the farmer hasn't cut the corn yet:puzzled::sniff:

we need to find a new spot unless he cuts it down soon..