A few years ago when I was starting to get into bigger kites my dad and I were out and ran into an old friend that he knew growing up. He has a
background in the kiting world. I ended up buying my first four line kites from him (5M and 7M quad tracs). When i first bought my kites he showed
me these skis. Apparently a friend of his made these. They used them for one way trips down the beach if the winds were right.
We ran into him again the other day and he offered them up to yry for the day. We took them out at the beach but the winds were heading inland. The
bungee cord French wrap bindings were fun to adjust. I also found that the downturned tails would not allow you to move backwards while tying to
launch a kite. They dug in and you would stumble back as your foot pulled out of the bindings. I tried my radsails Aztec 5M but it was not quite
enough. I switched to my 5M pansh sprint because it has more lift and might get me moving better. I did get moving, could not turn, and ended going
from the hard pack into the soft sand. I took a couple of runs this way.
It was fun to try something completely different and awkward. It made me laugh and put a big smile a on my face.
I just wanted to share because somebody put some time into making these years ago and the materials and craftsmanship was nice. The bottoms are slick
hard plastic. The black strips under your foot are grippy textured. I'm sure something has come along in binding technology in the last few years
that could be an addition....
The various videos of folks hauling down steep sand dunes looks fun enough, but I'd really question the utility of sand skis (particularly short ones
like those pictured) for use on flat sand akin to snow kiting. The big issue here is going to be friction. Even with the boards optimally surfaced and
waxed these are going to stick like a mother at first.
One of the things I struggle with kite skating with 200x50mm tires on plush grass is high starting friction. Once underway things go smoother but high
"stiction" makes for very clumsy moving around while not under high kite power. I'd think this was even worse with these sand skis.
I don't want to rain on any parades! A lot of what we do (read I do) is really goofy to regular non-kiting folks and sand ski kiting is just one more
goofy thing to do. In that spirit I'm all for it, it's just the stiction issue I'm concerned with as a practical matter.
I made a comment when I was about to start going about using someone's experiment from 30 years ago that obviously did not become a successful sport.
Even that said it was a fun challenge and made me appreciate the stability of a buggy.
The plastic on the bottom of the skis was pretty hard and slick. My biggest problem and concern was not being able to edge or turn and you would
quickly have the kite drop from the sky as you approached the speed of the wind when running straight.
It would be interesting to try them again with the wind running down the beach in both the either the soft or hard sand. I would possibly need a
bigger kite.
You need fairly loose sand (like dunes) for proper carving on sand skis. As someone stuck in the desert, I remember us having some stupid fun in HS on
both local hills and then taking a trip down to White Sands National Monument. Plastic slides well and they do make special wax that works better on
it (I found an unwaxed ski > waxed ski of the snow variety wax). You will abrade the bottoms badly. Our all time favorite pair a friend and I
destroyed were large children's skis with a plastic-ish bottom we spent $10 on at Goodwill.
I've always dreamed of making a pair of sand skis out of some aluminum and waxing them to give them a shot on dunes. Metal as you'll wear out any
normal ski in a relatively short number of passes (think of it as sand blasting the bottom). I think a kite could greatly increase fun, but uphill is
unlikely (at least at any real angle and not requiring many tacks / super long passes). I actually got the metal ski idea from an old thread here
(with dead ebay links) http://www.coreloop.com/dump/full_metal_ski/full_metal_ski_2... obviously I'd want longer, say around shoulder to eyeball height (terrain park
sizing) but wide.
Interesting looking skis but I can't imagine what the thinking behind the down-turn was.
This is my particular passion that I was introduced to 20 years ago and it's exactly like snow kiting - except I'm better prepared for global warming
I use old snow skis that I cut-down and friction is not a major issue. It is slower than snow kiting but you can still go upwind, uphill, etc. You
just need to upsize the kite you normally use
I finally bought a cheap action cam and this was the first test clip I shot a few weeks back. Wind was light (8-12 knots) onshore.
Interesting looking skis but I can't imagine what the thinking behind the down-turn was.
This is my particular passion that I was introduced to 20 years ago and it's exactly like snow kiting - except I'm better prepared for global warming
I use old snow skis that I cut-down and friction is not a major issue. It is slower than snow kiting but you can still go upwind, uphill, etc. You
just need to upsize the kite you normally use
I finally bought a cheap action cam and this was the first test clip I shot a few weeks back. Wind was light (8-12 knots) onshore.
Nice! I liked that you were able to breath new life into those vintage Atomic alpine skis. It might have just been the result of the video displayed,
but it would appear that all the action was in one direction on the beach. Were you able to ski in the other direction or was there perhaps one
gigantic Walk of Shame at the end of all that action?
Were you able to ski in the other direction or was there perhaps one gigantic Walk of Shame at the end of all that action?
My local beach is quite narrow so tacking upwind isn't an option and I'm very dependent on wind direction. The clip I loaded was at the start of the
session - just after that I hit another wave with a bit of speed and got water on the lens so all the other footage is blurry. This session I could
ski both ways but there's been many (many, many . . .) other times that it's a one-way trip.
My philosophy is there's no "walk of shame". Just like back-country skiing where you've got to earn every vertical metre you ski.
My local beach is quite short and I don't mind the walk but on longer ones I'll take a bike in the car, drop it off at my down-wind destination then
drive back to the start. If your sand pit is big enough you can tack your way up-wind as you would with kitesurfing or snowkiting
Quote:
How much do you cut off of the ski (or what length do you settle on as ideal compared to your normal ski) and how do you seal the cut (epoxy)?
I just get old throw away skis from my local ski shop or pick up cheapies on e-bay so sealing the cut isn't something I really worry about too much.
Usually I just brush super glue onto the cut to seal it but I guess epoxy would be better if you want them to last a bit longer.
After a bit of experimenting I've settled on a rough ratio for tail/binding/ tip of 10"/12"/24 -30". You're looking for a stiffish ski with a good
rocker to ride over weed and tyre tracks (and dogs!!) but you don't need to be too fussy - my first pair of skis were just 20mm thick blocks of UHMPWE
with 2mm thick strips of stainless screwed on to create edges and stiffen them
Were you able to ski in the other direction or was there perhaps one gigantic Walk of Shame at the end of all that action?
My local beach is quite narrow so tacking upwind isn't an option and I'm very dependent on wind direction. The clip I loaded was at the start of the
session - just after that I hit another wave with a bit of speed and got water on the lens so all the other footage is blurry. This session I could
ski both ways but there's been many (many, many . . .) other times that it's a one-way trip.
My philosophy is there's no "walk of shame". Just like back-country skiing where you've got to earn every vertical metre you ski.
My local beach is quite short and I don't mind the walk but on longer ones I'll take a bike in the car, drop it off at my down-wind destination then
drive back to the start. If your sand pit is big enough you can tack your way up-wind as you would with kitesurfing or snowkiting
Quote:
How much do you cut off of the ski (or what length do you settle on as ideal compared to your normal ski) and how do you seal the cut (epoxy)?
I just get old throw away skis from my local ski shop or pick up cheapies on e-bay so sealing the cut isn't something I really worry about too much.
Usually I just brush super glue onto the cut to seal it but I guess epoxy would be better if you want them to last a bit longer.
After a bit of experimenting I've settled on a rough ratio for tail/binding/ tip of 10"/12"/24 -30". You're looking for a stiffish ski with a good
rocker to ride over weed and tyre tracks (and dogs!!) but you don't need to be too fussy - my first pair of skis were just 20mm thick blocks of UHMPWE
with 2mm thick strips of stainless screwed on to create edges and stiffen them
I LOVE those "boots"! What an excellent idea. I had assumed you were wearing ski boots and that you had traditional bindings mounted. Hardly a
"walk of shame" at all with your toes sinking into cool, damp sand! Good stuff.
Interesting looking skis but I can't imagine what the thinking behind the down-turn was.
I think I might
have an idea.... I made a sandboard once, and went down the dunes at kittyhawk NC. You go REALLY fast!!!! I think the downturn could be just enough in
the soft dune sand to slow you down,or make it manageable.
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