Date: Wed, 3 Jan 1996 01:30:52 -1000 From: C.Groen@research.kpn.com (groen) Message-Id: Organization: KPN Research, The Netherlands Subject: Skiing Hi, In a few days I'm going to enjoy my anual skiing holiday in Austria. One of the problems of the skiing resort is that you're never sure of (enough) snow. So I'll be taking my kites with me, just in case... That brought me to a nice idea! Would it be possible to ski behind my Speedwing Super? Hey, i've never done this before. So if there is anyone out there with experience in this area, drop me a note. By the way the third week of january is a very quit skiing week, so there won't be much traffic on the piste. Kiting on the piste should therefore be possible. Kees = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 3 Jan 1996 08:23:15 -1000 From: DHAXTON@SSSP.GSFC.NASA.GOV (Donovan Haxton) Message-Id: Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center -- Greenbelt, Maryland USA Subject: Re: Skiing In article , C.Groen@research.kpn.com (groen) wrote: > That brought me to a nice idea! Would it be possible to ski behind my > Speedwing Super? Hey, i've never done this before. So if there is anyone > out there with experience in this area, drop me a note. > I have some additional questions. What kind of skies will work the best with a kite pulling system? (down hill or cross country?) What length is best? Is there enough pull for a kite to pull you back up a hill? I can see that a system like this would work well on a snow covered lake, but will it work well going up and down hills? How wide must the ski trail be? What will be the effect of turbulence >From trees and hills on the trails, etc? Don Haxton dhaxton@sssp.gsfc.nasa.gov = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 3 Jan 1996 12:23:34 -1000 From: Denis Audette <77766556@callisto.si.usherb.ca> Message-Id: Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: Re: Skiing On Wed, 3 Jan 1996, groen wrote: > Hi, > In a few days I'm going to enjoy my anual skiing holiday in Austria. One > of the problems of the skiing resort is that you're never sure of > (enough) snow. So I'll be taking my kites with me, just in case... > > That brought me to a nice idea! Would it be possible to ski behind my > Speedwing Super? Hey, i've never done this before. So if there is anyone > out there with experience in this area, drop me a note. > > By the way the third week of january is a very quit skiing week, so there > won't be much traffic on the piste. Kiting on the piste should therefore > be possible. > > Kees Hi Kees, Here in Magog,Quebec, we have a lot of snow for sale!!! If you want to be sure you can bring some with you in Austria. Yes you can ski with a Speedwing. Do you have a train??? If you want a good traction you should use 3 (or more) kites. Kite-skiing is easier with a quad-line foil because it's more difficult to launch a train of delta with a pair of skis on. I ski a few seasons with a train of delta(6 kites), or a train of Flexifoil Super 10 (4 kites), now I usually use a quad-line foil or a Peel. The quad-lines give more autonomy to the kite-skier, if you don't ski alone on a long run you won't have any problem to use a train. I'm not sure that a ski station is a good place for kite-skiing, here we ski on a lake so we have a large "open field" (55 km long) for skiing. In a ski station you will have different kind of problems: - Probably you won't have enough space - You can hurt a skier - depending the direction of the wind you can have a lot of problem with some turbulence. Denis Audette Cerfs-Volants Albatros Magog, Quebec, Canada = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Thu, 4 Jan 1996 11:13:16 -1000 From: Denis Audette <77766556@callisto.si.usherb.ca> Message-Id: Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: Re: Skiing On Wed, 3 Jan 1996, Donovan Haxton wrote: > In article , C.Groen@research.kpn.com > (groen) wrote: > > > That brought me to a nice idea! Would it be possible to ski behind my > > Speedwing Super? Hey, i've never done this before. So if there is anyone > > out there with experience in this area, drop me a note. > > > I have some additional questions. What kind of skies will work the best > with a kite pulling system? (down hill or cross country?) What > length is best? The kind of skis depend of wath you want to do: - If you usually ski on ice or hard snow, or if you want to ski really fast, the best choice is regular down hill skis. - If you usually have to walk from your car to the "ski field", and you want to be more confortable you can use telemark skis - If you really have nothing else, if the surface is not to hard, and if you don't ski too fast, you can use cross contry skis. Be carefull this is not a very good equipment for kite-skiing Is there enough pull for a kite to pull you back > up a hill? I can see that a system like this would work well on > a snow covered lake, but will it work well going up and down hills? It's much better on a lake than on a ski hill. If you use a big kite you will have enough power to go up hill. To do that it's easyer if you use an harness and if you ski downwind. > How wide must the ski trail be? What will be the effect of turbulence > from trees and hills on the trails, etc? Depending the direction of the wind you will have a lot of problem with the turbulence. > > Don Haxton > dhaxton@sssp.gsfc.nasa.gov Denis Audette Cerfs-Volants Albatros Magog, Quebec, Canada> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 20:59:21 -1000 From: daveculp@bdt.com (Dave Culp) Message-Id: Organization: Beckemeyer Development, Oakland CA Subject: Re: Skiing In article , DHAXTON@SSSP.GSFC.NASA.GOV (Donovan Haxton) wrote: > In article , C.Groen@research.kpn.com > (groen) wrote: > > > That brought me to a nice idea! Would it be possible to ski behind my > > Speedwing Super? Hey, i've never done this before. So if there is anyone > > out there with experience in this area, drop me a note. > > > I have some additional questions. What kind of skies will work the best > with a kite pulling system? (down hill or cross country?) What > length is best? Is there enough pull for a kite to pull you back > up a hill? In Colorado (US) there's a company called UpSki. They sell *huge* (600 sf, 55 sm) round parachutes which can be instantly collapsed. They use them to pull themselves *up* the steepest slopes (wind usually blows uphill). They can "sail" about 60 degrees either side of the wind, but not upwind. They use regular downhill skis, and use the system to get up areas where there are no lifts. They have sold thousands of these, all over the world, and I'm surprised that more kiters don't know about them. They organize expeditions everywhere. Their address escapes me at the moment, but it's somewhere on my web site (in a back issue of Kitesailing International, I think) -- ################################################################### Dave Culp Speedsailing | e-mail to: daveculp@bdt.com 312 Flaming Oak Drive | Pleasant Hill, CA 94596 | http://www.bdt.com:80/home/daveculp/speedsail.html #################################################################### = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =