Has anyone tried this ?
I bought a 6m Ocean Rodeo wing still in the bag.
I have skied in the past .
But will have to buy used ; skis /bindings , boots
What should I be looking for ?
What should I avoid ?
TIA
I'm near Toronto . Snow on the ground . I was tobogganing this morning . warming later in the week . Prolly be a green Christmas.
Go for AT boots/bindings and a set of retracting stocks. You can lock the AT's in for the winging and if you end up **** creek you can x-country ski out (or skin in to somewhere without trees).
Last winter I wing skied and wing skated. Super fun!
Skied with downhill skis and xc skis. Here a little vid.
Tomorrow should be the start of th wing skate/ski season
Select to expand quoteSparkEV said..
Has anyone tried this ?
I bought a 6m Ocean Rodeo wing still in the bag.
I have skied in the past .
But will have to buy used ; skis /bindings , boots
What should I be looking for ?
What should I avoid ?
TIA
All wing ski / skate action happened for me on frozen lakes. If there is some 5 cm of snow then I use the xc skis. If less than 5 cm then skates. If more than 10 cm and plenty of wind then the downhill ski's
With downhill skis need to be really sure the ice on lake is super good. Can't imagine falling into water with downhill skis.
Friend of mine also winged with a powder snowboard (just regular shoes .. no binding)
The winter season just started in North America. Deep snow is hard with the wing, lots of drag. Kiting is much better in dep snow. If there is just a little snow and great ice, its a blast. It's possible to wing in deep snow, but in my experience you need a lot more wind. I had a 4 hour session yesterday with 2 inches of snow on smooth ice, it was a great season opener. I love how easy it is to pause a session with the wing. No worrying about landing the kite or keeping it flying.
I started on ice last winter thinking it would be a good way to acclimate to the wing before moving to the water. I ground the rust off the edges and used a whole can of silicon lubricant in the bindings of my 1987 skis. I had so much fun. The ice is a little late this year but I'm looking forward to it again. Maui looks more fun but I live here.
If you're a competent skier wingskiing is the easiest way to learn how to handle a wing. Buy beater skis if you have to buy them. I would not bother with the expense of AT skis, bindings, etc unless you have terrain to use them as they are intended, i.e. backcountry skiing.
I use snowboard to wing in winter, but If I can relate to local kiters, the extra old skis without sidecut are the best for kite skis...so I assume for wing it could be the same....however they were longer. If you don't have skis...buy the cheapest..it's not like you are going to carve like crazy, it's more for holding a line, turn a bit but it's not like on a slope at full speed.
Some warm gloves also help, as your hands might get cold with the arms up.
Somewhere there is also a video of someone jumping (Balz Mueller I think)
I tried it a bit last season, but I dont have that much wind here in winter.
Select to expand quoteradair said..
If you're a competent skier wingskiing is the easiest way to learn how to handle a wing. Buy beater skis if you have to buy them. I would not bother with the expense of AT skis, bindings, etc unless you have terrain to use them as they are intended, i.e. backcountry skiing.
Agreed, i thought that backcountry was what the OP meant but for a lake go whatever, i have used x-country skis on lakes kiting and they are fine, skates would be heaps fun!
