Kite Skates

A couple of technicalities with the vid, send PM and I will send you the password

Conditions.

Shait, wind was swinging from W-NE average strenght 7 knots, from the BOM there was a gust of 13 knots (must have missed that one)

Kites

Speed 2 12m, 10m

Total time on blades

5 minutes first session 2 months ago plus 3 hours in total as of today (this includes standing on them in a park with kites falling out of sky, 8 minute waits for wind to pick up enough to launch kite again)

Notes

Well for any of the doubters, Terrablades are perfect for kite skating especially freestyle.

Park was muddy, they had unbelievable grip, great upwind and for holding an edge, the leg support in the ski boots assists this greatly IMO.

Most of the jumps were in 7-9 knots of wind, started off with the 12m but honestly it was the wrong kite, I learnt today that kite skating is best on the smaller size kites so put up the 10m and the day just got better (actually jumping higher on smaller kite, in dodgy wind).

The many botched lands were due to the redirect by the time I was in the air there was not enough wind for the kite to fly over the top of me, so I was still angled back from the redirect and not enough kite pull to surge me forward.

No complaints, I could not have buggy jumped in these conditions, neither would I have bothered putting a kite up.

Best Trick

The "daffy grab to 180, how am I going to land this"

14 knots of consistent wind

From what I experienced today, in 14 knots of consistent wind could easily jump 20ft.

Fun Factor

Huge, really hooked, much safer than buggy freestyle.

Special thanks to Dave Shepp for filming & sorting out my bridals on many occasions when it fell out of the sky.

Good on you Luke, realy doing well, and good to see your vids again.

pretty good there for a second session Mr

way to hit it luke!

Thanks George, Trippnu, Phreerider

Forgot to mention, my new hillbilly crash pants are the best thing I have used.

Hit the ground a few times & wasn't till after the session I thought, I didn't feel a thing.

Was a pleasure to hit the ground, which promotes trying new moves.

You nearly landed at 0:49 backwards... Nice video, how much power did you find you needed to hold compared to the buggy?

Regards,

.Joel

Nice vid Luke.
If I may add a couple of pointers. Not that I ride blades or plan to at my age some of the skills are similar to kitesurfing.

A few of the landings where you come out the back can be stuck if you land with your shoulders further forward. A couple of things causing your shoulders to drop back. One is looking up at the kite and sheeting in. The other is not re-directing the kite which you obviously realised and hopefully more wind will rectify.

Maybe also try it with a waist harness one day as the higher swing point may be an advantage.

Look forward to the next vid.

Jas

@ Joel, landing backwards was by accident that jump, although will focus on jumps like that when I get a decent session on them.

Can ski backwards as well as forwards, the only technicality is with the Terrablades the kite is pulling you sideways, so going backwards with the kite will take some practice.

The Terrablades (kite skates in general) power up much quicker in light winds than a buggy, I doubt I could have made it up the park yesterday (slight slope) in a buggy and certainly no jumping, the best kite yesterday was the 10m Speed 2, the smaller size seemed to generate more power on the Terrablades and much more controllable. I was able to hold an edge better before a boost on the Terrablades (in the conditions yesterday) than I would have in a buggy to get off the ground.

@ Jason, I was struggling to get the kite back above me a lot of the time, so falling back was on the cards, I hear what you are saying though, leaning forward will help (more wind will assist this also), I had no choice but to redirect yesterday, pulling on the bar would have done nothing but stall the kite, two or three jumps were ride away, the wind was a bit stronger.

I was thinking about a waist harness, since this simulates kite skiing most of the videos I have seen are using seat harnesses (ozone harness) although, for rotations I think the waist harness may be a big advantage, I will have to try one and compare. Although going from using seat harness for years to a waist harness could mess with my flying style.

I did find that having the kite anchored at my hips (pulling power from seat harness) that it helped keep and edge with the wheels, if a waist harness was used, I think it would be easier to topple over with the higher pull from the kite (although land boarders manage to do it , but they are not facing forwards on 4cm wide tires and have 2 others down wind of them & a much wider stance, ). I could be wrong, will have to try both.

Hi Luke,

Great video mate, thanks for sharing. I find it awesome that you can jump with the skates in such low winds, here's hoping I'll manage to get it all together soon

Does my confidence good to see that expert flyers like you and Carltb also fall over when learning on skates too, it aint just me

started off with the 12m but honestly it was the wrong kite, I learnt today that kite skating is best on the smaller size kites so put up the 10m and the day just got better (actually jumping higher on smaller kite, in dodgy wind).

yep, I had my second go with the skates on Saturday, and my first with the 10m Outlaw. Conditions similar to yours, but there were definitely the odd consistent gust to about 12knots or so. During one of the gusts I was down near the end of my run and the useable area of my local spot; I took off like a bat out of hell and just ran out of room to turn back up wind, clipping the weedy, crappy downhill end. Still madly trying to get back upwind got caught in the weeds and crashed on my right side. No real danger as nothing much to hit so didn't bother pulling the safety, but did manage to loop the kite and get dragged about 5 or 6 metres

As much as I love flying the Outlaw, I think while learning if in doubt I should just be using my 6m Access till I get it together a bit more

Forgot to mention, my new hillbilly crash pants are the best thing I have used.

Hit the ground a few times & wasn't till after the session I thought, I didn't feel a thing.

Was a pleasure to hit the ground, which promotes trying new moves.

I know what you mean, I'm now pretty well armored from head to foot

It was a great test of my new upper body armour, Wasn't really a huge impact on the ground but even small ones can hurt, and the drag would definitely have taken a lot of skin off

Fun Factor

Huge, really hooked, much safer than buggy freestyle.

Special thanks to Dave Shepp for filming & sorting out my bridals on many occasions when it fell out of the sky.

I'm enjoying mine much more than my board, the only bummer is having to sort out the kite when it crashes, and it's much harder to recover in marginal conditions. Not quite as simple as jumping off the board and running backwards a bit to reinflate the kite

It was a bit of a pain on Saturday with the skates on having to secure the outlaw, then get back up the hill on the skates and carry it back to a good place to start again. I need a Dave

Kind regards

Ant

Hey boys its great to see you having a great time on your skates, that learning time you're putting in trying to stay on your feet is all exiting, but wait till you find your feet, you'll be popping airs flicking into turns, doing grabs, thats where the real fun starts.

George

Ps Just ordered my Hill Billy shorts from Jason at Biskites which I highly recomend every one who's either kite skating, or even just roller blading. Falling straight on your ass from a standing position bloody hurts

Thats my neighbours leg, a day after she got roller blades, elbow pads, knee pads and a concrete foot path for her birthday.

Great video mate, thanks for sharing. I find it awesome that you can jump with the skates in such low winds, here's hoping I'll manage to get it all together soon

That would be the Speed 2, for light wind and a combination of only having blades on my feet with the ability to push off the ground makes it very easy to get airborne in light wind.

Does my confidence good to see that expert flyers like you and Carltb also fall over when learning on skates too, it aint just me

Since it was second attempt (first real go) was happy to put up some average footage, all part of the learning curve, there would have been less falling if wind was better

yep, I had my second go with the skates on Saturday, and my first with the 10m Outlaw. Conditions similar to yours, but there were definitely the odd consistent gust to about 12knots or so.

I have found that if your kiting in 6 knots when a gust comes through at double that it feels 3 times as strong at the time.

As much as I love flying the Outlaw, I think while learning if in doubt I should just be using my 6m Access till I get it together a bit more

Ant, the Outlaw flys really well fully depowered, which would come close to simulating (in light winds) your Access 6m at full power I think, but what ever you are comfortable with, I really liked downsizing to the 10m on the skates, I have a new kite on the way that is smaller which I cannot wait to get.

It was a great test of my new upper body armour, Wasn't really a huge impact on the ground but even small ones can hurt, and the drag would definitely have taken a lot of skin off

My Hillbillys rock, am thinking about getting some soft upper body armor but honestly in the years I have been freestyling have never hurt myself above the waist.

I'm enjoying mine much more than my board, the only bummer is having to sort out the kite when it crashes, and it's much harder to recover in marginal conditions. Not quite as simple as jumping off the board and running backwards a bit to reinflate the kite

I think one more session I will be totally hooked, on big floaty jump with a grab or a rotation will set me on the right path. Buggying is very restrictive compared to kite blading, as Carl mentioned on another forum if he was a buggy jumper he would find it a lot easier (kite side on, instead of facing the kite) I think this is why I got jumping straight away, its very similar to buggy jumping

It was a bit of a pain on Saturday with the skates on having to secure the outlaw, then get back up the hill on the skates and carry it back to a good place to start again. I need a Dave

Agreed, jeeze if Dave wasn't on hand to sort out the kite many times I would have packed up and gone home, that is the only disadvantage to kite blading but having a session is consistent winds will make all the difference also.

Keep at it Ant, great to see you got on them!

@ George, ouch that must have hurt.

Looking good Luke. Only 3 hours and you doing stuff like that.

One thing I did notice on the landing that may help out a bit, is to put one foot infront of the other as you land. Was talking to a mate that has skated for years on both land and Ice (hockey mainly) and he did say the same thing. It should create a bit more ballence on the landing as your you have one foot a back to hopfully stop the blades going out form under you.

Ant, the Outlaw flys really well fully depowered, which would come close to simulating (in light winds) your Access 6m at full power I think, but what ever you are comfortable with, I really liked downsizing to the 10m on the skates, I have a new kite on the way that is smaller which I cannot wait to get.

Ta mate, I haven't flown it fully depowered yet. I've been experimenting with the trim strap pulled in an inch or so in light winds, but I still have to put in a heap more hours to really get to grips with it. Because it's got so much depower on tap just by pulling the bar in and out I've been a bit lazy to be honest

Have you jumped much with it fully depowered? Just curious to see if it affects the float much. I'll find out for myself when I get a few good sessions in but with kids/work/weather that might not be till summer LOL

Kind regards

Ant

Hi Ant,

I have tested and jumped the 10m Outlaw fully de-powered and it is much better & stable than other kites I have used in the same conditions.

Hi Ant,

I have tested and jumped the 10m Outlaw fully de-powered and it is much better & stable than other kites I have used in the same conditions.

thanks mate, any luck I'll get to check it out this weekend

n/t

Welcome to EK Rich.

Will fast track the freestyle on the Terrablades in the next decent wind that comes our way.

Could have done with one of those powered versions this winter, the wind has been shiat!

Luke

Luke, kiting in Winter is rather challenging, for a lot of the time is either light wind ie 7 knots or is blowing like crazzy and gusty which means a stable small kite. So what is the smallest Fly Surfer you have and what wind speed are you game to take it up to in gusty conditions?

Cheers,
Norman

For 'safe' freestyle riding I would assume that Luke doesn't do gusty conditions period.

I recall the last session he videoed in bad wind and it had a bad ending.
Getting it right requires attention on things other than 'Is this float going to drop/slingshot me' and I suspect it's stable wind .... or it's not on.

my 2c
p.s.
Luke ... whazza password ? ... and wheres my Cornetto ??


Marty