Whos down for climbing over the ice shelf at Bradford today?
36 degrees and a 20mph south wind on a Friday!
I'm going to check it out around 12:30pm. Post up if you head down!!
Whos down for climbing over the ice shelf at Bradford today?
36 degrees and a 20mph south wind on a Friday!
I'm going to check it out around 12:30pm. Post up if you head down!!
Have fun. Make sure you have a way out. If a line breaks or whatever, you still have to be able to get back over the ice shelf to land.🤥
I opted for a wing and modified mountain board at the swamp. Did the trick. Still trying to dial in using the kite with it. However, was super gusty at the swamp and a kite would have been frustrating anyway.
Damn, I can check that one off the list. Nearly lost my shins just getting out past the ice field (not to be confused with the ice shelf)... lots of HUGE chunks of ice in the water to get through before you could get to the actual water.
Lasted about 15 minutes but wind seemed offshore so I came in and didn't want to put my legs through the shin-blasting again.
Certainly would need to wait for the ice to melt down significantly before Bradford would be in play again, and it looks like the weather we're about to get is not going to help that situation... how about some snow Mother Nature so we can actually snowkite!
@Ryan Wickens for what it's worth, grant doesn't have much for an ice shelf or floating ice in the way Bradford seemed to. But sw is no good there.
Though I wasn't up for big pond, probably ended up just as wet in my back yard. Air over 40 degrees and I was over-dressed, but even worse was the inch or more of water on top of the ice. Winged with skiskates and wind was constant 25-35 mph. Was soaked by the time I came in, but no complaints as it was a nice session. Hope that top-water freezes nice when temps drop, but as there will be wind probably going to get a bit messy....
Jake,
As I've retired from hockey because of my leg, you can have any or all of my pads to protect you on the ice.
Let me know if you want anything.
Stafford
Jake, the protection Stafford offers is critical. And right equipment can help too...
If you have skateboarding skills, these tools (see picturs) will work better on ice and snow than the modified mountain board. I have modified the freeskate, originally I used to race with windsurf sails. I modified the settings and nstalled truks from a mountain board so it turns sharper with wing to tack and gybe. My back has too many issues to risk playing with these right now, let me know if you would want to try them.
@jake s
Jake, I have a modified mountain board with blades and have been using a wind. The biggest challenge I have is stopping. Another common problem is an inability to slide the tail out of I get turned to far up wind and need to turnore downwind quickly. The blades just really cut into the ice. Do you have any solutions for either of these issues?
Here is a pic of my board.
Thanks,
Jacob
@Jeff Vkoeberl
JV,
Is the rear blade fixed on that board? It looks like instead of centering the blades on the trucks up front you have the blades extend in front of the truck. Is that what allows for sharper turns?
Thanks,
Jacob
@Jacob Odders while both truks allow the board to lean, only the front turns. At speed, the back will slide sideways a bit with pressure especially if not sharp. And yes, the front blade length helps turn stability. These boards are on the market, mine might be 20 years old as I got it second hand about 15 years ago. They are made for racing with a sail and WISSA event in Madison will certainly have a fleet. A couple years ago I modified mine while communicating with a guy in Europe who redesigned his for wing and he was reliably tacking & gybing. Last year conditions never got good enough to work it, and now back issues are keeping me from Working on the skills - but this with tweeks can work great.
