Kite ice skating, sometimes referred to as ice kiting, ice kite skating, para-skating or para ice skating, is a sport practised on

ice skates Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with leather straps. These skates ...

using a large controllable

kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...

to propel across frozen rivers, frozen lakes and other frozen surfaces. In gusty conditions, speed must be controlled by raising the kite in the air parallel to the ice, or moving it in the opposite direction to the direction of riding to slow down. Kite ice skaters often perform tricks and invent new ones, for example, "Double around the world".

Safety considerations

With a traditional diamond-shaped kite skaters can travel faster than wind speed by angling the kite, similarly to the method used in

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

to trim a boat's course and sails for greater speed. It is possible to quickly exceed safe speeds, exhausting the skater's legs from absorbing the shock of bumpy ice, and becoming susceptible to crashes. A helmet, elbow, and knee protection are strongly advised. Care should be taken not to ride over the lines while setting up. Selecting the correct kite size is also important; smaller kites should be used than one would use on water (for example, in

kite surfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

) in the same wind conditions, as ice skates offer very little friction or resistance.

References

External links

Kite ice skating example
on YouTube
THIS IS KITESKATING
video of kiting on a frozen part of sea Ice skating Kites Ice in transportation {{Air-sports-stub

Safety considerations

See also

References

External links