Nordic Skates For speed runs ?

[NSKITER]

I ran across the Nordic skating site from Vermont, and it has me thinking. Has anyone tried these for kiting? I have gone very fast on my hockey skates(50+mph paced by a snowmobile) but find them too unstable to be fun.

We get a decent ice season here in Nova Scotia, with plenty of freeze/thaw cycles. The ice is often a little rough, but these skates claim to handle this. Can anyone confirm this for me? Thanks in advance.

NS

[stormboarding]

Dave, #6 on our speed list, went nearly 30 mph on a pair of nordic skates with a Frenzy 5 and around 15 kts of breeze. He was really just trying it out and there was a lot of potential there, he got moving very smoothly. He said you can get trucking on them even without a kite.

Not sure if any of the other nordic skaters have experience on rough ice but will keep my eyes out for info. I will say on the same day, on black ice, my skis were not the best option.

Have fun up there.

rzm

[kiteny]

I have these skates: http://www.nordicskater.com/hiking/index.html

They are amazingly stable. Since they are very tall and have a gentle curve in the front, they eat up rough ice for breakfast. They are also very long, so uneven ice is no problem at all. I wouldn't want to go 50 on the rough, but on smooth ice 50 should be easy.

I was never much of an ice skater, so I learned last winter to skate and kite. I did 28 or so on them with a 2.1 meter Little Devil in not a lot of wind. I'm hoping my lake freezes soon, so I can destroy your hockey skate record!

I've been told that hockey skates vibrate terribly at high speeds. Definitely not these babies!

Seth

[kiteny]

One more thing: If you haven't heard this yet, Keith from MTIceSports suggested taking large knee pads and putting a few screws through the back out the front. When you fall on ice, even with your kite on the ground, you'll keep going until there is no more ice. The spiked knee pads make it very easy stop.

Seth

[Guest]

Emergency brakes are good! Also, we have been putting together our own kite skates from old speed skates and rear entry ski boots. Grind off the rivets on the bottom of the speed skate boots, remove entire blade and mount assembly, then wood screw or sheet metal screw them to the bottom of a comfortable pair of ski boots. Careful of your alignment of the blade to the boot. Make sure the boots you use are easy to get on and off and comfy. the result is a skate with excellent ankle support, a very stable feel and smooooth. Also, the distance from the bottom of the boot to the ice is high enough to prevent "booting out" when you are really cranked over. We built my last set for $15.00 us buying parts at the thrift store.

Keith Kallio
Montanakitesports.com
Or you can pick up an Ice Monkey!

[kiteny]

Great idea on the ski boots/speed skates. Have to look into that.

Question: Do you think you can go as fast on the ice monkey as on skates? With skates, you can get a sharp angle against the kite, so you won't slide downwind. Do the ice monkey blades angle against the ice or are they vertical?

Flysurfer is releasing their Speed kite in January, with an AR of 6, so it should be the fastest kite out there...with Rachel now posting speed results, we have to hit 65!

Seth

[Guest]

The ice monkey blades are cut like an iceboat's runners...that is they are a 90 degree cut as opposed to a flat (speed skate) or hollow ground cut (hockey skates). In addition, there are 4 blades compared to 2. I can hold much more power on my board than I can on skates. Also, the flexible deck and the 46 inch wheel base allows me to blast through rough ice that would be very sketchy on skates. On the downside, it isn't as nice when the wind shuts down a mile from base!

[Guest]

http://www.mticesports.com/albums/Snowk ... el_116.mpg

[NSKITER]

Thanks for all the info, aren't these forums great. I truly believe a setup like this will hold the record by the end of the season. With good ice.

Seth: those are the exact skates I am talking about! Do you find they have enough ankle support with just hiking boots?
I am also looking into making my own to use with ski boots, as Keith mentioned. Hiking boots would be better walking for sure.

It's funny you mention the 2.1LD as that is the kite I was using when I topped 50mph. The winds were gusting over 40mph, and if you pointed slightly downwind during a gust the speed was unreal.
The ski-doo that was tracking me couldn't keep up, what a blast.

When I said rough ice I don't mean ALL that rough, just not mirror smooth. We are talking about cracks and ripples maybe 2-3mm high. Mix in the odd pocked- up snowy patch here and there.

You guys have me psyched now, lookout lake here I come.
NS

[kiteny]

I have standard Timberland work-type boots (I don't recommend anyone get them) and they are fine with the strap-on skates. There are definitely boots out there with more ankle support, and those would be better. Nothing ever fits my feet well, so I didn't want to buy skates without trying them one. The strap-ons made a lot of sense.

I just checked, and they'll go on ski boots as well. They are very adjustable, so once I have ice I'll move the buckles a bit and try them on my ski boots -- they will probably be a lot better.

You probably won't even notice 2-3 mm ripples until you're over 30mph on these. I've done 20+ over 2-3 inch crap. Last winter the ice got soft for a few days, and tracks from quads froze in. These went right over those without a problem -- not too fast, of course, but if it's worse than that you should get out your skis.

The lake in front of my house is about 2,000 feet wide. When the ice is glass, I can cross that with 10-12 pushes. I counted. They just glide forever.

I've got an Ice Monkey on order, too. 65 mph is the target...

Keith -- any word on how your blades work on the Ground Industries boards?

Seth