Posts Tagged ‘mountainboards’

With mountain boarding one of the fastest growing extreme sports, is was only a matter of time, before the board was teamed up with the kite as so eloquently shown here by Davelea360.

If you already kitesurf, making the transition to kite-mountainboarding is quite simple. A power kite can provide the energy to ride in parks, beaches, cross-country, or on a dry lake bed.

Remember that a mountain board is little more than an off road skate board with pneumatic tires, foot straps, and adjustable suspension for better ride and handling performance.

MBS Pro 100 Mountainboard with noSno soft bindings

When kitesurfing you are using the power of the kite to keep you on top of the water. Water creates a drag on the board so more power, and therefore a bigger kite, is needed.

However, with kiteboarding you are supported by a hard surface, whether it be sand or grass, therefore less friction, and so getting going is much easier. This means that you will need a kite which is one size (or maybe two sizes) smaller.

Andy Wardley, pictured above, was one of the pioneers of kite landboarding He was among the first people to ride a mountain board under kite power back at the end of the last century (!) – 1999.

You change the tyre pressure depending on the surface you will be kiteboarding on: softer for sand, harder for grass. Softer tyres are also more forgiving on your body when riding on rougher terrain.

Here are some useful kiteboarding safety tips that should be thought about and remembered:

• Have fun and stay safe while riding by making sure to wear a helmet, gloves, elbow pads, knee pads, long pants and long sleeves while kite mountainboarding.
• If you wear your board-rider retention leash while riding; make certain it is fastened snugly above your lead leg’s knee pad to reduce the potential of knee injury from twisting your leg.
• Use caution at all times. Kite within your limits and stay away from picnic areas, or populated parks.
• Always scout (survey) your terrain prior to attempting to ride it. Watch out for hidden obstacles and unseen dangers. Point out hidden dangers to others.
• Always be aware of and respect all automobiles, cyclists and pedestrians. Be mindful of others especially moving cars.
• Use a lower tire pressure to slow your speed if just starting.
• Practice stopping techniques frequently by bringing the kite overhead slowly, or slightly past, to resist your forward movement.
• Recognize the distance required for these stops. Always practice your stopping technique even after you feel you know it.
• When riding with others – always yield to the other rider. If both riders yield, problems will be avoided.
• Observe and obey all posted signs. Only ride where permission is granted.
• Always respect your environment, tread lightly to preserve nature.
• Do not litter the parks with garbage.

My son, who is my fount of knowledge on many extreme sports, is saving up to buy an MBS mountain board – something to pack alongside the kite board, snow board, windsurfers, skis, skateboard, blades and the prosaic old tennis rackets!

Time to check this sport out more closely I think… and if you took the time to watch the video from switchfakie above you’ll have an idea of what we are about to let ourselves in for. Before we know it he’ll be dragging us up to the mountains to have a ‘real’ challenge – completely ignoring the fact that you can mountainboard anywhere with a 5 degree slope!

A 5 degree slope will give you enough speed to carve – but will this be good enough for him? Hell no.

If you are a beginner at mountainboarding then a grassy hill is the best place to start. Alternatively you can use BMX tracks, dirt roads and pavements. Actually, you can ride your mountainboard virtually anywhere you want.

A mountainboard is part snowboard and part skateboard. It has a snowboard-like deck, adjustable turning system, air-filled knobby tires and an open-heel binding system. Some mountainboards can be outfitted with a hand-held V brake – all MBS boards have this facility.

They were initially invented to help snowboarders cross-train during the dry summer months.

Since then mountainboarding has developed into a sport in it’s own right with it’s own culture and history and includes racing, freestyle, freeride and kiting disciplines. Mountainboarding is done in over 30 countries and continues to be one of the most exciting and fastest growing extreme board sports.

Essentially it is a combination of snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing, but done on grass, dirt or pavement. You initiate turns by applying pressure on your toes or heels.

It’s not difficult to learn. If you’ve got good balance, it’s pretty easy. In fact it is much easier to learn than snowboarding. Within one hour most people can learn how to carve in both directions and in total control.

Protective gear is recommended – helmet, elbow pads, wrist guards, leather gloves, long pants, knee pads, sturdy shoes, eye protection. The safer you feel the better you will ride and when you do take the eventual tumble you’ll won’t mind getting right back up and carrying on.

And this is the sort of thing that is bound to happen to you whilst learning to mountainboard… as kindly portrayed by adztec77!

However, with a bit more practice you’ll be able to emulate mtbord510 and board like this:

I think you know all you need to know about snowboards, but what do you know about mountain boards? and how many of you are keen and avid participators of this sport?

This photograph was taken two years ago as our son disappeared 7kms up the beach in Mozambique to join up with some friends – useful things mountain boards!

Back to the discussion…

Mountainboarding is also known as dirtboarding or all-terrain-boarding (ATB), and is a well established extreme sport. It started in 1991 when Jason Lee and Patrick McConnell started making boards to help snowboarders cross-train during the summer months. They subsequently set up the company MBS Mountainboards which is still the industry leader. Almost 18 years later the company is still going strong selling boards into over 30 countries around the world. Many of mountainboarding’s key innovations have been developed by them.

Mountainboarding has developed into a sport in it’s own right with it’s own culture and history which includes racing, freestyle, freeride and kiting disciplines and it is one of the most exciting and fastest growing board sports.

From the early days there has been a competitive element encompassing racing and freestyle. Competitions have been organised in USA since 1993 and in the UK since 1997.

This was posted by humour50 and gives you a very good idea of what mountainboarding is all about.

As you can see from the video, mountainboarding is snowboarding but done on all-terrain – grass, dirt or pavement.

It is quite easy to learn particularly for anyone who has good balance. In fact, they say it is much easier to learn than snowboarding. Within one hour most people can carve in both directions and in total control. You only need a 5 degree slope to have enough speed in which to carve and it goes without saying that grass hills are an ideal place to learn! Anything for a soft landing…

It is adviseable to wear protective clothing as you will fall. If you want to go for the whole protective package, mountainboard suppliers have it all: helmet, elbow pads, wrist guards, leather gloves, long pants, knee pads, sturdy shoes, eye protection!

One of the fastest growing areas of mountainboarding is combining the board with a kite or sail. Thanks to fredstem for this video.

Mountainboards range in price from $150 for an entry level kids board with brake system to $550 for the ultimate downhillers board and there are, of course, many price models in between. There are more expensive models too, but beware that you are not being ripped off, if MBS Mountainboards say the price should be between 150-550 then I think they probably know what they are talking about!

As with any sport that we talk about, mountainboarding can be as extreme as you want it to be. Of course you can go and leap off a cliff within 5 seconds of strapping on a board… but it is adviseable to know what you are doing before you go xtreme.

And if you don’t have enough slope to get the speeds you want, you can always turn to an alternative source of power…

and this one…