You propably know what a Kite is, but have you heard about the Kitewing?

The kitewing is a lightweight hand-held wing shaped as a kite that can be used for sailing on ice, snow and land with a pair of skis, skates or a snowboard. This is done in wintertime. For summer use one can sail with the wing using roller blades, a mountainboard or a skateboard. I haven’t yet made it in summer, but winter usage is really cool. I mainly ride at frosen lakes, but snow-covered open spaces like moun-tains are maybe even better – You just need some more wind to get it going in the mountains. On plain ice you just need a little as 4-5 m/s of wind.

I’m no extreme rider, but some other people have found out that the wing is also capable of doing jumps. Well, several 100 meters is maybe more flying than jumping? The current world record from 2004 is 505 meters (1666 feet) made by a Kitewing team rider and helicopter pilot Andreas Laurent.

If you like speed the wing gives you a good ride. In optimum conditions, you can reach speeds between 60-80 km/h, but the speed record on ice was 107 km/h the last time I heard about it.

I have found out that people interested in Kitewing riding are usually also interested in snowboarding, downhill ski-ing, windsurfing, mountain boarding and other action sports. So if you are into those sports you might get hooked. And if compared with wind surfing, this sport is easier to learn and the Kitewing has much better jumping qualities. The good jumping quality is because the symmetrical wing can be turned quickly into horizontal position – the sail can literally be transformed to a flying wing.

Nicolas Fogelholm is a Kitewing rider and webmaster for the Kitewing online community www.windsports.net/

5 Tips For Outdoors Life

You love nature and the outdoors life. How can you get the very most from it, though? In a world where there seems to be more concrete than dirt, it can be rather challenging to even get out into the outdoors life. That means that you need to make the most out of what you have to play with. No matter what you enjoy doing; you can do it the best way possible when you take these tips to heart. Your outdoors life can be one of excitement, relaxation and complete bonding with nothing other that the pure air around you.

Tips To Roll With

• Start with having the best products to take with you. Sure, you could go camping with that old tent. But, if you go camping with a new one, which is fully insulated, waterproof and even features an easy set up, there is more time to enjoy the outdoors life instead of dealing with the problems. Do this with all of your leisure products. If you plan to take it with you, make sure it is high quality. You’ll appreciate and enjoy your leisure pursuits much more if you’ve purchased the right quality.
• Be prepared. Sure, it’s the Boy Scout motto but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. The fact is that your outdoors life can be so much better when you are sure that you have all the risks taken care of, as much as is humanely possible. Provide for all the things that you need, in good quality, and enjoy what the outdoors life has to offer you. It’s that simple.
• Take time to play. If you can’t get out to spend some quality outdoors time with your friends, make sure that you bring the fun to your home. While you can’t go hunting in your backyard, you definitely can play a sport. Make life a little more fun and a lot less stressful by enjoying the outdoors life.
• Outdoors life should be something that you look forward to. Make sure it is something that you think about by planning trips and outings into your favorite outdoors life adventures. Plan them!
• Outdoors life can only be better when you do it with friends, so make sure that you spend plenty of it with them.

Your outdoors life is one of many dreams and aspirations. If you plan to enjoy that life, get the best products, a few friends and head out to play. Life is so much better when you can say that you have spent a lot of time enjoying the outdoors life.

Bryan Watson has enjoyed over 35 years of fresh air leisure pursuits, and has a passion to help as many people enjoy the great outdoors life to the fullest. He therefore has built a site dedicated to providing as much practical and helpful advice to help other people do the same. www.outdoors-life.com