what the backcountry was missing: airboarding...

[irbis]

http://www.airboarders.com/



how many of those have you actually seen out there?

[gaijin]

If I was 3, that would rule. I totally wish I had an airboard instead of my stupid red plastic, falling-apart sled.

pretty gay that there is a grown man in the pics, though.

[chocolatecoveredbacon]

that looks miserable.

[blockp]

"What do you think about the idea of airboarding down a slope at 60 to 80 miles an hour without much to do about stopping?"

Head first? Yeah... notsomuch.

[philippeR]

Actualy, I did use an airboard a few times, on bunny slopes, and it's a lot of fun. There are some sort of "edges" that make the thing somewhat steerable.
Now, I wouldn't call that a credible alternative to skiing... and there's no way I would use an air board on anything remotely steep or challenging. And it's obviously ueseless on ungroomed snow.
But, yes, that's a great way to eat a ton of snow. And I had a blast to compete with my kid.

[Arty50]

"Airboarding is an activity similar to body boarding."

I totally want to throw a Mike Stewart drop knee on one of those.

[Huckwheat]

A) that would be a great bachelor party drunken activity.
B) the lincoln loop was SICK
C) the teeth glint effect was hilarious.

[helmetcam]

Did a five year old write the text on that site? Jeebus- some of those sentences are more incoherent than 0BernardFranz's ramblings.

Well… I believe this will be a lot like [Razor scooters] except more popular, because it will take place in the winter and during the offseason people won’t be as involved, this will then get them pumped for the next winter.

Once summer is here winter is right around the corner, after getting through the fall of course.

Brilliant!!

[irbis]

And it's obviously ueseless on ungroomed snow.

what actually brought me to this site is an article I read that mentioned that airboarding is the latest way to enjoy backcountry. It said literally: "once you are done hiking, you inflate your airboard and you are off" or something along that line...

it could come in handy if you fly off a cliff though...

[A Random Skier]

Sounds like fun; hanging on to an inflatable sled for dear life, while being thrashed by the terrain.

Sleds seem to be the new (yet unpopular) thing. A company by Mad River made these. The NY Times actual wrote an article about them. Apparently a "freeride" sledding park is in the workings. The article included a picture of a guy on one of these sleds hitting a solid 5 footer.
Looks painful to me.

[jonesy]

Ummm I don't know. Guess Patrol could use it as a emergency sled to drag your frozen lifeless body off after hitting that Tower.

[J-Rad]

I like the guy who lets go of his board mid-air and then pathetically crashes. What did he think was going to happen ??

[hafilax]

What a bunch of curmudgeons
That looks like a blast. I love sledding. We carry crazy carpets when we snowshoe for the descent. Why not an airboard?

[Baconzoo]

I'd love to take a chicken head death cookie to the nuts!
Wow! Just think how tough you'd look in the lift line with your full face racing helmet and a Airboard.

[nexus6]

Wow this whole time I had one of those Airboards in the closet and I didn't even know it. I thought it was for guests to sleep on, but I was wrong now I can go be an EXTREME airboarder, sweet.

Think Saucer Boy is going to take this up?

[brannen]

clearly european
i want to see some serious carn on those things
i dont think a beheading is out of the question

[nate]

mad river rocket > airboard

i suck and dont know how to imbed, but watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfoFFNb6d34

[The Athlete Known As Ice]

It's actually much more controllable than you'd think because of the way they're designed (they were up for a Volvo design award last week, by the way), and it really is a helluva lot of fun. I've been snowboarding for about 10 years but this is a blast because you can just haul ass down the mountain and not worry about wiping out. You can stop just as quick on an Airboard at high speeds as on a snowboard or skis.

Check out some of the pics and videos on FaceLevel.com or the Airboarding video trailer - I don't think if you're flying 20 feet off a jump and doing front and back flips it's exactly a "3 year old" sport anymore, eh? ;-)

@HAFILAX: crazy carpets are great (that's what I started on when I was younger) but these are more controllable and don't hurt your ribs. For snowshoeing though they are great because they pack really small and with the pump only weigh about 5lbs, so it's quick and easy to pump up and have a more fun descent after your snowshoe up.

[Billy Reuben]

actually watching a dude do a 3 on one of these is probably worse than watching him be shitty at it.
its like a kid on a scooter, ok its a stupid little razor and the kids having a bunch of fun, but when it becomes a hobby and the kid starts doing backflips thats when it gets ridiculous.

[skibiker]

The article says something about less injuries that skiing or snowboarding.
I guess if you are always cruising a groomer that might be the case.
That helmet won't help much if you take a rock in the face.

[dk_alaskan]

Schweitzer in N. Idaho has Airboarding (at least they did when I interned there). Never had a chance to do it, but it looked like fun.

[tja111]

"I've been snowboarding for about 10 years but this is a blast because you can just haul ass down the mountain and not worry about wiping out. You can stop just as quick on an Airboard at high speeds as on a snowboard or skis."

One day this post will deserve a darwin award!

I have to actually commend "ice". I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Nice head shot by the way, you must be killing it on match.com