 Poster: A snowHead
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I cant see that water spray would work maybe they are using specially based skis ? Looks interesting though, I think the safety bar is there for confidence more than anything else
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you look at the photo gallery on the Realli Ski site, you get a better idea of the thing than from the home page. All the users seem to be on very short skis. Now if the thing was twice as long, maybe a reasonable skier on the steeper settings could use normal techniques and achieve an equilibrium point on the carpet without hitting the front bar. But at low angles, I'd guess you have to hang onto the bar to avoid being carried over the back of the track. A video clip would be useful.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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There was one of the moving carpet skiing simulators in a sporting goods store at local shopping mall for about 6 months. It saw some use, but obviously not enough to be commercially viable.
Ian's comments about needing to be larger are spot on. My 11 y.o. daughter (a fairly decent skier) tried it, and after a few seconds was not holding on to the bar and was using poles. It took concentration on her part not to pause in a traverse between turns because if she did, even just momentarily to relax, she started to get swept back uphill and drift to the side.
There are even more fundamental differences between moving carpet skiing and real skiing. On the moving carpet, one is essentially always in the exact same position with respect to a fixed coordinate system (eg, the room), hence, your CM never experiences any significant velocity or acceleration. This is very different from skiing, where at the completion of turns, many skiers often experience strong deceleration.
One thing it was great for was coaching - I could stand still, not work up a sweat and annoy my daughter endlessly with my comments. She could not escape. 
On a more serious note, she had been having a bit of a problem with an inactive "inner" ski/leg, and I found the moving carpet situation a great way to correct this. They even had a low mirror across the bottom of the moving carpet so that skiers could see themselves edge, look for parallel shins, etc.
The fellow running it tried to recruit me to teach there, but, to be honest, I felt that he didn't have a clue about real skiing technique, and even in the middle of summer when I most crave snow, I just couldn't work up any interest in doing it, especially being located inside a shopping mall. Perhaps if it was outdoors and/or located at a training facility for serious skiers it would have been more attractive, but I think most people simply looked on it as being nothing more than an arcade game.
Tom / PM
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I can't see how they can claim "world first" with this rolling carpet - they've got quite a few in Holland - Maybe the UK is the whole world to some peple?!
Seriously, I teach quite a few Dutch who've had lessons on the carpet, and it's pretty disastrous. they do need to go right back to the beginning, and it's terrible because they've spent all that money and think they can already ski, but have absolutely no control at all.
I tried one out at the ski show at Earls Court about 20 is years ago. Very bizarre feeling. You have the feeling of moving but asPhysicsman, says you have no visual impression of moving. Actually it made me feela little sick. I'm sure they have their place, but I don't recommend them myself.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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One of these devices appeared at Hillingdon in the late 80s. Very good for short turns. There was a mirror so you could see yourself - and then fall over because you'd stopped concentrating ! Yes heat was a problem - the skis would suddenly grab and you'd be over...but you could, with practice, converse with your coach whilst 'skiing' - and obviously feedback was instant.
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