 Poster: A snowHead
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A new British ski scooter has won two awards at the recent British Invention Show in London.
The brainchild of inventor Andrew Hubert von Staufer, the Skirider copies the idea of a micro scooter, but in a larger form for snow or artificial slopes. Manufacturers are looking at ways of turning 'Snowriding' into a new extreme sport...
This report from BBC Online explains more. Whether the invention has a patent isn't explained, and snow scooters have emerged from French makers in the late 1980s/early 1990s, so this is not a wholly original concept, but it looks like a new twist on the idea - and the graphics look promising. The version shown here - 'Bubbles' - is one of six initial designs.
For more information, here's the Skirider website, which has a video sequence.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hmmmmmm!
Having seen the video, I'm not sure that it'll catch on.
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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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Unfortunately, a key technical problem that arises with decks that have no bindings is that the feet slip. This arose with the first snowboards developed in the 1970s, which also had grippy top surfaces but no real binding. Once you've a build up of caked snow on the soles of your boots, this grip loses its effectiveness.
This wouldn't necessarily be apparent when testing this kind of device on a plastic slope or in a snowdome. Maybe a binding could be developed?
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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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Another key technical problem presumably being getting speared by the handlebars when you fall . . .
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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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I’m really sorry if I offend anyone out there that’s connected to the project but I think it looks like a stupid idea. I agree with David, there is a perfectly good reason why skis and snowboards have bindings and I can’t imagine how your not going to slip off it in the snow. Besides, what’s so hard about learning to ski. I know some people have problems but I would imagine that the same people would find this difficult as well. It doesn’t look very stable to me. I’m prepared to be proved wrong, but if this catches on I’ll eat my skis.
It really looks like inventing something for the sake of it.
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