150km/h on a mattress?! Meet airboard
Published 18 July, 2008, 07:11
A revolutionary way to conquer mountain slopes, originating from Switzerland, is named airboard. The craze is just a few years old but its popularity is exploding around the world, inclduing on Europe’s highest peak, Mount Elbrus, in the Russian Caucasus.
It all started in Switzerland when a snowborder George Tiner got an injury while riding. After that he was not able to stand on his board again. But he did not give up and a few years ago developed the airboard.
On the slopes of Mount Elbrus, it is one of the best airboard places on the globe.
“Here we saw a huge amount of people who want to try out air board. The best thing is that any one can ride it – kids, adults, even disabled people. And hardly any proffesional training is required,” boasts the head of the Russian airboard association Rosteslav Skaliga.
The airboard is basically an inflated mattress made of extremely durable materials that can go up to 150 km/h. At the bottom it has many small runners that allow you to control it while speeding down.
For the last four years over 60 thousand of them were sold. And there are some obvious reasons for that.
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