- Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:03 pm
#402334
Let me just state for the record that I am under no disillusionment that either of these ideas would likely be financially feasible as a business venture - they would have to be one of those rich person / lottery winner extravagancies.
Idea 1: The 360 training hill. Just what it sounds like - a decent-sized hill plopped in the middle of a big enough piece of flat(ish) land that would allow you to launch in any direction (and also have enough room to land out from the hill in that same direction), assuming the wind speed and gust factor were okay. Apparently there's a manmade ski hill up in Canada that is just plopped in the middle of some flat land:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstra ... p_Ski_Hill
https://steprobin.files.wordpress.com/2 ... g_8648.jpg
https://steprobin.files.wordpress.com/2 ... g_8660.jpg
Building a hill from scratch would require expensive heavy machinery (and their maintenance), lots of diesel fuel, and operators to actually move the dirt. Costs could be minimized if you limited how far you had to move the dirt. Maybe dig a man-made lake nearby (to get the dirt for the hill) that could be used for wakeboarding (thinking one of those overhead tow parks), kite surfing, and/or small sailboat instruction/recreation.
Idea 2: The Pivoting Ramp Hill. If you only need a strip to run down that happens to be facing into whatever the current wind direction is, why not have just that? Picture a 30-foot diameter tower ~100 feet tall. Hanging off that tower and able to pivot around it would be a 30-foot wide ramp structure, guessing at about 30 degrees to the flat ground. The top of the ramp would have "fangs" that kind of hug around the tower so there's not a big gap there. Obviously, there'd be some safety considerations, like users not falling off the sides of the ramp or the top of the tower. Wonder if this or the man-made dirt hill would end up being more expensive...
Idea 1: The 360 training hill. Just what it sounds like - a decent-sized hill plopped in the middle of a big enough piece of flat(ish) land that would allow you to launch in any direction (and also have enough room to land out from the hill in that same direction), assuming the wind speed and gust factor were okay. Apparently there's a manmade ski hill up in Canada that is just plopped in the middle of some flat land:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstra ... p_Ski_Hill
https://steprobin.files.wordpress.com/2 ... g_8648.jpg
https://steprobin.files.wordpress.com/2 ... g_8660.jpg
Building a hill from scratch would require expensive heavy machinery (and their maintenance), lots of diesel fuel, and operators to actually move the dirt. Costs could be minimized if you limited how far you had to move the dirt. Maybe dig a man-made lake nearby (to get the dirt for the hill) that could be used for wakeboarding (thinking one of those overhead tow parks), kite surfing, and/or small sailboat instruction/recreation.
Idea 2: The Pivoting Ramp Hill. If you only need a strip to run down that happens to be facing into whatever the current wind direction is, why not have just that? Picture a 30-foot diameter tower ~100 feet tall. Hanging off that tower and able to pivot around it would be a 30-foot wide ramp structure, guessing at about 30 degrees to the flat ground. The top of the ramp would have "fangs" that kind of hug around the tower so there's not a big gap there. Obviously, there'd be some safety considerations, like users not falling off the sides of the ramp or the top of the tower. Wonder if this or the man-made dirt hill would end up being more expensive...