Where Have AU the Swingbos Gone?

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 602, 5 September 1995, Page 15 (Supplement)

Where Have AU the Swingbos Gone?

By

john

Bache

The Seventies and Eighties witnessed some groundbreaking developments in snow sports equipment. Snowboarding was one of the sports that emerged from this era of experimentation like sprinter Ben Johnson out of the blocks. However, there were a couple of other pieces of equipment that didn't quite make the cut. Remember the 'Swingbo'? A bizarre contraption that was a close approximation of what a skateboard-designed-for-snow would look like. Of a similar length, the Swingbo was basically a skateboard deck with straps, mounted atop two very short, fat skis. There was about a four-inch clearance between the deck and the skis, allowing independent movement of the skis so that two edges would maintain contact with the snow during a turn. One of the limitations in the popularity of the Swingbo was the primitive binding system. The bindings were of the "step-on" nature rather than "stepin", allowing the Swingbo rider to release a little too easily . This was of little comfort once the rider was moving at speed. Although this writer hasn' t seen a standard Swingbo being ridden for many years, with a little bit of customisation (the mounting of a moulded seat atop the "skateboard" deck), they have found favour with disabled skiers. A monoski was the essential accessory to a one-piece ski suit. Looking something like a snowboard with ski bindings mounted parallel in the middle, a monoski allows (forces?) even the novice skier to keep their legs together. The monoski leaves a little to be desired in the "firmer" conditions of New Zealand's North Island, as it was really designed to be pointed straight downhill through three feet of European Alps powder. A monoskier's worst moments occur when negotiating the lift queues, with T-bars being the domain of only the most masochistic or expert monoskiers. However, the monoski 's popularity flame didn' t quite burn out with the same ferocity as the Swingbos, with the odd monoskier still attracting interest as they flail about, wildly double pole-planting in an attempt to remain upright. Great things sometimes arise from innovation. In the aforementioned cases this didn't quite eventuate, but Big

Feet - who knows? Editor's note: There was a Swiss chef skiing Turoa some years back by the name of 'Uli', who was a regular sight skiing on his own hybrid mono-ski. His contraption was a platform for two skiboot bindings that could be mounted on a single normal ski. As Uli was of solid build and an aggressive skier, he took many ski brands past the breaking-strain test, and was always on the look-out for people' s cast-off orphaned skis! And what of the windsurfer sail attached by specially engineered wishbone joints to a pair of skis that rapidly sent the rider into a scissored snowplough followed by a wind-powered face plant? Or those short-tailed skis with a bubble full of ball bearings and oil on the front — what was the point? (Write to us, Box 122 Ohakune, if you know!)