Landboarding, also known as Kite ATBing (All Terrain Boarding), Kite Mountain boarding and KGBing (Kite Ground Boarding) is one discipline of power kiting.
The concept of Landboarding is really simple, you just need a power kite and a mountain board and Safety protection (a Helmet is the minimum requirement) to move on.
Mountain boards were first developed by US snowboarders who where looking for an alternative to snow boarding in the summer. As simple as it is, they have developed a kind of large skateboard with large trucks and added large inflatable wheels to be able to go downhill, off road on; they have also added two foot straps (bindings) for more control of the board.
Back in the mid 90's when power kiting started to develop as a new popular sport, some people just naturally had the idea to use a mountain board to have the same feeling as the one they felt whilst kitesurfing. Landboarding has long been considered as a softer version of kitesurfing and ideal for cruising around your local beach at low tide when the water was too cold in the winter or in cooler places.
Today, landboarding is a sport which is rapidly developing an interest worldwide. You can learn the basics really fast and start to go upwind within a few hours of practice once you know how to fly a power kite.
We have been able to see over the last few years a development of competitions and style within the landboarding community. Today, we can consider that there are 4 disciplines within Landboarding.
-Cruising
-Freestyle
-Boarder Cross
-Cross Country
Cruising: The soft side of Landboarding, it consists of going upwind, downwind and mainly crosswind, whilst on your board on a beach, field or any other place which is adequate for the practice of power kiting.
Free styling: As the name says it, this is free style; just use your board and your kite to get as high as possible in every position possible without hurting yourself! You will find more information about this practice in the freestyle (hyperlink) section of the site.
Boarder cross: This is mainly a competition practice where the riders have to do a run on a track with obstacles that needs to be jump over, some times, a freestyle move such as a grab needs to be executed to maintain balance whilst mid-jump. The concept is quiet simple you need to go as fast as possible, the first to arrive wins.
Cross Country: The upcoming discipline, just starting to develop itself in the UK and everywhere else in Europe. This is mainly a mix of cruising, freestyle and boarder cross. The idea is to take Landboarding to the next level where we have never thought we could go; for a session in places like hills and mountains for example. This is quiet similar to what people do when snowkiting at the moment. However, this practice is reserved for expert riders only!