i am mostly into kite jumping, and kiteboarding but the local spots are froze up...i welded up a sweet ice boat a few years ago but sold it when it didnt freeze and i have since gotten heavier into kiting. do kites plus hockey skates work? i have seen some nordic skates threads, anybody made a homemade version with any success? i dont want to dump much $ into cuz the ice here will be safe for about a week at best and some years we get none at all. any insight appreciated. thanks

I have kited with regular hockey skates with no problem.

No exp. kiting on ice, yet, but with a kitewing it's not a problem on good ice. Just be sure your edges are sharp to get good side bite.
Hopefully I'll let you know in a few days. The river finally froze here and the iceboats were out today with barely enough wind to sail. May have been enough wind for a kite but all my gear was sitting home.

Tomorrow calls for only 4-5 mph but maybe towards the end of the week I'll get out. If it's blowing >15 I'll be sailing the kitewing. Less I'll give it my first try with the kite.

Where are you located?

hi, im located on MDs Eastern Shore...the spot where i go is a shallow inlet/bay Claiborne. An old guy who let me use his ice boat last week said they actually had US nationals for iceboats here in late 70s? before my time so i dont know. anyway, its wide open great side/onshore fetch for prevailing west and its shallow and sandy so if you do go through the bumpy brackish ice you prob wont drown. the guys who ice boat said they have been 2 days this year (one busted through ice) and it doesnt look very good right now for getting more unfortunately. the day i sailed the iceboat was NW@15 and it really gave me the urge to get out there with a kite...due to the limited time window though i know it prob makes no sense to spend money on fancy skates or something. if the ice is even close to supporting weight ill try it with the hockey skates for sure. from what ive read i wont want the normal winds for jumping that i use my blade 4.9m in...prob much less due to apparent wind speed?

check out my post from earlier:
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=7897
The skates I built cost me about $50-$60 to make (got the ski boots for $2.00 from Salvation Army). I have since modified the skates, the original boots were 1/2 size too small. I lost the toenail on my big toe in the process of learning that the boots weren't quite the right size. Outside of that, the skates perform great. I've gone over 50mph in them & it felt completely in control. The new setup has downhill bindings installed onto the skate vs the boot, that way I can use the same boots for my skis & my skates & I didn't have to drill any holes in them.