Rope boarding

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Rope boarding is a new physical activity popularized and likely invented by urban teenagers in the Toronto Tri-City area(Kitchener, Ont. to be exact), recently popularized on the MuchMusic channel's MUCH Adrenaline as an extreme sport due to the dangerous stunts being performed. It can also be a normal sport, hobby, or artform. It involves swinging around on a rope, suspended from a strong tree branch (or possibly a bar), which has a board (often a skateboard, wheels often removed as they are unneeded) attached lower on the rope for the swinger to stand on at times.

Using a strong rope that can absorb a lot of force, with strong knotting both to the tree, handle, and board, is essential so it stays together.

Rope boarding involves a variety of tricks that emulate those performed in skateboarding, mainly air holds from jumps. These are performed by the participant swinging and then holding higher on the rope to anchor his body. The lower rope and lower body continue to swing, but no longer hold all of the person's weight, making the swing much like a jump. If the tree branch is high enough, the boarders may even launch up onto ledges or rooftops, and jump down for great momentum. The speeds possible are more than attainable in park swings as the body and leg muscles can be better and more forcefully aligned to generate force. It is, by the same note, more dangerous, and would benefit from the use of helmets and padding worn by the person, as well as mats or a soft ground in the general area where a faller would land.

The arc of the rope swinging upwards emulates going up a halfpipe. The arc of the rope circling mimics an ovular skateboarding rink.

Due to holding the rope, the user will require the grip strength inherent to rope climbing. This requirement is lessened by the addition of a second rope dangling down beside the swinging rope (sometimes the same rope looped over, and perhaps circled several times) which a handle is attached to, making holding on easier. The handle is similar to that used in water skiing or wakeboarding.

Hanging on in this fashion mimics some of the stresses of a one arm pullup, especially during jumps, although in a somewhat different (and occasionally more stressing) manner due to the dynamic swinging and weight shifting. The sport has not been observed to involved any second handle, as the other hand is currently kept free for balance, creating torque momentum, or holding the foot board to mimic skateboarding tricks.

Although ropeboarding has not yet been totally accepted by skateboarding purists, many do embrace the idea as both a change and an exciting new way to perform otherwise difficult tricks and maneuvers.

A patent application has been made for an apparatus for the purpose of this sport.