Aerial cable support system for snow ski jumping

A support system that allows skiers and snow boarders to descend from cliffs and other elevated surfaces while eliminating the high speed impact landing after the descent. Aerial cables (10 and 12), suspended between towers (14 and 16), provide a path for transporting pulleys (18 and 20). Attached to pulleys, support lines (22 and 24) gradually carry the skier in harness (26) towards landing area (32) after the skier experiences a limited free-fall. While skiing down launch area (28), break-away attachments (46 and 48) keep the pulleys in the same plane as the sider and also retain partial slack in the support lines until free-fall begins. After siding from edge of ramp (30), the skier's weight pulls on the support lines causing the break-away attachments to release the partial slack held in each support line. The sider is in free-fall for a distance predetermined by the length of slack in the support lines. The support lines, consisting of semi-elastic nylon material, decelerate the sider and prevent further free-fall descent. After the free-fall, the pulleys transport the skier who is suspended from the support lines towards the landing area. Once at the landing area, the skier gently touches down to the ground with a moderate lateral speed and a near zero vertical speed. The skier has completed a very high cliff jump without having a high speed impact landing with the ground. Additionally, skiers have the option to select a no free-fall jump but still have the experience of siding from a cliff. For a no free-fall option, intermediate loops (34 and 36) attach directly to carabiners (38 and 40). This connection sequence by-passes the break-away attachments and prevents the skier from having the limited free-fall.

BACKGROUND--FIELD OF INVENTION 
This invention relates to snow skiing, specifically to a skier support 
system that allows skiers to jump from cliffs and other elevated surfaces 
while eliminating a high speed impact landing. 
BACKGROUND--DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART 
Popular ski films, ski magazines, and `extreme` skiers commonly display the 
dare-devil act of cliff jumping. Such a stunt has gained notoriety in 
skiing scenes because it is exciting, dangerous, and entertaining to 
watch. Although frequently portrayed in advertisements, cliff jumping is 
not practical for the average skier without assuming a high risk of 
serious injury. This exclusivity to the expert skier exists because of the 
precision required for landing. Expertise is not required for the take 
off. 
Heretofore, skiing from highly elevated surfaces such as cliffs, boulders, 
ramps, and large mounds of snow inevitably resulted in a high speed impact 
landing. A typical cliff jump can have a 9 meter (30 ft.) free-fall, after 
which a skier is accelerating and falling very fist. The only prior means 
to ease the fall was to hope the snow was sufficiently soft to cushion the 
skier's landing. Without a support system the consequences were many. 
Skiers often crashed into rocks, accelerated too quickly to be in control 
upon landing, did not land feet first, or did not land facing forward. 
These incorrect landings often caused serious injury. 
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention include the 
following: 
(a) to provide a support system that allows skiers to experience a descent 
from an elevated surface without having a high speed impact with the 
ground below; 
(b) to provide a support system which minimizes the dangers involved with 
jumping including not landing feet first, not landing facing forward, 
landing too fist, colliding with obstacles at the bottom, and not touching 
down gradually; 
(c) to provide a support system made of high strength materials for safety 
and reliability; 
(d) to provide a support system designed with a redundancy of safety 
factors, secure attachments, and independent supports; 
(e) to provide a support system where the average skier can perform the 
stunt of cliff jumping which was once reserved only for the expert extreme 
daredevil skier. 
Further objects and advantages are to provide a support system which can 
allow skiers to descend from cliffs, elevated ramps, or large mounds of 
snow, and which can allow skiers to practice aerial maneuvers such as 
twists and flips, and which can allow skiers to practice Olympic-style 
long distance jumping, and which provides a gentle and gradual touch down 
landing, and which provides the skier with the option of having a no 
free-fall or a limited free-fall descent, and which can allow snow 
boarders to experience the same as above. Still further objects and 
advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing 
description and drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 illustrates the function of the support system by showing a skier 
descending from a ski jump located on a cliff. Since the support system 
can have a length of more than 305 meters (1,000 ft.), this informal 
drawing best portrays my invention's use. Such a cliff setting has a 
typical height of 15 meters (50 ft.). 
FIG. 2 (isometric view) illustrates a typical embodiment of the overall 
support system of the present invention. The support system has in 
parallel a right aerial cable 10 and a left aerial cable 12, typically 
separated by a distance of 4.5 meters (15 ft.). The aerial cables, also 
commonly referred to as `wire rope` in the industry, have a typical 
diameter between 0.95 cm (3/8 inch) and 2.54 cm (1 inch). The two aerial 
cables are tautly suspended between an upper cable support tower 14 and a 
lower cable support tower 16. The horizontal distance from cable end to 
cable end can range from about 61 meters (200 ft.) to over 305 meters 
(1,000 ft.), depending on the length of the exact terrain setting. A 
typical vertical distance between cable ends is such that a rise:run ratio 
is approximately 1:10. Therefore, the angle of inclination in a straight 
line between the two support towers is about 6 degrees. The aerial cables, 
of course, cannot be suspended between the two towers in a perfectly 
straight line. Due to flexure or sagging under their own weight, the 
cables will inevitably have a slight arc or curvature when suspended 
between the towers. Optimal angle of inclination of the cables ranges 
approximately between 5 and 10 degrees. The angle of the cables will be 
steeper near the upper support tower due to the curvature from sagging. 
FIG. 2 also shows a launch area 28 from where the skier starts, a ramp 30 
at the jump's edge, and a landing area 32 where the skier touches down. 
FIG. 3 shows details of pulleys and support lines. Attached to right aerial 
cable 10 is a right pulley 18. Attached to left aerial cable 12 is a left 
pulley 20. Standard one-wheeled pulleys are available through CMI in 
Franklin, W. Va. The corresponding size pulley is chosen to fit the 
diameter of cable that is used. A right rider support line 22 connects to 
the right pulley by a right carabiner 38. The connect point is at a right 
first end 50 of the right support line. A left rider support line 24 
connects to the left pulley by a left carabiner 40. The connect point is 
at a left first end 54 of the left support line. For clarity, the support 
lines are shown detached from the carabiners. Carabiners, commonly used in 
rock climbing, have a hinged gate which opens for clipping onto ropes and 
other attachments. Each support line is made of dynamic nylon material 
which is manufactured to provide a percentage of elasticity and elongation 
when force is applied to it. It is lightweight yet very strong with a 
tensile strength of 26,600 Newtons (6,000-lbs). This type of nylon, also 
used in rock climbing, is available through CMI in Franklin, W. Va. 
Approximately at the mid-point of each rider support line is an 
intermediate loop. The right rider support line has a right intermediate 
loop 34. The left rider support line has a left intermediate loop 36. A 
right break-away attachment 46 ties onto right intermediate loop 34. A 
left break-away attachment 48 ties onto left intermediate loop 36. The 
break-away attachments are made of low strength material such as plastic 
or string. For clarity, the break-away attachments are shown unclipped 
from their carabiners. Right break-away attachment 46 clips into right 
carabiner 38. Left break-away attachment 48 clips into left carabiner 40. 
FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of the skier harness. Each support line 
connects to a skier harness 26. The harness is a full-body, seat-style 
harness similar to those worn by parachutists. A right second end 52 of 
the right support line connects to the harness at a harness right 
connection 42. A left second end 56 of the left support line connects to 
the harness at a harness left connection 44. The harness right and left 
connections are an integral part of the harness. They are located near the 
shoulder where parachute lines would attach. 
Operation of Invention 
The manner of using the aerial cable support system is by first having the 
skier don harness 26. The harness is a full-body, parachute-style harness. 
The harness will support the skier and distribute her weight around the 
thighs, buttocks, and waist after the free-fail. The skier harness 
connects to rider support lines 22 and 24. Right second end 52 of the 
right rider support line attaches at harness right connection 42. Left 
second end 56 of the left rider support line attaches at harness left 
connection 44. Right and left first ends, 50 and 54, of the rider support 
lines connect to carabiners 38 and 40, respectively. Break-away 
attachments 46 and 48 also connect to carabiners 38 and 40, respectively. 
Each break-away attachment remains clipped to its respective carabiner 
until significant force (.gtoreq.133 Newtons=30-lbs) is applied to open 
the break-away attachments. The break-away attachments serve two purposes. 
First, the attachments keep pulleys 18 and 20 near the skier. When the 
skier commences skiing from launch area 28, the pulleys will remain 
approximately in the same plane as the skier along aerial cables 10 and 
12. Secondly, the break-away attachments act as slack retainers. 
Temporarily retaining the slack will allow for the free-fall once the 
slack is released. The right break-away attachment will temporarily retain 
slack in the right support line. The left break-away attachment will 
temporarily retain slack in the left support line. Once the skier is 
secured in the harness find all connections are in place, she proceeds 
down the launch area. The skier glides off ramp 30, descends over the 
edge, and becomes airborne. 
Once airborne and accelerated by gravity, the skier's weight pulls on each 
support line causing the break-away attachments to break open and release 
the slack. The skier then descends in a limited free-fall. When the 
predetermined free-fail distance has been reached, rider support lines 22 
and 24 absorb the skier's fall and prevent any further descent relative to 
the aerial cables. With tension in each support line the skier continues 
forward towards landing area 32. The skier is transported along each 
aerial cable by the two pulleys. The angle of the aerial cables is such 
that the skier is riding along the cables with a forward and gradual 
downward motion. This forward and gradual downward motion is achieved by 
having the cables slightly angled downward. Due to friction acting between 
the pulleys and cables, the optimal angle is approximately between 5 and 
10 degrees. The skier's motion is mostly in the horizontal direction, but 
also has a slight vertically downward direction. Once the skier reaches 
the landing area, her velocity is a modest lateral speed (about 6.7 
km/hr=15 mph), her downward speed is minimal (about 1.3 km/hr=3 mph), and 
her body position is facing forward with skis touching down first. The 
skier lands under controlled conditions, disconnects from the harness, and 
has completed a fifty foot cliff jump without a high speed impact landing. 
The support lines typically range in length from at least 2.1 meters (7 
ft.) up to 7.3 meters (25 ft.) or more. The varying lengths provide for 
different free-fall distances. The support lines also provide the skier 
with the option to eliminate the free-fall. To eliminate free-fall, 
intermediate loops 34 and 36 are clipped directly into their respective 
carabiners. In this connection sequence the support lines will not release 
the slack, but the skier will still have the exciting experience of skiing 
from a cliff. 
Summary, Ramifications, and Scope 
Variations 
Thus the reader will see that the support system of the invention provides 
a highly effective and practical method for the average skier to 
experience the stunt of cliff jumping. While my above description contains 
many specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the 
scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of one preferred 
embodiment thereof. Many other variations are possible. For example, as 
mentioned above, the break-away attachments could be by-passed and the 
intermediate loops could connect directly to their respective carabiners. 
This would eliminate the free-fall, but still provide the experience of 
skiing from a cliff. 
One alternative method for retaining slack and initiating the free-fall is 
to have an overhead track instead of break-away attachments. The overhead 
track would extend slightly past the ramp's edge. The intermediate loops 
would be guided along the overhead track. Once the skier is about five 
feet past the ramp, the track ends and the free-fall begins. Another 
alternative method to retain slack is using spring clamps instead of 
break-away attachments. The spring clamps would hold the intermediate 
loops until the skier becomes airborne. Regarding skier options, having 
varying lengths of support line allows the skier to select various 
free-fall distances. For example, the skier could select a five, ten, or 
fifteen foot free-fall. Regarding the support line, three intermediate 
loops could be placed along a single support line about five feet apart. 
This would allow the same support line to be used for varying free-fall 
distances. Support line construction could also be made from static 
(non-elastic) nylon webbing and a shorter length of elastic cord in 
parallel. The elastic cord absorbs the fall and the high strength nylon 
webbing supports the skier after the free-fall. As another alternative, 
steel cables in parallel with shorter elastic cord could be used for the 
support lines. 
One Or TWO Aerial Cables 
In the above operation, two aerial cables and two support lines have been 
used which provides a redundancy of safety. Using two cables and two 
support lines also causes the skier to land facing forward upon touching 
down. This is due to the rotational forces returning to equilibrium or 
tending to the state of lowest potential energy (similar to when a 
playground swing is twisted and released, the swing rotates back to its 
neutral position). My invention is also functional if only one aerial 
cable is used with one or two rider support lines. Of course if one cable 
is used with one rider support line, the support line attaches to a center 
point on the back of the skier harness. 
Other Applications 
In addition to descending from cliffs, ramps, and moguls of snow, the 
support system can have Olympic practice application. To date there is no 
method for the 90-meter ski jumpers to practice their take-off techniques 
while eliminating the landing. The same problem exists for the Olympic 
freestyle jumpers to practice their twists and flips. A slightly modified 
version of my aerial cable support system can be applicable to both. For 
example, a 90-meter jumping version would not require a free-fall or even 
a touch down landing for the skier to focus solely on the take-off 
techniques. Also, a free-style jumping version would employ a special 
harness that allows both twisting and head over heals motion. These 
harnesses are worn by gymnasts and divers when practicing on trampolines. 
In addition to down-hill or alpine skiers, other types of skiers could 
utilize the same system. This includes snow boarders, tele-mark skiers, 
and cross country skiers. Even mountain bikers could descend if equipped 
with a harness for holding their bikes in a suitable position. 
Scope 
Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the 
embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal 
equivalents.