The real invention of ground surfing is about the combination of four essential surf technical features. The GroundSurf fulfils the four big technical requirements:
• A system of sensors mounted directly on the board lets you accelerate or slow down by shifting your weight forwards or back.
• A 3D rear truck enables the board to tilt 45° when carving.
• A front wheel motor specially designed to reproduce the push of a good wave.
• If you fall off, the presence detection system acts like a virtual leash and automatically stops the board less than 2m from the rider.
As creator of the GroundSurf, Stéphane Pelletier is pursuing the dream of the surfing and skateboard pioneers, and has brought surfing into a new, high-tech era. Backed by the biggest names in boarding (in 2006, Quiksilver invited us to Cannes for a demonstration preview, and Oxbow invited us to Malibu last summer to present the latest advances in wich Laird Hamilton had taken part), the GroundSurf also owes its development to some great champions, like Manu Gaidet (Rossignol, triple free ride world champion), Kien Lieu (G&S, pro skateboarder), Siale Siaili (G&S, world skateboard slalom champion) and Laird Hamilton (Oxbow, living legend of the surfing world). It also has the backing of the Surfrider Foundation, which sees the GroundSurf as the crossover between sea and street.
The GroundSurf will soon be
on sale, in fall 2008, priced at around 1,900 euros, via the www.gordonandsmith.com network and directly on www.ratleads.com.
