NEW SKATES THAT WILL LAUNCH YOU AROUND THE ICE
The Osgood File. Sponsored in part by Auto Owners Insurance, the no problem people. Visit AutoOwners.com. This is Charles Osgood.
If you are a beginner at ice skating you can't help but envy the graceful speed professional skaters achieve. Actually, I wouldn't want to have my body careening at high speed on anything as slippery as ice. But a Canadian inventor David Blois has developed ice skates with high compression springs between the blade and the sole of the boot. These greatly increase your speed by propelling you forward.
Launch skates he calls them. That's exactly what I'm afraid of. Meet inventor David Blois, after this.
((( SPOTS )))
If somebody gives you a push while you are ice skating, the direction you go in is usually down. Here's how inventor David Blois says his launch skates work to put a little extra spring in your step.
SOT: David Blois, inventor of Launch Skates
"The skater is on the skate and the skater's weight and motion are applied then the blade actually moves up into the holder and then as the skater releases or lifts off his boot the blade comes out and that energy that's in each spring is released and that's how, that's how, it actually creates a push forward." (:20)
The launch skates are being tested now. Hockey Instructor Bill Heath says even that grueling sport is easier wearing them. Instead of just being pushed by your opponents you're getting a little self propulsion.
SOT: Bill Heath, hockey instructor
"They give you extra push when you're on the ice and they don't fatigue you as easy as normal skates do so that you can skate a lot longer and not get tuckered out as fast." (:12)
Blois is working with a marketing company to promote his skates. He's uncertain when he product launch will be, but he assures us you'll be launched in a good way as soon as you put them on.
Five, four, three....
SOT: David Blois, inventor of Launch Skates
"The launch skates are much easier on the skater's leg joints and so the hope is that it's going to reduce injuries for players and make it more comfortable even for recreational skaters." (:12)
Two, one. We have liftoff.
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network. |
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