“An extreme skier can use the traction system to reach a remote ski area or customize their skiing experience (e.g. from a designated run and for reaching fresh powder),” Amazon wrote in the patent application.
Elsewhere in the document, Amazon suggests that the drone-tow handle could also be used for water skiing or skateboarding.
The tow handle could be equipped with buttons that can be pressed to accelerate the drone or to signal that the skier has reached where they want to travel on the slope.
The patent application was written by Amazon executive Gur Kimchi, the vice president of the drone delivery project.
Amazon is not the first company to investigate the potential of drones for skiing and snowboarding.
In 2016, Samsung sponsored a video in which YouTube star Casey Neistat uses a drone to snowboard a mountain.
However, Amazon’s decision to patent a drone-tow handle system does not guarantee that the company will produce it. Many technology companies including Amazon patent technologies that they have no intention of producing.
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