Thats a really interesting idea. I'd be surprised if you guys are the first to do it but props for doing it. Do you know how much gas the winch would burn if you ran it on that system for several hours at a time?
that is rad. seems like it would be great for snowboarding... halfpipe or sessioning a rail or kicker... would be cool to see it over head (10 feet or so) while wakeboarding/skating, then you would have a cheap 2.0 system. Keep posting your progress.