Rick, you're right on the money.
Have been doing a lot of kiting there, with Dimitri as well.
The Hatteras Island Surf Shop (from which the shot was taken from) stands right on the water in Salvo -NC- and there's a nice porch on the second floor just overlooking the water, perfect for pictures.
Granted that Dimitri goes huge fairly often but this shot is deceiving to say the least. The picture has also been cropped to give an "extra high" effect. Basically is much further away (from the camera) than you would think. At any rate a big jump for sure just not as big as it looks.
Dimitri is riding now for Cabrinha now but I think he was still with Slingshot when they took this picture, not sure 100%.
Also I would add that even a great rider as Dimitri is not immune from accidents. In December he was kiting in very gusty conditions and his kite collapsed when he was some 30 feet up landing flat on the water and breaking a few ribs. He's back in full action now but as he himself now admits kiting is a very dangerous sport. In His own words he said the following " What is the worst accident you've had while kiting: I do have plenty of bad memories for example, jumping and having my harness lines slide out of the bar. Then plummeting inverted from 20 feet in the air into two feet of water. Also, pinching a nerve in my back due to a bad landing. However, the worst experience was breaking my ribs while trying a very hard move in very gusty winds.
Kiting can be very, very, very dangerous. I've had friends lose their fingers and ears, get cut by their fins, and get hit by the board. I also have a friend who died while kiteboarding. Please respect the power of the kite and always have someone there to help you. " That's from his own web site...
http://www.xtremekiteboarding.com/about.cfm?pg=2
Let's all think about this and play it safe. There always time to go higher.
enzo