POV Video Kiter Lofted Up & Thru Tree Canopy

[AndrewJMcGee]

My questions is this.... HOW LONG WAS "THE GUY" on land? I see the video was edited.... But why does it need editing.. how fucking long were you standing there with the kite at 12 with a bunch of trees down wind? It what looks to be pretty strong wind. Nothing crazy by any means.

5 years ago now.. one of the first things i was taught was you dont hangout talking about how strong the wind is on land...

GET THE HELL IN THE WATER...GO IN DOWNWIND OF SWIMMERS AND KIDS.

Launch and ride.... This fool gets the Darwin award. I mean the water was right there!! Get in the water waist deep and talk about it... Wheres your buddys steering you in the right direction? They prob have awards also..

Launch and ride.... ride and land. Yo why not launch from the water? Have the kite of the shoreline.. and walk into the water. IMAGINE THAT GUY GETTING DRAGGED THRU A CROWDED BEACH IN JULY IN NY. O MAN

[edt]

had to be only a few seconds, all those kites are on the ground in the same place. maybe he trimmed it because he didnt want people to know he was checking out some booty right before the accident.

[Jdude]

At the end of the vid there's another kite up on the tree.
So were there two accidents at about the same time ?

[RickI]

Can't be sure at this point, but I think the kiter who was dragged and lofted, snagged it on the way up. He must have left in the canopy when he was flung out the top.

[jwoodunlv]

When I help anyone the first lesson is to keep their hands centered around the center line at all times when on land. This guy has his hands at the Harley Davidson position at the ends of the bar and probably lost control.

[Don Monnot]

When I was a noob I actually had something very similar happen to me. I talked a non-kiter into helping me launch--no other kiters around. In my haste to get on the water, I wasn't in quite the right position for a launch but gave the guy the thumbs up to launch. He did exactly what I told him to do, and the kite tumbled straight downwind from me just as a monster gust hit.

The kite hot launched (an old C-kite with very limited depower) and I tried to hang onto and control the kite. I was actually standing in shallow water when the kite launched, but got tea-bagged out of the water, over a small retaining wall, bounced along the ground, over a picnic table, bounced off of a signpost, and then my kite went over the top of a large tree. I was ready to punch out all along the way, but kept thinking I could control it and save the kite. The trip over the picnic table was actually kind of fun.

As the kite went over the tree, I got picked up about 6 feet off the ground as the kite came down in the lee of a building. At that point things were very stable. Without any wind on the kite, I sort of wiggled a bit and came down to the ground nice and slowly. Too much tension on the lines for me to just unhook, so I used my hook knife to cut the lines. The poor guy that helped me launch disappeared pretty quickly. I suspect he figured he had done something wrong and that I'd be pissed at him or something. Totally my fault for being too anxious to get on the water, combined with inexperience.

Since then I've had the same "tumble down wind and hot launch" experience several times at the same spot, but with kites that had a lot more depower and me with more experience in controlling the power. It's a very tough launch site, with very unpredictable wind. No way to launch farther from shore. The vid on this thread sure brought back the memory of that first time. I was certainly very lucky. I also had a spare bar, and after I recovered the lines from the tree, I swapped bars and went kiting.

Don

[roodie]

I have kited at this spot and even with ten years kiting behind me I don't like it at this spot. Partly because of the trees/rocks and the massive tree in the water . Secondly this dam gets very gusty wind normally with the gust being in excess of 10 knots

There are better spots to kite people should stick to those - life is more important then a good session

[roodie]

I have kited at this spot and even with ten years kiting behind me I don't like it at this spot. Partly because of the trees/rocks and the massive tree in the water . Secondly this dam gets very gusty wind normally with the gust being in excess of 10 knots

There are better spots to kite people should stick to those - life is more important then a good session

[SSK]

Dude kooked it up that's his real problem he never even reached for the QR. How many videos do we have to watch where it's the same problem every time. Kook never even reaches for the QR, learns lesson hard way.

Calling this guy a kook is really harmful for the sport. I am sure it was very embarrassing to put it out to the world, he posted it so others would learn. From his posts he appears very humble, learned valuable lessons, and states that he posted it so that others can learn from his mistake. We should applaud him for having the courage, not criticize him. Yeah he f*!@ed up, and yeah he clearly admits to it. Maybe your so good that a mistake will never happen to you, but that does not mean some Newb won't shut down your favorite spot in Michigan because he does the same thing. A death or injury in or sport is not a local issue, it can effect access anywhere. I flew military aircraft and there is nothing as painful as admitting in front of your peers that you messed up, and almost killed yourself and others. But I guarantee no one ever called you a Kook because they knew it was a valuable lesson the benefitted everyone, and they could be easily be the next.
If someone in our sport messes up and has the balls to post it to the world so we can learn from it, the only kook is the one who criticizes them.

[RichardM]

Dude kooked it up that's his real problem he never even reached for the QR. How many videos do we have to watch where it's the same problem every time. Kook never even reaches for the QR, learns lesson hard way.

Calling this guy a kook is really harmful for the sport. I am sure it was very embarrassing to put it out to the world, he posted it so others would learn. From his posts he appears very humble, learned valuable lessons, and states that he posted it so that others can learn from his mistake. We should applaud him for having the courage, not criticize him. Yeah he f*!@ed up, and yeah he clearly admits to it. Maybe your so good that a mistake will never happen to you, but that does not mean some Newb won't shut down your favorite spot in Michigan because he does the same thing. A death or injury in or sport is not a local issue, it can effect access anywhere. I flew military aircraft and there is nothing as painful as admitting in front of your peers that you messed up, and almost killed yourself and others. But I guarantee no one ever called you a Kook because they knew it was a valuable lesson the benefitted everyone, and they could be easily be the next.
If someone in our sport messes up and has the balls to post it to the world so we can learn from it, the only kook is the one who criticizes them.

Could not agree more.

Richard M.
Malibu Kitesurfing - since 2002
(310) - 430 - KITE (5483)
http://www.MalibuKitesurfing.NET
kfRichard@MalibuKitesurfing.NET