Silvaplana: behaviour on the beach

[jever98]

I've just been to Silvaplana for the last 4 days, and we had wind on the weekend.
Since it is one of the best spots for Swiss kiters and people from Munich and Austria (west), it gets very crowded. And as to be expected, what happens on the beach is quite shocking.

People on the beach fly the extremely close to eachother. Beginners are being told to keep their 2 liners in zenith, resulting in stalling kites at times. It then crashes at full force into the crowded beach. On another incident, one of these kits took out three more.
A footpath leads through the area, with lots of bystanders who don't have a clue how dangerous this all is. Twice, I have seen bikers being taken out by crashing kites. On another occasion, a family with a little baby carriage was hit. Fortunately, nobody got hurt.

Later the same day, I was helping my girlfriend to get in the water. Everything was clear, since she waited until fewer people were on the water. All of a sudden, a kiter who overcorrected his kite whilst on the water and put it through the powerzone in the process got pulled along the rocks and crashed into her. Luckily, no death spiral or similar developed, the kites "only" crashed. The guy was very lucky, since he got pulled over the rocks and wasn't wearing a helmet. Luckily, nobody got hurt except for a few scratches. He was very sorry and said he had learnt a great deal from it.

It is only a matter of time until more people will get hurt. Although I am not aggressive, it makes me EXTREMELY angry how irresponsible people are on the beach and on the water (passing you super close up or downwind, jumping almost onto the beach, jumping close upwind to you,...).

The local school should take more responsibility and make sure that people don't act like idiots on the beach. And they shouldn't launch their pupils upwind of everybody, when there is enough space downwind.

...distance is your friend.
Cheers
Nico
PS: We sailed about 500 m upwind (a friend and I) and had lots of space to ourselves. But I guess it's not cool to sail there because no one can see you...
PPS: Some pros were there, and one of the Cabarete pros apperently landed a jump on the beach and broke his thigh...

[RickI]

Hello Nico,

I had heard that this years Silvaplana event didn't have the sunny good wind of last year but had more calms, rain and SNOW! I understand that after the last day of the event wind returned and they had an unofficial expression session on the water.

Can you add any details to the accident involving the rider from Cabarete? Was it an intentional dismount over land ala Dimtri or did the rider's jump unintentionally extend over land?

[jever98]

As far as I know, the weekend before I went, the weather was bad with snow on the mountain tops. It turned sunny just in time. A lot of the world cuppers were still around, but I didn't check whether there was a super session on.

Unfortunately, I don't know any more about what happened to the rider.
Cheers
Nico

[ccat]

histerics

[Toby]

the schools will act to put up regulations when the authorities will, but then it may be too late. Definitely action is required during summertime!

[Geri]

I was there aswell and I thought the same it was so crowded. I saw o many Kites and lot of Posers,who just pumped their kites and then tried to be cool without kiting. Well, anyway as a biginner as I am Ididn't feel very comfortable.

[kitegenossen.ch]

sorry jever 98
if you dont know the local (political) problems, dont shout over the school. there is only one official entry to the water.
a lot of kiters dont accept the local rules (showed on "surfboards" around the spot), so the riders are the problem and not the school!!

[Toby]

On 2002-08-21 13:12, kitegenossen.ch wrote:
sorry jever 98
if you dont know the local (political) problems, dont shout over the school. there is only one official entry to the water.
a lot of kiters dont accept the local rules (showed on "surfboards" around the spot), so the riders are the problem and not the school!!

is tehre nothing you can do to keep your access by requiring a license like used at some spots in Florida?
And if some rides don't behave, don't give them a license. Then you have to play police, but better than not kiting, isn't it?

Toby

[jever98]

On 2002-08-21 13:12, kitegenossen.ch wrote:
sorry jever 98
if you dont know the local (political) problems, dont shout over the school. there is only one official entry to the water.
a lot of kiters dont accept the local rules (showed on "surfboards" around the spot), so the riders are the problem and not the school!!

I agree that the riders are mostly the problem. But I still stand by my opinion that it is unwise to launch your pupils upwind of a huge pack of kitesurfers.
Furthermore, since the school and its instructors are there all the time, they would be best suited to discipline people. I don't feel I could do it, given I only visit very rarely.

I hope that people will find a good solution for this place.
Cheers
Nico

[Toby]

if there is enough space upwind it should be fine, but if it is too close to others I have to agree Nico.