I go with the idiom "Discretion is the better part of valour." I think this phrase was written for kiters.

Rule # 1. Don't get dead.

Use your nugget for something other than a place to put a hat. This sport is the greatest activity ever, but if you don't have much sense and roll the dice when conditions are unsavory, you're life expectancy decreases exponentially.

There is a saying in flying, which came home to roost a few times when i used to fly Hangliders, paragliders and skydived and i live by it in kitesurfing.... " It's better to be on the ground, wishing you were in the air, than in the air, wishing you were on the ground!"

Happened 3 times kitesurfing for me, all when I was on my own, winter gales and big waves with no where to go downwind.

There's always another day, but that only comes with maturity, when younger I'd have ridden.

mike

+1 Mike!

mike -- don't be bumming on in "That" choice ; immature humans usually
don't grasp that thing about : " If your dead --- Ya won't ever get any Better" !!




Not a lot of viewers got that one !!!



I should have said NO on This day ; and was Really Glad the (pecker) still
worked afterward :


Bille

Bille,
It's snowkiting in the Rockies where wind and terrain is constantly changing and you want to go downwind and uphill but your kite wants to fly upwind and downhill, sometimes very steep downhill. get the picture now?

I agree Billie, I'm just saying you take more risks when you're younger. I used to drive and ride motorbikes recklessly in a way I wouldn't now, with kids, responsibilities and age.

It's not that you don't take risks when you're older, they're just more calculated.

The ancient Romans classed adolescence from 15 to age 30 and I think they were right.

Here's to calculated risk taking as thats what life's all about.

Mike

I was trying to say, and with a thumb's-up, that not a lot of people
from any sport that can claim to have had a Mishap in the Rockies
at near 13,000 ft .

Mine came above the town of Telluride Co, when a dark cloud nearly
made me top-land my Hang glider at an altitude of neat 13K.

My buddy wasn't as lucky, he didn't get out like me and his glider was
torn into pieces . I watched him come down under his reserve with
imogene pass in the background.

We both lived, but it really was a Close one !!


Like Mike said :


And YEA-- i wouldn't fly in those conditions now ; I'd be getting drunk & High
at the bar, then fly when it cleared up the next day, "if" it looked better !

It relates to Kite-boarding at a Risk/Reward level ; yes i'm gonna do stupid sh*t
but i'll try to keep it to a minimum cause it's game over with NO reset button if
Ya die !!!

Bille

Bille sorry for the attitude but up here you can be having your best session ever one minute and the next moment you are dealing with a 250 degree window with lots of power at the edge and your kite will not stall back without lofting you backwards.The pros love every minute of it and do some massive glides . Scares me and I pull the plug soon and hard.!

No go is when its blowing less than 15 and the babes are lining up, then I rather enjoy the view and take some shots to share while waiting for it to pick up.

Or, when it was blowing southish at this spot,

Sub 15 with babes lining up on the beach. thats landboarding time for me. The chicks love it. If i wasn't an old married dude i'd be pulling them left right and center on the landboard.