Kickers?

[Flyboy]

Can someone explain to me the point of building kickers for "freestyle arials"?

The last time I checked I could boost big airs without the benefit of a bump in the snow.

It calls to mind an episode of "Stunt Junkies" which featured Jason Slezak trying to bust a big jump in the Hatteras Slick off a ramp & landing on a ramp - completely pointless.

Why does kiting have to pretend it is (limited) like skateboarding, wakeboarding, or snowboarding?

We are Masters of the Air - lets own it.

[laz]

i find it much easier to do backroll off a wave or a bump in the snow but find it harder to do stuff like grabs and spins off a bump or wave.

[diablo943]

I agree that it seems weird to build jumps for a sport in which we can almost levitate. It may be my 20 years of snowboarding, but for me the big appeal is interacting with the terrain, not just dangling above it.

Don't get me wrong, I am blown away when I watch Chasta fly, but I think and hope the sport progresses past dangling and incorporates a mastery of technical moves. Use the kite less as a flying machine and more as a propulsion device.

The advantage that we have with kites is that the scale becomes insane. Why build a rail that sits two feet off the ground when we can just as easily hit the top of a soccer goal? I expect to see in the next couple seasons, bridge grinds, canyon gaps, and huge slope to slope transfers. Big, technical cliff drops are possible in a way that skiing and snowboarding will never be able to do. We can alter our path during a drop and are not just slaves to gravity. Plus we can do what I call pops (the opposite of drops). I expect to see someone drop a nice big cliff with lots of grabs and spins, hit the bottom, carve a big turn and pop right back up the cliff pulling lots of grabs and spins.

We are just cracking this thing open... let's not be constrained by the past.

Diable

[dckiteboards]

Can someone explain to me the point of building kickers for "freestyle arials"?
It calls to mind an episode of "Stunt Junkies" which featured Jason Slezak trying to bust a big jump in the Hatteras Slick off a ramp & landing on a ramp - completely pointless.

ha- Thats great, I turned it off before it was over just because it looked rediculous, especially when I saw bindings. It would of looked sik if he did some massive board offs.

[KGN]

Can someone explain to me the point of building kickers for "freestyle arials"?

The last time I checked I could boost big airs without the benefit of a bump in the snow.

It calls to mind an episode of "Stunt Junkies" which featured Jason Slezak trying to bust a big jump in the Hatteras Slick off a ramp & landing on a ramp - completely pointless.

Why does kiting have to pretend it is (limited) like skateboarding, wakeboarding, or snowboarding?

We are Masters of the Air - lets own it.

Some people prefer kiting as a board sport,instead of a jumping flying sport.Skateboarders,wakeboarders,snowboarders have alot of skill with boardhandling and balance,something that is lost in alot of kiters.
Personally, i would way rather see a guy do a powered S Bend then a 40 foot jump.its more about board skills.And in Ontario,buliding a kicker is fun cause flat ground snowkiting is pretty dull.I dont want to be"master of The Air",but anyways u can get way higher if you go huge off a kicker

[Flyboy]

Well, I'm not knocking the skill involved in skateboarding, wakeboarding, or snowboarding but I don't think it makes sense for kiteboarding to be aping those other sports.

Personally, I would rather watch someone (len10 for eg.) boosting a 50ft air with a kite loop than someone doing a powered S-bend...

[KGN]

yeah dont get me wrong,I like when people go big too,like Chasta riding in the mountains,but i prefer watching the wakestyle type riding.
Its only natural that kiting takes its influence from skate and wakestyle riding.I act usually dont build kickers when i snowkite mainly cause im too lazy to put in the effort.

[thechenzo70505]

The whole point of building kickers on snow is to allow for unhooked wakestyle moves, plus you can boost off em too.