The splash was not so much of a splash but more of a hurricane. Sat found us with good conditions, wind steady at 22 Mph with gusts over 30. Highs and lows, well more lows than highs. Went to my trusty 7m Waroo which thrashed and burned at IBX. Our repair did not hold and she would not hold air
. So up went my 9m Nemisis. Got some runs in but the gusts made things difficult. Bow tying and eventually flipping the kite inside out. Trying to fix it, actually ended up totally releasing it.!!!!
Some luck was with me. She stopped in the ditch just on the other side of the road. Another low was my board. The dusty snow had removed most if no all of my wax and it was a struggle to even move. So much for Sat.
Sun dawned a beautiful breezy day. Cleaned up the Nemesis, patched a few small holes, switched the steering lines because of some confusion attaching, and put fresh coat of wax on my board. Let's go.!! Today it was Zach, Todd, and my self. Zack on his 7m frenzy had a good day burning it up, Todd also made lots of fresh tracks having a great day on his 5m Apex. I on the other hand almost didn't survive the day. All ready and excited, winds howling, I attached an anchor rope to a tree something I've never used before. Most of our winds are on the calm side. Kite inflated, check, lines attached correctly, check, board waxed and ready, check. Let's go so I started pulling the kite out of its parking spot exposing the wing tip to the wind. Wait something's wrong oh shit
Oh Shit!!!
Flash back to IBX 2 years ago, tangled a steering line around an axle, cut it in two, emergency repair tied a knot. Worked rest of the week. Flash forward to last fall. Gee I should fix that line, oh this old bar here I can use a line off it. Darn it's three feet shorter than the original. No problem I'll just add a short length at the handle. All good. Flash forward to Sunday morning remember Sunday morning (switched some steering lines) Flash back to present, kite inches away from powering up and lines switched creating a 4' difference in the steering lines. Repeat OH SHIT, anchor line 4' away slowly reaching for rope, got it, tying to chicken loop" Yeh forgot a Beener", thank God knot tied. Whoosh kite powers up into full death spiral!!! I get ripped 5' to the right and just stare with awe at the incredible amount of force that kite is generating and thanking God I made it to the anchor and nobody was in the way of the kite!!! Well every
story should have a happy ending (thanks Dimitri Maramenides for showing us what to do in this emergency) I pulled the slack steering line tight bringing the kite back under control, switched the lines back!! And proceeded to have my best day ever on the Grand Mesa. My previous speed record was 22 MPH, that day I averaged 12 MPH, put in 13.5 miles in two and a half hours and hit a new personal record of 27.6 MPH and the adventures continue