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Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Forum for snow- and landkiters
Herman
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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby Herman » Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:22 pm

^^ A very good and articulate analysis by Matteo V imho. In my experience the kiters I have had to assist, have mostly been ones that have had a few lessons so that they can ride (if the conditions are ok) but have not built real kite handling skills or awareness of their ever changing environment.

PS learn to rotate under the trainer kite with and without kiteloops, back and forward, when you are ready for it!

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Sojourner
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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby Sojourner » Sat Jan 02, 2021 2:15 am

Advanced equipment is not the secret to success. A wimpy little trainer kite in wimpy winds is the secret to success.

You might head to Power Kite Forum dot com and read some threads. You'll find a different culture there. In general, they use smaller kites than kiteboarders. This may be the aspect of kite propulsion you're looking at.

The harness questions are a red flag that you're making assumptions from a paragliding background that you shouldn't be made. Not knowing the wind window and attaching yourself to a kite with a harness is ingredient one for an accident.
Last edited by Sojourner on Sat Jan 02, 2021 5:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Bille
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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby Bille » Sat Jan 02, 2021 5:42 pm

@ SoFarSoGood :

Were Not trying to get on your case ; just wanna keep ya alive, long
enough to enjoy this awesome sport !

PG and kiting, are different , but the two sports go along with each
other Great. Lots of guys here, try to go kiting , when the wind sucks ; but
you get to go go jump off a mountain , with your Paraglider, when the wind is
lite, (so ya got one-Up on most here) ! :thumb:

Bille

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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby fernmanus » Sun Jan 03, 2021 4:25 am

I am not going to mince words. I am sick and tired of newbies showing up at some of my local kite launches that refuse to take lessons and then do stupid things that risk injury to themselves and others. Just the other day, a group of young men decided to use a 6m kite as a trainer. They figured that since they were on snow it would be safe and they didn’t want to spend the money on a trainer kite and/or lessons. Today, a fairly new kiter thought it would be a good idea to let his newbie friend have a go with his 12m foil in 20 mph wind. The guy was getting flung all over the place.

My message to anyone with that kind of mentality- just because it is legal to kite with no instruction, it does not make it wise. It is not an inexpensive sport and I recognize that the gear is a financial commitment, but you should put your own health and welfare ahead of your pocketbook, because as I said before one mishap may cost you more that the cost of equipment and in some cases far more.

I am no nervous nelly, but I recognize the dangers of this sport. I have had 2 surgeries due to accidents and many close calls. I have a friend that was killed while kiting. Most of the time the sport is not “extreme”, but it can hit the fan so fast if you do not know what you are doing.

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downunder
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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby downunder » Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:25 am

I was DHV 2 pilot. Competed.

Than I broke my back, T12,13. Got metal at al.

Kiting is way way way more safe. Still broke me collar bone and ankle.

But, I would be dead long ago if continued with piloting.

Just yesterday jumped over 10m in 30cm water. So what? We all did, a few of us tried to out jump each other. Thats what we do. There is no other flat patch.

Re learning, People rate things based on their own experience. You might be natural and pickup instantly. People do, its not a rocket surgery for us with pgliding experience. Or, it might even take a year and huge effort to ride skis. It is really that different for people. Many quit even after spending heaps on training an gear.

U probably wont.

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Flyboy
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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby Flyboy » Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:19 am

Learning to kite on snow on skis on your own is perfectly feasible. Unlike on water you can start with a small trainer kite. Start with flying the kite in light winds stationary & once you understand how to control the kite you can move on to winds just strong enough to move you slowly along & progress from there, gradually building up your experience & skill level. With paragliding experience you surely understand something about the potential dangers involved. It would certainly be helpful to have basic instruction, but as long as you take things slow - in terms of how powered up you are - you should be fine.

I would add that I have been kiting more than 20 years now. I really haven't had much experience seeing "crazy beginners" at any of my launch sites ... other than places like Cabarete, which admittedly is a total shit show - so I guess it's quite possible that this is a problem some places.

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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby UKSurf » Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:19 pm

I totally agree with the sentiment that lessons are not a guarantee for safety. I have seen some very wreckless instructors taking students out in totally unsuitable conditions. At the end of the day they cant afford to wait for the right conditions. In my opinion you can learn to kitesurf on your own if you are careful about the conditions and locations, and take things one step at a time. Kitesurfing/snow kiting is like paragliding in that it can kill you or cause very serious injuries. However I would say there are safe conditions in kitesurfing (light winds, big open beaches) where very little can go wrong. From my limited experience, with paragliding there are no safe zones you are always one mistake or equipment failure away from something very bad happening. An experienced paraglider who is good at assessing risk could certainly teach themselves to snow kite in my opinion.
Last edited by UKSurf on Sun Jan 03, 2021 3:25 pm, edited 4 times in total.

UKSurf
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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby UKSurf » Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:20 pm

downunder wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:25 am
I was DHV 2 pilot. Competed.

Than I broke my back, T12,13. Got metal at al.

Kiting is way way way more safe. Still broke me collar bone and ankle.

But, I would be dead long ago if continued with piloting.
When I hear things like this it makes me very pleased I didnt continue paragliding after a few lessons. Incredible sport but the risk of serious injury is just too great.

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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby Flyboy » Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:43 pm

UKSurf wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:19 pm
I totally agree with the sentiment that lessons are not a guarantee for safety. I have seen some very wreckless instructors taking students out in totally unsuitable conditions. At the end of the day they cant afford to wait for the right conditions. In my opinion you can learn to kitesurf on your own if you are careful about the conditions and locations, and take things one step at a time. Kitesurfing/snow kiting is like paragliding in that it can kill you or cause very serious injuries. However I would say there are safe conditions in kitesurfing (light winds, big open beaches) where very little can go wrong. From my limited experience, with paragliding there are no safe zones you are always one mistake or equipment failure away from something very bad happening. An experienced paraglider who is good at assessing risk could certainly teach themselves to snow kite in my opinion.
If you are on the "south coast" of the UK I doubt you have had much experience with snow kiting. The OP is only talking about snow kiting, which is a whole different kettle of fish than kitesurfing. Essentially, I learned to kite on the snow - there was nobody around to teach kiting at that time. It was pretty straightforward to learn alone & as I had pretty much unlimited space it was quite "safe" ( although there's always some element of risk as you progress to larger kites/higher winds).

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Re: Paraglider Wants To Snow Kite

Postby UKSurf » Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:24 pm

Flyboy wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:43 pm
UKSurf wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:19 pm
I totally agree with the sentiment that lessons are not a guarantee for safety. I have seen some very wreckless instructors taking students out in totally unsuitable conditions. At the end of the day they cant afford to wait for the right conditions. In my opinion you can learn to kitesurf on your own if you are careful about the conditions and locations, and take things one step at a time. Kitesurfing/snow kiting is like paragliding in that it can kill you or cause very serious injuries. However I would say there are safe conditions in kitesurfing (light winds, big open beaches) where very little can go wrong. From my limited experience, with paragliding there are no safe zones you are always one mistake or equipment failure away from something very bad happening. An experienced paraglider who is good at assessing risk could certainly teach themselves to snow kite in my opinion.
If you are on the "south coast" of the UK I doubt you have had much experience with snow kiting. The OP is only talking about snow kiting, which is a whole different kettle of fish than kitesurfing. Essentially, I learned to kite on the snow - there was nobody around to teach kiting at that time. It was pretty straightforward to learn alone & as I had pretty much unlimited space it was quite "safe" ( although there's always some element of risk as you progress to larger kites/higher winds).
Dont jump to conclusions. I have done quite a bit of snow kiting abroad and unless you are doing it in mountains and flying off slopes it is easier and safer than learning to kitesurf on water in my opinion.


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