video of snapped leader line 30+ feet off the ground!

[waynepjh]

I check and replace my lines often but my leader broke at the bar!
This spot was not that obvious to me because the rest of the leader
looked brand new. I feel VERY lucky and hope people won't be as
careless as me and learn from my stupidity!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfenWbpkKOg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wreknball]

Holy Sh8t ! Glad your ok.

joel

[Destination Moon]

Holy Crap is right! Good thing we had so much snow this year. Glad you walked away!!

How often do you check you lines and when do you replace? It will be a while before I go for air like that (maybe never) but my jumps are getting higher and higher. I've noticed some small frays or nicks that must be from hitting sage etc.

Paul

[Petro9]

I 've had the same thing happen to me last year, but at the beginning of the jump...Thank goodness I was on water though. Glad u made it ok!
I always check my lines for wear and tear, and replace them at least once every year.

[Noahpz]

Awesome vid! Great camera work! Sweet how the kite down looped and kept on flyin'. Your drop, like a sack of stone, I replayed over and over. Wow! Very entertaing to watch after a day of hard boosting at Raynolds and I.P.

Most of all though, I'm glad your O.K.

See ya out there,

Noah

[waynepjh]

After closer inspection my line was cut from the inside of the bar. It was
worn through to the fibreglass and had a sharp "edge". this was hard to
see and not that obvious to me. here are some pics. I included some of
my other leader still attached but loosened to look for wear. I replaced
my lines after summer for the winter snowkite season but thought my
leaders were fine. oops!

[marlboroughman]

It's stupid Ozone bar. It has sharp edges that cut into the leaders. Throw the piece of shit bar into the garbage ASAP. I own three Ozone kites and had more then that since 2006 so every time I went to the store and saw a bar on sale I bought it. Those bars are absolute worst. Kite is nice though.

[Windzup]

While I enjoy Marlborough mans enthusiasm, I must say that I personally like that bar... it has been in use since 2005, and in 3 heavy years of Snowkiting I've never had a personal issue.

While this thread should lead both manufacturers and consumers to push for even better designs, I believe the important point is to pre-flight your gear if you are taking kites high off the ground.

Wayne, has probably over 200 days on that kite this year alone, with days on the beach where sand can get into the leaders of any kite.

This should also lead to some form of standard, for replacing parts that may wear over time. REPLACE all parts if used excessively or if you are putting yourself into a 'high' position.

The Ozone distributors all stock every replacement part, yet very few shops (if any) stock or recommend riders to replace parts on bars.... its just not evolved into our culture yet.

I'm glad you 'stuck' the landing and are OK Wayne... and yes, this is huge feedback that is going throughout the Ozone design team, looking to improve/prevent this type of incident in the future.

Keep an eye on your equipment and PRE-FLIGHT people.

Windzup,
Brian Schenck

[Craz Z]

Wait a second you fell from that high and suffered nothing??? The snow musta been soft but even still that is an amazingly high fall. How did you fall did you loosen up or crumple on impact. I know what its like to fall from a high jump. Unfortuantely in my case I hucked off a cornice and let the kite get to far behind and freefell from a height of about 15 feet. My knee was hurt from impacting the ground flat as i landed on my feet but then crumpled to the ground and my neck was stiff and knee was hurt for a month luckily no surgery or hospital visit but still this is very dangerous and the outcome can be anything. check these out one link is where i fell and the other is a guy that died of another injury non kiting related.

http://www.montanastandard.com/articles ... jjggfd.txt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.uskiteforum.com/snowkiting-f ... -t343.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wyolitup]

I was present for Wayne's event. I'm not going to say what brand of kite I was riding that day because it really doesn't matter what I ride is my business. Wayne's kite had over 200 days of use on both coasts, the Gorge, Mexico, and who knows what other use before that day. I wonder if there should be some standard set for maintenance, or some type of log kept if you are going big on a regular basis. I'm sure if you parachute or paraglide, you have a much more intimate knowledge of your chute or wing. If you're a climber, and you take a huge leader fall, it's standard to retire your rope after such an event. Pro Sponsored Kiters are going huge all the time, but are not indicators of durability or wear because they have new gear readily available at all times. Our sport is still very young when it comes to gliding here in the U.S., and spending 15 to 30 seconds in the air with big kit loops is much different than a quick wake style jump. So. Any thoughts?

Oh yea this is not a Ozone problem it is a industry problem!!!