Utah Windriders Association

Winds were 10-15 near the parking area from the South. With hesitation, I put up the 16m Waroo with hopes to do some exploring. I think I made it west 1/2 to 3/4 quarters of the way over to the Rain Tree Area. I finally was stopped by a combination of a wind shadow, trees, and metal fence posts, but I think you can make it to the Raintree Area (bottom is guarded by trees) with some luck. Came back to the main area and enjoyed buiding winds. Finally was getting overpowered and kited back to the car.

My second glide was sort of successful. The successful part was the glide through the air backwards. The unsuccessful part was landing going backwards. While in the air, I thought, Kenny, you give a guy the keys to car but dont teach him how to drive. After some more wipeouts in less than soft snow and a couple of powered boddy drags, I rapped it up. Winds 15-20+ after the clouds rolled in. Exciting exit.

Les,

Sorry, I didn't describe the landing. There are a couple ways to do it. One way is to rotate so that you are facing forward for landing. Another is to use twintwip skis so that you can land switch. Some riders face forward the entire glide, I like to fly backwards to keep a better eye on the kite and I like the feeling of drifting away from the hill. I often rotate slowly to either side while I am in the air.

You can soften your landing a couple ways as well. The easiest one is to move your kite from zenith about 10 degrees in either direction when you are 5 feet off the ground. The kite will then pull you downwind (upslope), but the power will be more upward since the kite is still high in the sky giving you a soft landing and will also keep the kite from overflying when you touch down. The more stylish thing to do is a kiteloop. You want to pull one of these when you are still 10 feet off the ground by pulling one side hard and doing a loop. Doesn't really matter which direction you pull the loop. The idea is that you land after the kite has completed the loop and is on the upswing. You will land as soft as a feather, but you really have to get the timing right. If you wait until you are too close to the ground the loop will pull you into the side of the hill which doesn't feel very good. Watch Jake do it several times before you give it a try.

Kenny

Thanks Kenny. You've actually done a good job with previous posts, thanks again for the instructions. Just something I've got to try and feel.

How do you change the direction you face. It would seem that you're stuck with facing backwards, unless you do a have twist in your lines to face foward, but then what stops you from twisting?