Power Kite Forum

Know when to say when, got body slammed!

Cheddarhead - 23-2-2014 at 03:27 PM

Had my first major accident while kiting Saturday, not something I'm proud of but if it can teach somebody else what not to do then it has some value.

Kiting Green Bay Saturday, wind in the 20's (MPH) gusting to ?, snow firm and fast. Put up my 9m frenzy and proceed to ride many miles with a huge grin on my face. An hour goes by and I notice the wind picking up and getting quite agressive. The little voice inside my head asks if I should quit. (I already have beaten my personal best speed of 41mph from last year, but just barely.) I wanna see if I can go faster! I don't have a smaller depower at the moment so I make the mistake of staying on my 9m despite the wind getting stronger. (Should have just quit). The end of my last run I try to change direction to go the other way, get in a sideways controlled skid, go up and over a hard drift, lose track of where my kite is and get my legs and waist yanked out from under me and get slammed on my left shoulder and head. I immediately pull my safety and realize I've injured my shoulder, not to mention the hard head knock on the ice. Wife was with me this time so I flagged her and she came over to pick me up with the truck. Off to the hospital we go to get X-rays. No concusion and no broken bones, whew! Just a badly sprained shoulder AC joint. Simple tasks I took for granted are now very painful, like tying shoes and putting on a shirt. Sucks but things could have turned out much worse. So if anybody thinks helmets are not cool, think again! I thank god I was wearing one. Helmet will need to be replaced, it took a pretty good blow on the ice. Unfortunately I'll have to lay off the kiting until the pain goes away. Of course wifey thinks kiting is cut off for the rest of the winter, I don't think it will take that long for the pain to go away, so perhaps I can get out before the lake ice melts away. Just need to listen to that little voice next time and use some more common sense:rolleyes:

alasdair macleod - 23-2-2014 at 03:36 PM

Great your not broken anything!
Good you hit safety.
Yep helmet always!
Hope you're heal quickly! :D

hiaguy - 23-2-2014 at 04:02 PM

Why does that little voice know more than we do:dunno:

Thanks for the reminder. Glad to hear that you're gonna be OK.

lunchbox - 23-2-2014 at 04:22 PM

Wow...glad you're ok! So smart to wear a helmet...scary to think if you weren't wearing one!

Thanks for sharing your story so the rest of us can learn from it.

RedSky - 23-2-2014 at 04:31 PM

Happens to the best of us and keeping these things to yourself helps nobody. Take it easy. :)

Feyd - 23-2-2014 at 04:53 PM

Helmets are very cool. All the cool kids I know wear helmets.

Beaters, they do not wear helmets. Nothing to protect I suppose.;)

Glad you're okay Cheddar.

And more importantly, congrats on the new personal best. :D

We kid cause we care. Great description by the way!

3shot - 23-2-2014 at 04:56 PM

Glad you are OK bud!!

Heal up soon

Cheddarhead - 23-2-2014 at 05:55 PM

Thanks guys, I'm fortunate to have so many that care! Dealing with the pain is actually easier than the wife giving me the third degree and telling me "I told you so". Just a small bump in the road to more wisdom. I didn't like the color of my helmet anyway...;)

shaggs2riches - 23-2-2014 at 06:38 PM

Good to hear you are going to okay. Brain buckets are very cool, I try to have anyone I know wear them.

slopecat - 23-2-2014 at 07:14 PM

Glad to hear you are not all busted up. It kind of sounds like my weekend. The winds sound about the same and I was feeling overpowered yesterday on a 10m Key. I was getting tired after a while too so I packed up and headed out. Always wearing a helmet and often knee pads. Occasionally elbow pads.

Back again today with higher winds but a smaller kite - a 7m Montana 7. I also set a personal best and decided it was time to go do something else as the wind was gusty and getting stronger. The only negative was my pack unzipped and a bar for a second kite fell out. Hopefully I can go back and find it in the daylight tomorrow but it seems unlikely.

PHREERIDER - 23-2-2014 at 07:58 PM

glad ur ok, you never know!

Cheddarhead - 23-2-2014 at 08:17 PM

Yes Slope, our winds typically come from your direction. Friday's winds were gusting to 40+ mph but I wasn't going to go out in that. I'm ill equiped for those winds, we don't get 40+ very often so I haven't invested in a really high wind kite yet. Saturday was supposed to be much less but I don't think the gusts ended up that much less. Snow was very deep the last couple weeks until a couple days ago. We had three days of warm temps and rain, then back to cold. Snow is now in the best shape of the year for speed and I'm now injured. Very bummed! I just had my kite in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Hope you can back track and find your bar.

WELDNGOD - 23-2-2014 at 08:28 PM

"One more run" , famous last words right before I broke my shoulder.
Glad to hear your OK . You gotta learn to listen to that "smart" voice of reason. (could be the voice of your "guardian angel") But , on the other hand. A man has got to know his limitations, but you have to push on them to know where they are...
WG

Feyd - 24-2-2014 at 07:02 AM

Yeah, never say "one more" anything. ;)

ssayre - 24-2-2014 at 07:48 AM

Glad your okay. Were you on skis or board?

bigkid - 24-2-2014 at 07:52 AM

Another one bites the dust.
Glad to hear your OK, you were VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY lucky, did I remember to say you were VERY lucky?

A short time to recoup and back at it, right?
If your wifey needs to vent or talk to someone who knows what she is going through, my wife said she can call any time.

Not to tell you any thing you dont already know, but I spent my 2 years of recouping to design a QR that will prevent me from another 2 years of lost life let alone death itself. My wife lets me play now knowing my QR works, but her last words as I go out to play is "you will be using your QR, right?"
Yes dear.:saint:

AnnieO - 24-2-2014 at 08:07 AM

Glad you will be OK. It's always good to reinforce safety and judgement when dealing with power kites. It benefits all of us whether we are old or new to the sport!

snowspider - 24-2-2014 at 08:14 AM

GO BIG OR GO HOME... NOT the motto to live by in this sport when your dealing with gusty wind and the cold hard ground. Knowing when to bail is probably the hardest thing to learn and we all learn it the hard way. Glad you didn't get whacked too bad!

abkayak - 24-2-2014 at 09:01 AM

helmets are very cool....wives always overestimate healing time...glad ur ok

Suds after thuds - 24-2-2014 at 02:18 PM

good luck on the shoulder healing up, 12 oz. curls could be a nice way to test your pain and threshhold-- once you're off any anti-imflamatory meds--

Kamikuza - 24-2-2014 at 02:57 PM

Glad you're ok!

But... "lost track of the kite" is when you pull the safety, not after you slam ;)

mougl - 24-2-2014 at 04:28 PM

Always always always always always listen to that little voice!! Thank goodness you had a helmet on bro! Heal up fast and heal up well. Glad you are ok after a hit like that!

mainekite2 - 24-2-2014 at 06:29 PM

Glad you're Ok . I found out last year that ice is very hard one gusty day

3shot - 24-2-2014 at 07:20 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Kamikuza  
Glad you're ok!

But... "lost track of the kite" is when you pull the safety, not after you slam ;)


Often wonder about these things when I read someone has been injured. Seems to me events often happen and are over before the brain can process the OH SH#T. Or, the split second of "I got this" and then its too late when you do realize its going south. I have no depower or harness experience. FB only. Even with that it is hard for the brain to tell the hands to just let go of the handles in that instance of decision.
The biggest task I am continually learning in being a better pilot is not all the tricks you can do, but being good and quick enough to overcome that instinct of hanging on for dear life. Harness or handles.

I guess it's that "on the edge of out of control" primitive feeling that drives most of us in this sport. As in many other sports.

In my humble opinion.

Cheddarhead - 24-2-2014 at 07:53 PM

Kami's comment has lots of merit:thumbup: I've pulled my safety lots of times in the past if I thought I was going to be in trouble. This was def "I got this" and then lost track of where kite was for one second, then it was too late the next. Next thing you know your lying on the ground wondering what the hell just happened. I guess hind sight is always 20/20. I can dwell on it or just brush off the snow and get back on the skis and hope that I'm a little smarter the next time. Soon as I can reach the bar without pain I'll be back out on the lakes ripping it up. Thanks everyone for your concerns. Bar none this is the best kite family a guy could ask for.:bigok:

Kamikuza - 25-2-2014 at 02:57 PM

In the water, your punishment for hanging on too long to a messed up situation is a lot less severe... I adopted a habit of "let go - early" when on or near the land and it's worked every time things went worse than I expected; but I'm a bit paranoid after breaking my wrist :D

The "I got this" zone between "shouldn't have pulled" and "shoulda pulled" gets more refined as time goes on :karate:

Feyd - 25-2-2014 at 06:13 PM

I find that more often than not, having kite location dialed is primary in these situations and everything else can pretty much wait.

Took a crash at speed the other day. Skipped a bit on my shoulder, then opposing hip, then semi cartwheel back to shoulder/hip. Kept my focus on the kite the whole time and used it to recover from the crash. Came away a little sore but okay and in control of the kite. Left a trail of destruction about 150' long in my wake. 3 really deep and distinct craters in a row. I was actually pretty proud of myself in some sick way.:evil:



Crashing sucks bad enough. Crashing enhanced by a kite driving you into the ice is way worse.

Kamikuza - 26-2-2014 at 03:50 AM

Yeah, not knowing where the kite is, and the out-of-control that follows, leads to the biggest slams... again, I think that situational awareness comes with practice and by practice, I mean bails :D

Had a pretty epic huck-fest today, with a few #@%$#!-ups and splash downs... keeping my focus on the kite and most importantly I think, the direction is was pulling from and then keeping it stable, gives you time to sort your body out and get it under control.

Feyd - 26-2-2014 at 05:10 AM

Yeah, practice is kinda key. Sometimes the practice is forced on you.;)

When I first realized that keeping the kite in control was so critical, and I started paying attention in a crash, I was surprised at what the kite would do. Most of the time I found myself causing the most trouble by inadvertently sending the kite into a bad spot in a crash just because I was grabbing on for dear life.

Sometimes it's best to just let go, sometimes not I suppose.


flyguy0101 - 26-2-2014 at 09:48 AM

When in doubt push it out- that was the one thing that was drilled into my head when i started learning to fly depower. It sounds a lot easier than it actually is though, somehow the death grip pull in seems more natural:D along with the back, butt, shoulder, hip or occassional head slide that follows.

glad you were not permanently damaged cheddar!

Cheddarhead - 26-2-2014 at 01:25 PM

Yes "practice" is where we learn the most, usually at the expense of a hurt body part. I think you can role play all you want in your head, but it's not until you actually have to do it that it really sinks in.

It's only been four days but the shoulder is healing nicely, I should be back out there soon.

Glad you didn't get hurt Chris, sounds like you were movin pretty fast when you went down.

Kamikuza - 26-2-2014 at 04:43 PM

Sheeting out the kite can speed it up - FSers for example.

Better to keep both hands on the bar, not turn the kite at all, get a feel for whats going on and ride it out... redirect the kite to the edge of the window or zenith when you have a feel for the situation.

Of course, just throwing the QR is the easiest option but you don't learn anything... some lessons aren't worth learning though :D