Some footage from a session last season. All reports stated that the ice was in good shape. Kiters and snowmobiles had been on it right up to the day I went through. But some wild temperature swings, sun and humidity can change ice fast.

As is illustrated here.:P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yCfVu5jXEw&feature=share...

YIKES!!!! I could imagine your thoughts as you were passing over the holes and the wind was dying! Glad you kept your cool and got out ok. I lived in Vt and NH for 11 years and learned to respect ice just like the water underneath. Grey ice? I'll pass!

Feyd, what do you have against mobile users... :P

Feyd,
That is the main reason i have been so hesitant to try it on the ice- glad you kept your head and were okay

wow just wow......... awesome to see your ok

I am still grunting while spinning the kite to make some power, and the goose bumps are making me colder by the minute. I got to put on another shirt to warm up.
Your buddy OK?
Might have to call you "cold water lucky" from now on.:o Glad your OK to tell us about it. Did your other half have anything to say about it?

Bah no worries, just like anything that involves an element of risk eventually you have issues. We get A LOT of miles in on the ice without issues.

Flyguy, don't be too freaked out by ice. In the right situation it can be some of the most fun you've ever had and for us here it's where most of the rideable real estate is. You just have to know before you go. We spend a lot of time making sure the ice is good to go and we have a pretty good network of people to get first hand info from. It's all a matter of what you're used to. If I lived in Virginia I wouldn't ride the ice either. Come up here, we'll bring you back alive.

Before any of us ever went through we discussed heavily how to get out of it and we formulated a plan. I was the lucky one to put it to the test years ago and it went exactly how we thought it would. The only thing we left out was body dragging away from the hole. The first time I went through I got out and tried to get up immediately and fell right through. Drag away from the hole before getting up.

Up until last winter I had never gone through without expecting it. In the past it was always late season, warm with crappy ice. I always wore a PFD for those days. No PFD in the video, reports were good, hell people were walking out there (footprints in the beginning of the video) but the satellite image shows the real story. There were snowmobiles in the same area the day before. Things change quick.

But even without the PFD my armor is mostly closed cell foam. Offers a lot of buoyancy and warmth. Your clothing will hold a lot of air for a while too and keep you afloat for a while. Between the armor and the water proofness of my clothing, I had time. Heck my cell didn't even get wet which I used when I got to shore to call the Molly and tell her I was going to be a little late getting home. She took it well. She usually does. :D

The other rider almost went through on the way back. A couple weeks later we were on another lake at the end of the season and a rider went through. The ice was candling everywhere so it was important to get you rides in early before the sun got too high. He showed up at noon (my last day for the season) and I told him how sketchy it was but he played it down and took off for the other end of the lake about 10 miles out. I was pissed as he had no PFD, gloves or even a helmet and he completely disregarded my advice to stay close on the good ice. He took off and I felt I had to follow him to keep an eye out. I went out as far as I dared and he went to the other end. He made his way back and I had a sketchy ride back to anchor. I was so pi$$ed I didn't even say goodbye. He went out a gain the next day, went through and got hypothermia. He could have died.

Our choices have consequences, sometimes we learn a lesson.

I'm very safe. Most of the rest of us, 99% of the time are very, VERY safe. We've been at this a while now and have learned a lot about ice dynamics and what we can get away with and not. If anything I've been accused of taking it all too seriously and being too cautious and I'm ok with that. And just to be clear we're not irresponsible and we never take students out in questionable conditions whether the condition are ice or wind related.

I gotta say the guys with the rowboat were pretty surprised to see me. :D

:o
Congrats on keeping a cool head and not panic

that could have been messy!

Worse point was closing on shore. The wind was going to complete poo. If there wasn't enough compression at the tree line to keep any power going my back up plan was to crash the kite into the right spot, get it good and tangled, release the skis and hand over hand to hopefully shallow water. Not a great plan but a plan.

Phree, you're in the water all the time and you don't think twice about it!
:D

For those who haven't been able to watch it on thier mobile dohickeys, the WMG rights are doing that, not me. Sorry for that.

Ok, it may work on mobile now. Let me know

Wow...... I will never trust you again with you judgment on ice thickness ..... lol .....
... With all you crashes on bike.... and kite stories .... you can write interesting book ....

.... Let me know when it start snowing.... We are coming back North this year with bigger group ...

man, that was close. Glad to see you are ok.

That is a good video to share and glad you are okay - wow lucky the guys were working on the island, look at that open water to get back.
Pre-planning is an excellent idea and something I'll definitely have to spread around before winter. Actually now that i think of it good anytime. Just talked to a couple of friends that kiteboarded out to islands and one guy using a flysurfer had it bowtie in the sketchy low wind around the island and they came ashore in an area that had slippery bowling ball sized rocks all over. They lost boards, got dragged, twisted ankles and lost toenails and had to be rescued by a passing boat. #@%$#! happens.

Like Chris said - the majority of the winter season is rock solid ice.

When I first saw the title, I thought it was a link to another video which I'd already seen. Didn't realize you were starring in this video ; )

Man, if that was me I would have $hi$ myself.

Way to remain calm and excellent kite control!!!

Besides hypothermia...is there also a risk of getting carried underneath the ice?

Just think about it.. we could be discussing in a thread how Feyd "WAS" a great kite boarder... RIP

:o

but.. we're not thank goodness. and great recover.

Wow, that was crazy. Glad you are Ok. I've got to admit snow kiting is definately not my favorite activity and I only do it to prevent going crazy by not kiting for so long. I so prefer kite landboarding to anything else. Really hard to fall through the sand and drown.

@Kober - you've got to change your signature. It doesn't display and takes up a huge amount of space in your posts.