I almost fell out of my chair yesterday when my wife came up and said she'd been thinking about it a while and wanted to try snowkiting with me this winter! :singing:

"Careful Sparky!" I said to myself "Don't screw this up." OK, I don't call myself Sparky, but you get the drift.

She is a good athlete and strong skier but has never held onto more than a single-line Charlie Brown kite in her life. I've got the complete quiver of Born-Kite NS3s and I was thinking her best introduction would be for us to fly these side by side off of street-kiting bars straight off of the bridle lines.

I thought I'd take her snowkiting on the athletic fields I've been buggying on around town once the snow covers them up (hopefully in just a couple of weeks!). In the mean time I plan to take her to a field when there is good medium wind and have her get used to an NS3 right off the bar, having her run the tack line to get a feel for how the kite behaves when moving. The street-kite bar for these STARS has a central line I can tie into with a cord that I plan to clip to a waist belt on her so that if things get out of hand she can just let go of the bar and the kite will collapse on its central third line but not blow away on her.

I outweigh her by about 75 lbs (thank God) so I thought she could fly one size smaller kite than whatever I threw up in the air.

So... advice please! I'd love to start a thread here about how others have successfully brought their significant others into the kite sports we love. The good, the bad, and the ugly please! This is an incredible opportunity for me and I want to nail this out of the gate.

Thanks in advance fellow fliers! :D

My only suggestion would be to start out on full length lines. no lines or short lines can be tedious. long lines would be much easier to learn. I've taught several of my family members and friends on the stars. Very easy to learn. If she is a natural, you could have her on the peak same day in the right conditions.

I think it sounds like a great plan, and if she doesn't want to control the kite, you can tie a tow rope to the back of your harness, and tow her behind. You will likely have to go up a kite size, but it's doable, especially if you are just "mowing the lawn" with no acrobatics! Have fun, and let her wear the camera for a different perspective.

start her out slow, you have enough experience to get her going in the right direction. make sure she knows how to fly...and brake...before you start her off in a buggy. If you can tandem, do that and explain while you are going what you are doing...and why.

Patience is the key.

My wife stuck my kite in a tree. Just view it as an opportunity for a new Kite! be ok with it....and simmer inside slowly

Also Steve, when I teach people on the stars, I use the long lines and I have them wear a single kite killer and attach to the yellow ball on the standard bar. No hooking in.

I'm doing this too!

My wife loves skiing and this winter we are going to kite together. We practiced kite control and window awareness this summer with stunt kites, those speedy little guys helped her build confidence steering a kite and not crashing.

She has done some static flying of my NPWs but doesn't really like the handles and 4 line flying. To be fair, flying a NPW well takes a fair amount of practice to internalize the brake controls and keeping the sail filled. Maybe not a problem with Stars on their bars.

Also, there's a big gap in my quiver that is mainly filled with my UDS NPW, leaving her nothing smaller to fly when I'm flying it. Other than the dangerous Crossfire or the 2.6m which is my storm kite.

So I've bought her a 5m Apex III from a member here, which I've read nothing but good things about, much like the Ozone Access. Excited to receive it and get her started in light winds. And I bought myself a 7m Apex because I bought her a kite, so I deserve another one too right

the moving on POS with the kite is excellent teaching tool. just walking a crosswind line with kite in flight definitely gives good rudimentary picture for a first time , after some practice with kite in static first.

kite control=speed control

balance thru hips and knees(head back once moving)

don't forget LOOK where you want to go, not at the kite!

oh what fun !

You guys are great! Thanks for all the early feedback.

Rectifier - cool that you are on the same journey this winter! Yes, you most certainly deserve another kite! You are such a giver.

Mike - not planning at this point to get my bride in the buggy, certainly not now this late in the year. Night time temps are now consistently below freezing in the Wasatch where we live and the warm days get into the low 50s.

Sean - good advice about lines versus running the STARS straight off the bar. I'm going to play around with things a bit. I certainly don't intend to get her going in a harness or on my Peaks at this point (see Mike's comment about trees). Steffen's street bar rigging doesn't have a "yellow ball" like on the bar set up for a harness, but it has a tie in point for the central yellow line, just in a different way up about 2 ft from the bar. I plan to run a long piece of cord from that tie in point to something around her waist, which will secure the kite from the center line when she lets go of the bar.

Phree - great advice, and I know it is coming from somebody with a TON of experience, so thank you.

Bob - love the idea of towing her around! Yes, I'll be "mowing the lawn" I'm not intending to intentionally boost. I plan to use my Peaks for line flying and having her in tow sort of like a water skier could be good fun, and yes, great GoPro angle!

Steve check out the streetkite thread. I added a length of cord to a kite killer and hooked the biner to the Steffen recommended spot on the third line. (on the streetkite bar)

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

Steve check out the streetkite thread.

Sean - not sure where this is. Can you kindly post a link? Thanks!

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=30117

Pg 1. at the top. you can click on the pictures to expand.

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=30117 Pg 1. at the top. you can click on the pictures to expand.

Thanks Sean! That is exactly what I did on my own. Only difference was that my little carabiner was attached to a six foot length of thin flexible rope (about width of normal pigtail lines). Just to test the concept I put a carabiner on the other end and attached it to a belt loop. Worked great. I've got a few kite killers laying around which is a little more elegant.

Steve that's pretty exciting the wife is on board with you on this It wasn't until I got moving on skis with a kite that it really became magical. I hope she loves it as much as you will.

My wife never showed much interest with the traction aspect of the sport. She wanted to share the wind with me in some kind of way so she turned to sport kites/stunt kites. I totally applauded her for that. At least it's some sort of commonality among us and the wind:D

I'm big time jealous of you guys. My wife outright refuses to try any form of kiting.

I'd say normal length lines and not a depower to start with. My wife didn't enjoy the first time on a sub 3m because it's speed to crashing (or across the window), and lack of pull was no fun to her. She's just about to try out her first depower, now that she doesn't constantly crash it (3.6m Beamer of mine is her favorite thing to fly) If you have a sled/other snow toys, they do actually make for a good amount of fun, just no upwind, which on a small field isn't a big deal.

My wife doesn't fly...or touch my beer...i'm very cool w/ this

Quote: Originally posted by abkayak

My wife doesn't fly...or touch my beer...i'm very cool w/ this

How did you teach her the beer thing? Last time she tagged along with a couple friends and I to a bar (to talk work/vent)... She ended up going to get the next round for her and I. Then proceeded to drink the entire beer that was my refill, only realizing on the last sip as she stopped mid sip and goes? You want the rest of your beer?

Quote: Originally posted by ssayre

I'm big time jealous of you guys. My wife outright refuses to try any form of kiting.

Dittos and mega dittos.... The closest I've gotten was once (about 3 years ago) getting wifey to try a static fly. Another good go was an awesome extended tandem ride I gave her last spring on the beach... she enjoyed the sitting back and riding aspect.