I have to come out of the closet and confess that I've been lurking on a bunch of other forums absorbing as much info as I can about kite jumping and ATB jumping. I'm a ways off before I start trying anything like this but good grief - do they ever make it look effortless.

I'm wondering if there may be a connection between kite surfing and these riders - the kite loops and body control look similar to that of kitesurfers. I imagine that learning on the water would allow them to try out riskier maneuvers on a more forgiving surface.

thats a cool video because you can see the rider as well as the kite in alot of shots. The biggest thing to me is where is the kite when these guys do these moves and that video showed it well.

That's my old crew in Frinton!!! :D
I regards to flexiblade's question, most of the riders in that vid have never even kitesurfed! Danny C and Lewis don't like the water... I miss riding with these guys even though it always made me jealous as hell :D
England has such a huge amount of nice grass all over it, landkiting is waaaayyy bigger there than here in the states

Just look at that great spot they have to fly. A huge grassy field right on the coast to provide nice smooth winds. Combine great conditions, with hours and hours of practice in those good conditions, with a group of friends to push you and to learn from and you can see how they can get so good.

Those guys were all flying LEI's weren't they? I think that boosting huge airs in strong coastal winds with a tube kite is probably a heck of a lot easier than getting big air with a foil in an inland field with shifty gusty winds. Of course the landing wouldn't be so easy and those guys are really talented.

macboy,

effortless through power , balance and timing.

solid power from the kite, sit down and balance through the harness (i use a seat)with a well powered kite you're gonna fly easy using the lifty parts of the power zone, and flex through the hips and knees for the landing maintaining balance. i started jumping on land and water about the same week. being comfortable with rig speed and flying the kite once up to redirect seems the to be the learning hump.

a practice drill was the "simulated jump" i came up with on land. this really helped me progress to handle the landings with good control. and really understand the TIMING.

ON atb 8-12mph as big a rig you can hold with confidence(your P15 or V19)

-running cross wind, maybe a little upwind for power and speed control.

-you need some speed and need to be comfortable with it, like for a powerslide

-run with kite stable, then send it up to apex or a fraction behind it will accel. and lift will be apparent at the same time AND THE RATE from a bent knee and hip position add a little jump with intentions of continuing to go forward.

-fly the kite forward through the apex (feel the lift part) legs maybe extended board want be leaving the ground if you control the speed of the kite.

- as the the lifty parts begin to fade send the kite back down(still in the forward direction) bending knees and hips ready for the power/speed surge.
repeat both directions, until you start thinking about something else.


(on a depower rig let out to get it to accel UP to the apex after giving direction) then full on at the apex where the POP comes in ...you're flying. be patient in flight given direction to the kite and fly it forward slowly not snatching.
if you snatch it to come down you will be snatched too. the practice drill allowed me to work out the timing.

i did the same thing on the coyotes but went straight to jumping after about the third pass.

after the timing and balance flow without too much thought. ADD POWER and it will be all you think about ....promise.

You pretty much got your answers above, but the reason they make it look so smooth is in the credits. First thing I see. Lewis Wilby. That's the real answer ha

Lewis is great but Dan Copeland is fearless, last time i saw him he was doing insane spinning and giant airs, check out this pic :D

daaaaang, that is so cool. What kind of kites do they fly? All flexi?

Dan was riding a 2004 cabrinha contra last time i was living in england but then he changed to flexifoil ion2s and fuels i think, definitely an inflatable guy anyway... Lewis is of course flexi's prized landboarder, although he was using blades for the longest time

don't know the guys in the pic/video but looks like they are having a good air sessions

jonesing for a session myself.

coyotes have been howling in my head

Very cool vid! The redirect speed of those kites is amazing. Are LEIs in general a quicker redirecting kite? I also saw an Ozone snow vid a while back in France I believe, and those guys were getting huge air but they were not redirecting like this. Their foils seemed a lot more floaty with less effort.

flexiblade ,,, is right with water/land similarities. on the water you can be practically stupid and the penalty splash just wakes you up.

the penalty "crack" on land can be high and the thump may put you to sleep!

the flow is the same...the land work requires supreme control like the fliers in the vid clearly demonstrate.

Quote:

Originally posted by DragOn Very cool vid! The redirect speed of those kites is amazing. Are LEIs in general a quicker redirecting kite? I also saw an Ozone snow vid a while back in France I believe, and those guys were getting huge air but they were not redirecting like this. Their foils seemed a lot more floaty with less effort.

LEI's are generally regarding as having a much quicker turning speed that foils.

I suspect that the snowkiters you saw had much different conditions. They were probably kiting on the side of a mountain so there was a big updraft where the wind hits the mountain. You probably were watching Chasta launch some of his insane floaty jumps using a huge 15m foil or something.

Relaxed to the MAX !:wee:

At 1:16 the dude decides he may as well untwist His bar being only about 8ft off the ground

I wonder if I'll ever have the guts to go for a kiteloop on land ? :dunno:

BR just hit a 2 hour session on the rollin howlers. got the front to back pop smoothed out. may hit the first night ride with coyotes tonight, moon is blazing. nice onshore to work with . the board wheels are rust locked.





high jack over

Thanks MD. You'll always be MD to me :P Just a minute or two ago I sent a message to deez saying I'm in need of some "courage born from camaraderie"......your tips and my digging about the past few days has put wayyyy too much info in my head...gotta get on a kite and filter out the info replacing it with experience. I think deez has left the ground static before so perhaps we'll get things down. If not I will definitely get it on the snow this winter.....we're only a few weeks away from the white stuff and not long to freeze up after that.

To date, the only / best jumps I've made have been COMPLETELY unintentional as I was merely jumping to avoid crushing my shins on the buggy. I LOVED the feeling but couldn't for the life of me remember the sequence of events that required me to jump and ultimately experience actual flight. The nice thing about this time of year up here is that the grass is generally too dried up to cause bad grass stains

the practice drill thing really helped with the timing, landings and just putting all together.

The V19 in 10-12mph. is your ticket to fly. if you have the speed control on the ATB down it's just a matter of choice.

a few points that make a difference

- when you go up bring your knees up to bring closer to you. stops the "dangling feeling.

- Head goes back to counter balance board and legs

grass stains are true session killers

I wonder if I should do the practicing with the Coyotes? Wouldn't that be easier than the board?

macboy, you must be closing in on a record for most kite disciplines tried in first year of kiting. I count:

1. Skis
2. ATB
3. Buggy
4. Coyotes
5. Kiteboard (water)
6. Snowboard......

What am I missing? You got ice skates fitted to that buggy for the lake yet?

I'm big on " go with what you know "

I think you and I come from a skiing background ?
For me, the skis and Coyotes don't take a lot of extra thought. Combine that with a kite that I don't have to think about too much and I am more free to think about 1 or 2 moves ahead.

Something that has happened to me is that I am spending too much time learning new rides and new kites. This is slowing my progress in most all of them ! Sounds like the same for you ?

2 summers ago I was going to get my 2 wheeling and spins down on the buggy. I ended up picking up and learning ATB instead.

This summer I wanted to get jumping. I have had some success but seem to have spent more time trying out new kites and the skatewing. My jumps are getting a bit better but it sounds like Phreeride is going to be able to show me how it's done soon

I know I will never be the Master of any single style but want to be able to safely ride all styles.

I expect this will be a breakthrough year for you on the snow. I hope you get plenty of days out ! If jumping is your goal and skis feel most natural then maybe pass on learning a snowboard or adding skis to the buggy. So much to learn. So little time ! Be patient and if you feel down look at all the skills you HAVE gained and how far you have come ! You are doing GREAT for an O.G. !

Quote:

Originally posted by macboy I wonder if I should do the practicing with the Coyotes? Wouldn't that be easier than the board?

the new lei make it THAT EASY

Quote:

Originally posted by USA_Eli_A the new lei make it THAT EASY

Oh, is that all it is Eli. I'll just buy a new kite and be as good as those guys?? That would be awesome. Show me the kite that makes me that good and I'll buy 2! :o

Now maybe a new LEI would have YOU keeping up with them, but it wouldn't get me to that level. Where are the youtube videos of you out there killing it anyway Eli??

Quote:

Originally posted by USA_Eli_A the new lei make it THAT EASY

And of course the riders level of skill has the most to do with it in my opinion. It is just like the buggy I hear it all the time folks come out to my field and watch always commenting on how easy it looks. Then another kiter joins in and they see that it is the skill level that makes it looks easy. My advice keep practicing every chance you get and then one day people will be looking at film of you and commenting how does he make it look so easy.

Big John
JoJo1

YES, lewis wilby has mega skilz, the best in the world...but with LEI's he is able to do WAY MORE WITH THE KITE...Him and I both started on foils...foils are now as manuverable as LEI with the double pully,I rode LEI's on Land this summer,,jumping buggies and boards became easier becuase of depower and quicker kites..

BTW...WHAT LOOKS EASY...TO ME IT LOOKS BAD ASS, AND I UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES OF...UM...NOT LANDING A TOUGH TRICK...LEWIS AND HIS BRO ARE AMAZING RIDERS...

CHECK WWW.LEWISWILBY.COM

NH and BR - I think you both got it and I'm guilty as charged although I don't know if there is an actual record to be achieved. I can't believe it's only been a year. To the day I bet......is it my kite birthday? I'll have to check.

I'm certainly guilty of becoming a bit of a "jack of all trades, master of none"....even with my quiver. To be honest, I find that I stick to the same go-to kites (the Rage, the Brooza and the Guerilla) most everytime I fly and I only stepped up to the Brooza once I felt I was needing more than the Rage was dishing out. I remember the same last winter...I only made the jump to the Brooza once the Rage bored me. Of course then I got yarded the day I took the Access out too hot and got shaken back down to the Rage again.

Here's hopin' for soft snow to land in with the PLs as my guide this winter ; )

And.........if our lakes didn't snow over so quickly I bet there'd be a set of ice skates out in the garage :wink2:

Did noone else notice that those guys weren't wearing any helmets? No one is THAT good. You shouldn't be that high off the ground without a helmet. Period. Stuff happens.

Here's a new vid from the PushKiting guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5_hk4b4BL4

Quote:

Originally posted by burritobandit Here's a new vid from the PushKiting guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5_hk4b4BL4

Thanks Tacomagnet!
speed loops!..........aj