My Journey Learning How to Kiteboard!
FEELING THE POWER OF THE WIND IN YOUR HANDS + CONVERTING THAT NATURAL ENERGY INTO A MEANS OF SPORT, FUN, ACTIVITY, + ENDORPHINS.
Kiting is my new love.
Are you an adrenaline seeker and action sport enthusiast? Do you crave the feeling of sliding across turquoise blue water powered by mother nature, boosting 30+ ft in the air using the force of the wind, and shredding the waves of your life? If you are passionate about board sports then kite boarding is the sport for you!
I get a lot of questions in my daily life and on social media about kite boarding. “Is it hard to learn? How do you start? What is your favorite thing about kiting? etc.?” Here I share my journey of how I learned and why I fell in love with the sport.
I grew up with parents who loved to water ski. When I was two years old, my dad put me on his shoulders while he slalom water skied up and down 27 miles of the beautiful Parker River. As soon as I was old enough, I started water skiing and then graduated to the wakeboard when I turned eight years old because, of course, I wanted to be a shredder like my brothers. Wake boarding was my life. I would wake up at 4:30 AM, wait for the sun to come up, and just sit quietly for that first light. Then my mom (or dad) would fire up the boat and I would get hours of the glassiest rides of the day. My love for wake boarding lasted through college when I joined the Wake boarding Club at Cal Poly SLO.
There, at Cal Poly, is where my initial interest in kiting sprouted. A lot of the guys who would come wake boarding were passionate kiters who would wakeboard on the side. Not to mention that San Luis Obispo and the surrounding areas like Pismo Beach and Morro Bay are world class kiting spots! Naturally, when you do what you love, life flows, and you meet people who you naturally vibe with.
Wake boarding brought me my kiter and all around action-sport loving boyfriend, Chris, into my life. Chris was one of those kiters who would come wake boarding with the club every now and then. Long story short, we vibed and Chris loved that I wanted to learn how to kite. He was my instructor and put in A LOT of time to teach me the safety and technique to kiting. There were tears, yelling, panic attacks, broken gear, and moments where I actually thought I was going to die but then one day it clicked. I was up and kiting, a gift that has brought me to magical places, has introduced me to beautiful people (on the inside and out), and lastly, and that will last a lifetime.
The Journey:
My journey of learning how to kite started in Hood River, Oregon on a trainer kite (2.5m kite). I sat in a grass field with Chris for hours learning how to fly the kite, learning how the wind fluctuates, and how to launch and land a kite. The time with the trainer kite is to ultimately just get comfortable with having this piece of fabric with a lot of power flying above your head.
Next step was getting the big-girl kite in the air and body dragging. Body dragging consists of getting in the water without a board and flying a full-sized kite down wind, learning how to drag up wind (which is important when you lose your board), and also crashing and re-launching your kite (which happens frequently if you are learning to jump or if the wind dies). Body dragging feels a little bit like you are drowning. No joke. The kite is pulling you down wind, and you are swimming up wind, trying to create an edge to either get your board or to go back to where you started from. Let’s just say that you need to be prepared to swallow a lot of water. But with time, it becomes effortless and you will be happy to know this skill.
I'm throwing you a little bit of a curve ball in my next step of the learning process. Unfortunately, after body dragging a few times, the season was over in Central/ Northern California, and ski season began. Chris, Caleb, and I got invited on a snow kiting trip in Alaska. Snow kiting ended up being the best thing that happened in my kite progression and it is actually how I recommend everyone learning to kite! We rented an RV in Anchorage and drove through Thompsons Pass to Valdez, parking our RV in the middle of this winter wonderland and snow kiting every day along the way!
Learning to kite in the snow was ten times better than learning in the water for a few reasons. First, you don’t need very much wind to kite on the snow because you are already on top of the surface, unlike water where you need enough power to plane on top of the surface. 14 MPH winds and a 9M kite was perfect! Second, there is less chaos in the snow. You are not trying to fly the kite while drowning, swimming, and chasing your board while it is floating away in the current. In the snow, you can just sit there and figure out how the kite works while you are strapped into a board. Third, you become a pro at re-launching your kite, which is necessary and extremely helpful when you transition to water. Finally, you understand how to fly the kite while shredding on a board, which makes the transition to water a piece of cake. Don’t get me wrong, learning any new sport has its frustrating moments. There were moments that I would just let go of the bar and lay on my back, frustrated because my kite would not re-launch while Chris was doing laps around me, trying to show me how it’s done. He made it look so easy!
After 10 days in the snow, I went to Third Ave in San Mateo, California to give the water a try. I went for one body drag to practice and then took the board out. I was immediately up and riding on my twin-tip! Three days later, I was able to stay up wind! Once you can do that, you progress quickly and every session seems better than the last!
Best Places to Learn to Kite on water:
- La Ventana, Mexico
- Hood River, Oregon - US
- Sherman Island, CA - US
- Third Avenue, Foster City, CA - US
- Turks and Caicos - BVI's
- Florida (anywhere with sea breeze) - US
Like anything else, you are always learning and progressing with kiting. With the advanced gear today, kiting is safe and actually quite easy to learn. Give it one season (a few weeks) and you will be up and riding in no time! It is truly an incredible sport that always keeps you on your toes. I still have days’ where I feel like a total beginner and get kite-mares but that is all part of the sport. If you really want it, put in the work. The time spent is worth the reward. Always.
Xx, Erin