Getting your kids kite boarding

Check out this video or the worlds youngest kite boarder.

This is Dylan Collins, 3 years old having fun with his dad, Kevin Collins on Maui. Dylan loves to tandem kiteboard and wants to kitesurf by him self as soon as he gets big enough. Kevin is a professional instructor and is available for kitesurfing coaching by visiting his web site at http://kitehawaii.com 



This is my brother in law brad pulling my middle son Todd around the lake on a sled:

Kite boarding can be dangerous

Excuse the language on this video but here is why you should take lessons before kiteboarding:

Relaunch sucks- Maybe it's time for a new kite

I went bargain basement on my kite and got a used C style kite that is not even in production any longer.  The first two times I was out I had a helper to flip the kite over and help with the relaunch.  I was excited to do it myself however so the other day I went out to the frozen lake and went to town.  After about 45 minutes of trying all sorts of different things to get the kite to launch finally a snowmobiler came by and helped me.  It was embarrassing but at least I got to board for a while till I crashed again and then spent the last hour before darkness set in trying to figure out the relaunch.

I guess it's time for another lesson.  Here is what I found on YouTube/ Vimeo:

This guy makes it look easy but I don't have a nice kite like that one:





This guy does a good job and launches in his boots then puts his board on.  I might have to try that.  It gives him the freedom to walk around moving his kite into the window (Again, having trim on your kite would be handy:




Pretty simple video-  I tried pulling on the line to fold the kite in two but never actually got the kite to fold in half.  Going to try this approach next time out:

Kiteboarding water start- How to

First step take a lesson or two.  These videos are good but nothing beats a instructor to make sure your doing things correctly and safely.  There are a lot of videos on YouTube that show you bits and pieces of how to Kitesurf and many of them are just trying to sell you their dvd.  Here are a few of the videos I found helpful:

Nice basic tutorial on launching the kite on land:



Great kiteboard relauch video for the times you crash your kite in the water.  The same principal applies to a snow relaunch



Good tutorial on Water launch after you get the kite in the air:

Today's Lesson - Find an open area to surf

One of the first things I learned about kite boarding was that it is really important to be aware of your surroundings.  On our first trip to the lake my teacher was quick to identify the nearest power lines, thin ice areas on the lake and large trees.  His point know your surroundings and carry a knife.  I didn't really grasp the importance of that until a few days later when I came across this video:

   Check out the sequence around 1:30 as this snow kiteboarder gets his kite stuck over a pavilion and rips a whole in it (Screen shots below)-

Houston we have a problem

A whole new twist on the sport- Tree climbing kite boarder

Never a good thing!

That's going to hurt your resale value.

This video was from youtube.  Motzzy has a lot of great snowboarding videos and is a pretty good boarder from the looks of it.  Check out Motzzy's channel

Welcome to my kiteboarding adventure

Hi my name is Jon Ballard and I'm a 40 year old web developer from Southern Wisconsin.  I'm new to kiteboarding (In my case kiteskiing) and like a lot of new kiteboarders I've been spending time on the web learning about the sport.

The purpose of this blog is to detail my journey and share resources with other beginners.  I've been lucky enough to have a family member who is a great teacher and I've had a few lessons but I have a long ways to go.  I hope you find my blog useful.  Again, I'm not an expert.  I'm just an addict and want to learn more.

That's me below on my first day of boarding on Castle Rock Lake in Central Wisconsin: