Until recently I was one of those lucky guys who never got injured from kitesurfing, not once in a seven years long kitesurfing career. Two months ago I was practising darkslides. I was at a level where I succeeded with my darkslides in one attempt out of three. The wind was strong the day I injured myself. Around 20 knots and I was well powered with a 10.5m RRD Obsession. To practise darkslides (or any other new trick for that matter) in this wind was probably my first mistake. Anyway, if you’re familiar with the darkslide you know that in order to get out of the slide you must loop the kite at a perfect timing to get a smooth lift and a soft landing. My second mistake this day was that I looped the kite right in the power zone and as a result I was janked horizontally with my legs straight back behind me. Almost like a railey, but with much more power. The third mistake this day was the fact that I was wearing thin boots with good grip. Exactly the same boots as these: 
.
These boots are good, but don’t tight your straps to much, because it will become hard to kick of your board in an emergency situation!
During my loop and horizontal flight something bad happens. My right foot is sliding out of its strap. Still flying I am desperately trying to kick of my board, but it´s stuck to its left foot. There is a fraction of a second where I have to make a decision. Land on my chest/face with the board behind me, with the risk for the board to get stuck in the water and twist my knee and/or ankle. Something which also could turn out very bad considering that I was aiming for a HARD impact. The second option was to quickly pull the board infront of me and take the landing with one foot. I went for the later option. I can tell you that the impact was just as hard as one of those bad landings when you sacrifice your ass to save your knees.
WHAAAM! The landing was like being hit in your face by a straight right from Mike Tyson. As a matter of fact the landing was so hard that my left upper leg went totally paralysed. There was no sound from a cracked bone or a snapped muscle, but the leg just got totally shut down, like it had been electrified. Fortunately I was close to the beack as this happened and I could drift to the beach and land the kite. Once free from the kite I started to investigate my leg. No visible damage, but there was no doubt that the leg had suffered from a severe stretch. To stand up on my feet was out of the question. As it turned out walking was out of the question for more than a week. The first three days I was just lying in my bed. Barely eating and drinking cause it was so painful to jump to the toilet. It felt like my hamstring was being held together by one single muscle fibre. But eventually I was able to slowly start walk again without crutches. This was on day 9 and of course with baby steps.
Today, exactly two months later my leg is still not kiteable. I´ve been to physio therapist three times already and there is a chance that I will do a MR if the medical care agrees. I´m training my leg as good as I can. I follow the the physio therapist program to every point and havn’t missed one single training day. I simply must get back my strength and I´ll do whatever it takes to get back on the water, hopefully stronger than ever. 3-4 months of rehab is the verdict by the physio therapists I´ve talked with.
To fuck up sometimes when kitesurfing is normal. Occasionally it happens to all of us. But what I learned from this injury is that out bodies has limits and if you want to push them make sure that you´re preparred for it. I´ve been training in the gym for 20 years but I can admit that legs havn’t always been first priority. Don’t neglect the fact that you can hurt yourself while kitesurfing. Train hard and stretch to become flexible. Warm up before those insane session, those are my two cents!
]]>This awesome video sum it up =)
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How to TRANSITION JUMP from EPIC KITES on Vimeo.
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KB4Girls held the events in their chapters, maybe you can catch it next time if you’re in the area!
December 1, 2014 – Mexico Chapter: Downwinder from ExotiKite Kiteboarding School to Buena Vista
December 4, 2014 – Morocco Chapter: Downwinder from Moulay to Essaouira
December 5, 2014 – Dominican Republic Chapter: Waveriding Clinic with Audrey
December 6, 2014 – USA/Maui Chapter: Gathering of female kiters at Pavilions
December 6, 2014 – USA/Charleston Chapter: Fun at the Indoor Trampoline Park
December 6, 2014 – Dominican Republic Chapter: Self Rescue Refresher for Female Kiters
December 6, 2014 – Dominican Republic Chapter: Downwinder to Enquentro lead by LEK and Bianca
December 6, 2014 – Israel Chapter: Girls Gathering and SUPing
December 7, 2014 – Australia Chapter: International Female Kite Week celebration
December 7, 2014 – UK Chapter: Girls Week Celebration
If you don’t live near any one of the locations above, you can hold your own event.
Buying a ticket would get you in the event and would also enter you in the raffle and it had over $8000 from sponsors like: 1dayfly-deals, DAKINE, Best Kiteboarding, Baby-G, Nicole Miller,SOLOSHOT, WOO Sports, ALOHA, Biancabikinis, Sensi Graves Bikinis,Girls Love Boards, Kurtis Surf Goggles and Kristin Boese! This is also to help raise funds for KB4Girls and all of it will go directly to covering the event cost and also other awesome future projects.
Are you itching to kite yet? or are you still not quite sure you want to try it? I’ve got it covered! Here’s why you should.
And if you wanna be part of KB4G click here to go to their site. Or you could also donate.
The International Female Kite Week 2015 will be held on November 30 – December 6. Don’t forget to check their site and Facebook page once in a while for updates! See you there!
]]>Brazil is suitable for everybody: beginners can learn to kite in the lagoons and pro’s can enjoy the endless hours of kitesurfing in best conditions. Families that enjoy (windy) beach life will be happy here, and girls alone will feel great.
Kite lagoon at north Brazil
There are many shallow rivers in the kite area in north Brazil, creating a lot of lagoons. The Lagoons near the beach, get the wind from the sea, creating paradise condition for free style kite boarding. The most famous kite lagoon is Cauipe lagoon in Cumbuco. Great place to kiteboard and chill out while watching local and pro’s puling some tricks. You can get to the lagoon by fun 1 hour down trip from the village, and get back with one of the buggy’s available here all day.
Cauipe lagoon, Cumbuco Brazil
Photo by @Hilla Ost
Other great lagoons are the huge tidal lagoon in Ilha do Guajiru , and the huge sea lagoon in Barra Grande. Many smaller lagoons can be found along the kite beach, most are reachable by buggy ride or downwind kitesurfing.
Ilha do Guajiru kite lagoon
Downwind kite trips at north Brazil
The kite area in north Brazil has hundred miles of wide sandy beaches habitat with mainly small fisherman villages. That plus the fact that winds blows constantly from side ti side-onshore direction, allows you to kite downwind along the beach for days. The best way is to have a buggy or a pickup escorting you on the beach. Buggy’s and pickups are not cheap in Brazil, so If you are young and restless, you can kite to the next village, and come back by bus. Just don’t forget your flip-lops.
Refreshing moment in Taiba Paracuru downwind
There are many great small downwinds of 10-20km that you can do daily. The most popular is the 6-8km downwind from Cumbuco to Cauipe lagoon, no transport is needed, just go and take a buggy back at the lagoon. Taiba to Paracuru is amazing downwinds for kitesurfing wave. And you can go for the big downwind (250km) from Cumbuco to Jericoacoara, or even bigger until Barra Grande, sleeping each night at a different village. You can join an organized doanwind, or organize one yourself.
Family kite trip to Brazil
Kids are very welcome in Brazil at any age, people there are very tolerant towards children and very fond of them. Beach hotels, usually have a wind sheltered area by the pool, so even baby’s can enjoy here.
Teenagers can learn how to kite, enjoy buggy rides and horse riding. Kids can surf wave , swim in the lagoons and play football with the locals. Food here is simple and suitable for children. Lots of fruits, grilled meat, rice, french fries and pasta can be found everywhere.
Kite kiteboard at Cauipe Lagoon Cumbuco
Families, can stay at beach hotels, or rent a villa or apartment. If you stay some time in Cumbuco or Jericoacoara, you can arrange yourself a verity of activities. You can arrange Portuguese lessons, and daily Capoeira classes for your family at your hotel. Recommended kite villages for families are Cumbuco, Guajiru and Jericoacoara.
Kite beach hotel Cumbuco Brazil
More information on your next kite trip
All the information about kitesurfing at north Brazil can be found in Go-kite.com – kitesurf traveler guide to Brazil and other spots world wide. How to get to kite spost, where to stay, kite conditions, kite lessons and more.
The author
Naomi Fridman
Go-kite.com
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It’s not just fun and games. Kiteboarding, as extreme as it is can definitely burn some serious calories. Swimming is the best cardio work out there is, combine with it the hardcore tricks and you got yourself a really good work out. But exactly how many calories do you burn on, let’s say, an hour’s worth of kiteboarding? Well, it’s hard to tell but we’ve combined a number of studies to give you a good estimate on how much. Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider like what kind of wind, the level of kiteboarding (intensity), your weight, height, gender and age, the tricks your perform and probably a few more external factors.
One way to measure it is by finding out how much oxygen you take up at rest and how much you consume while doing the activity. Metabolic Equivalents can be a good indicator on how much calories you burn by measuring how much oxygen to take in. One MET is approximately or assumed to be 3.5ml of oxygen per kg of body weight per minute. Extreme activities like Kiteboarding are estimated to be 10-11 METs. Which would mean that you took up 10 (or 11) times the amount of oxygen that you normally would when you are at rest.
The computation would be: average METs x 3.5 x (body weight in kg / 200) OR 10METs x 3.5ml of oxygen x (80.6kg / 200)
For example, the average weight of guys in Sweden is 80.6kg
10 x 3.5 = 35 (80.6/200 = 0.403)
35 x 0.403 = 14.105 calories burned per minute
On a good two hour run, you wouldn’t be consistently doing extreme kiteboarding (or would you?), so you can adjust that number accordingly.
Another factor that you’d have to consider would be the climate and how cold / warm the water is. Aside from the many health benefits you’ll get from swimming in cold water like it boosts the immune system, it invigorates and energizes, it also helps burn calories.
“A study performed at the University of Florida showed slightly more calories are burned in cold water exercise than in warm. In the study, men who exercised for 45 minutes in 68 degree water burned an average of 517 calories. The men who exercised in 91.4 degree water burned 505 calories, on average.” -from an article in LiveStrong (November 13, 2013 by Susan Presley)
There are lots of things to consider when you want a good estimate on how much you burn on each ride but don’t miss out on all the fun. Kiteboarding is one awesome way to help you achieve and maintain that awesome body!
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Salinas Bay is located in the far northwest corner of Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica. It is a remote location that’s often windy with gorgeous untouched beaches not to mention the beautiful scenery. It’s a great place to go to experience the island life, it’s a place where you can be at peace or be the adrenaline junkie that you are. Salinas bay is the go-to place for wind surfers and kiters alike.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner or if you can own the air in your sleep, there’s a place for you to surf in Salinas Bay. It also doesn’t hurt if you know a great kite school that’ll cater to your needs and has programs for your specific skill set. Costa Kite has created programs for every level of kiters, they are committed to help you get the most out of your kiting vacation. All their instructors are IKO (International Kiteboarding Organization) certified and their gears are always up to date. They’ll make sure all your lessons are fun and safe. It’s always good to try something new when you’re on vacation but at all times, you should put safety as your number one priority; Making sure you have all the right gear and using the proper techniques will do just that.
Salinas Bay has constant winds from November to March, this makes it a great place to visit specially for kite boarders and wind surfers. The things you can do while you’re there is not limited to just that though, you can also go hiking, biking, kayaking, fishing, go on boat tours and a lot more. There’s always a lot of things to do when you go on a trip so it’s a good idea if you plan ahead to maximize your time. OR you can just lay on the beach, relax and enjoy the beauty of Costa Rica.
**If you want to inquire, book, or know more about kiting in Salinas Bay, click here.
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