FOXNews.com - Foxlife - Fox Features - Kites Inspire New Extreme Sports: "Some thrill-seekers are taking the phrase 'Go fly a kite!' to new heights.
That's right, kiting is making a comeback with a twist. A growing number of daredevils are adding the childhood wind toys to their favorite outdoor activities, speeding them up and creating new sports, such as kite skating, skiing, snowboarding and even kite surfing.
Known as kite traction sports, the activities have seen a gradual increase in participants over the past decade � but have bloomed in the last couple of years, particularly kite surfing, according to kite traction enthusiast Bob Childs.
"The appeal � for some is the all-out speed and power," said Childs, 42, who sells kite sports equipment on doomwheels.com. "For some it is the sense of motion using only the force of the wind. I personally like both."
Kite traction enthusiasts, who are mostly between 25 and 30 but can be as young as 15, hold competitions around the world. The sports are most popular in Hawaii, the southern East Coast and entire West Coast of the U.S., Australia, Europe and South America, according to Childs.
All the kite sports involve holding onto � or being attached to � the strings of a power kite (a large kite that provides a lot of lift and pull), which can double the speed. Kite skaters, for instance, can hit 60 miles per hour with the power of a strong wind. And kite surfers can reach new heights with Mother Nature's help.
"On the bay, I watch these guys get, like, 30 feet of air," said Beth Mertz, a San Francisco, Calif., resident who snowboards and wakeboards. "Windsurfers get a couple feet, but with the kite they will fly through the air."
Other kite-inspired sports include kite buggying, which is racing around in a small go-kart-like vehicle with a power kite attached, and the particularly treacherous kite jumping, in which people can go 30 feet high over distances of a few hundred feet and perform flips and twists.
"This is surely the most dangerous of all kite traction sports and often leaves enthusiasts with broken bones," said Childs. "Kite jumping should only be performed on soft sand." "
So some idiot thinks he can fly 30 feet into the air, travel hundreds of feet horizontally at great speed, do flips and twists in the air while his kite pulls him along, then be flung against the earth at some unexpected moment of the wind's choosing, and expect to emerge unharmed?
Now that's optimistic
That's right, kiting is making a comeback with a twist. A growing number of daredevils are adding the childhood wind toys to their favorite outdoor activities, speeding them up and creating new sports, such as kite skating, skiing, snowboarding and even kite surfing.
Known as kite traction sports, the activities have seen a gradual increase in participants over the past decade � but have bloomed in the last couple of years, particularly kite surfing, according to kite traction enthusiast Bob Childs.
"The appeal � for some is the all-out speed and power," said Childs, 42, who sells kite sports equipment on doomwheels.com. "For some it is the sense of motion using only the force of the wind. I personally like both."
Kite traction enthusiasts, who are mostly between 25 and 30 but can be as young as 15, hold competitions around the world. The sports are most popular in Hawaii, the southern East Coast and entire West Coast of the U.S., Australia, Europe and South America, according to Childs.
All the kite sports involve holding onto � or being attached to � the strings of a power kite (a large kite that provides a lot of lift and pull), which can double the speed. Kite skaters, for instance, can hit 60 miles per hour with the power of a strong wind. And kite surfers can reach new heights with Mother Nature's help.
"On the bay, I watch these guys get, like, 30 feet of air," said Beth Mertz, a San Francisco, Calif., resident who snowboards and wakeboards. "Windsurfers get a couple feet, but with the kite they will fly through the air."
Other kite-inspired sports include kite buggying, which is racing around in a small go-kart-like vehicle with a power kite attached, and the particularly treacherous kite jumping, in which people can go 30 feet high over distances of a few hundred feet and perform flips and twists.
"This is surely the most dangerous of all kite traction sports and often leaves enthusiasts with broken bones," said Childs. "Kite jumping should only be performed on soft sand." "
So some idiot thinks he can fly 30 feet into the air, travel hundreds of feet horizontally at great speed, do flips and twists in the air while his kite pulls him along, then be flung against the earth at some unexpected moment of the wind's choosing, and expect to emerge unharmed?
Now that's optimistic
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