I Am So Stoked! :D

Nak · Tue Aug 04, 09 9:53 am **I Am So Stoked! :D**

No offense to the "why are kites expensive" thread, but I am just pumped over how great this sport is. And cheap. Yeah, the initial investment is high, but cost/session is so damn cheap!

I was riding the other day at RR, and I just started thinking how lucky we are to have this sport and all of the great equipment available. I even tried an un-hooked jump I was so stoked! (Of course, that ended with a self-rescue... Embarassed

)

I get around 60 sessions a year. If I buy 2 new kites a year, at full retail, that's only $50 a session. If I buy closeout gear I can halve that. If I buy used and keep my kites a couple of years I can bring that down to $5/session! Compare that to any other adrenaline sport...

I'm definitely nowhere near the best rider out there. No, really. Very Happy

But I AM having as much fun as anyone. When I'm skimming across the water and then send the kite... Wow. Or the time that two dolphins paced me for a couple of hundred yards... All I can think is thank God there are kites!

I just wanted to thank the manufacturers and the shop owners for staying stoked on this sport and making it possible for us to get out & ride! Very Happy

Rollo Tomasi · Since 17 Mar 2005 983 Posts Attractive

Agreed plus the amount of space needed to haul this gear is pretty small.
As much as I love wakeboarding/boating it's much less hassle and a fraction of the cost.
I think I'll try kiteboarding again soon.

Mark · Tue Aug 04, 09 10:31 am

Sold!

Lets get a sess in today. PM me.
mark

skaterdad · Since 16 Jun 2008 54 Posts Portland

Nak, You said it Brother. I was kiting yesterday, basically 'mowing the lawn' but with some great turns and a few pops here and there, grinning the whole time, thinking the same thing. Ive done some cool shit in my time, but Kiting...well you know.

On top of that everbody is so effen rad. Nice. normal but not. friendly. unique.

Stoked to be involved in this sport and get to know some and eventually most of you!

Viva nwkite!

Sella · Tue Aug 04, 09 11:50 am

KITING RUINED MY LIFE.....because now I don't get anything else done!

I suck donkey dicks (or is it chicken dicks now?) when it comes to style but when you really run the math with time on the water vs. cost it's by the far the cheapest stoke you can get that brings so many levels of style for waves, butter, wake and snow to your front door it's laughable.

I also respect the sport is not for 99% of the population so if you're a local pro or local kook it's still cool you're throwing down, or trying to throw down, in a sport that most people can't even imagine trying.

Nak · Tue Aug 04, 09 12:07 pm

eli_anderson · Since 04 Jun 2007 507 Posts Addicted

I'm permanently sore every morning coffee never taste better and the very first thing I do in the a.m., besides make my sugar lunch and breakfast, is check the wind.

wrhammer · Since 17 Jul 2009 40 Posts Battle Ground

I agree! I don't care anymore about work, my house, car, (wife)... the only thing I worry about is where to go and what size kite I should use. I get the same feeling of freedom as when I fly a plane but without the cost. LOVE IT!! STOKED!

Kraemer · Since 24 Apr 2006 1736 Posts Sky Pilot Unicorn Captain

Full stoke at my house.... as I subconsciously count down the days until the easterlies...

New Record After Down Time

Most users ever online was 306 on Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:32 am

grinder · Wed Aug 05, 09 7:06 pm

Man, it's a fact.

Going from windsurfing to kiting last year I sold all my WS gear, bought all new kite gear (four kites, two bars), new wetsuits, harness, blah... and had enough left over to get a new Turner 5 Spot!!.

Not to mention that I don't even need my van anymore and can carry all my gear in my element whenever AND I don't have to deal with transporting gear to Ventana or maintaining a quiver there for just a few weeks use a year. Kiting is a huge score just on logistics alone.

And OBTW....It's fn FUN!

$ociopath · Since 28 Nov 2007 523 Posts Twilight Zone Addicted

4 or more days a week driving to spots,gas,changing the oil in your pickup every two weeks,sand in everything,no time for anything else,broke from buying the newest gear,kitemares,skunks,bruises,untangling rat nests,sharks,getting kicked out of Lyle. Other than that it is pretty cool. Laughing

Nak · Wed Aug 05, 09 8:55 pm **Re: kiting sucks**

ryan800 · Since 09 Dec 2007 64 Posts Seattle

I would just like to say that I too am stoked to be kiteboarding.

holly · Since 09 Jul 2006 440 Posts Hood River Obsessed

Yeah!!! Finally people that get it!!! man all I want to do is kite, and people I talk to that dont kite dont get it!!!! they think im crazy...when im not workin im chasing the wind...(probably why I dont have a BF...lol-no time) I saw this van in padre that said LIVE TO KITE..ahh I love it!!

Blue · Since 03 Jul 2007 469 Posts I used to be Obsessed

Third day in a row today. Fiftieth this year! I am sure one day my kids will say their delinquencies are caused by dad's dedication to pumping, flying and shredding. Folks at work can barely tolerate my constant fixation on newest meteorological data. But than again I work for a government, and I am sure some of you will see it as a perfectly reasonable spending of a taxpayers dollars Smile

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 854 Posts Seattle Opinionated

yeah kiting is totally cheap except when you factor in how much time you lose at work from cutting out early and calling in sick to catch that perfect sesh. Laughing

this kiting thing is proving to be very expensive in lost productivity and hours for me Smile

kiteboarding ruined my life too. Laughing

rodeo clown · Since 29 Jan 2007 40 Posts Seattle

Maybe this is why we dig it so much...cuz we are decendants of aquatic apes.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elaine_morgan_says_we_evolved_from_aquatic_apes.html