Free Safety Clinic (Wrap Up)

MarkWorth · Since 02 May 2011 149 Posts Hood River Stoked

Free Safety Clinic 1:30 Saturday April 27 and 1:30 Sunday April 28 at the Hood River Event Site

I will be teaching a free one hour Bodysurfing Upwind and Board Recovery Clinic 1:30 Saturday April 27 at the event site.
The clinic will focus on
1) Avoiding separation from your board
2) Tracking your board’s location when you have separated from it
3) Bodysurfing upwind to recover your board
The clinic will start on the event site lawn with a classroom sesion and then move out into the river for the second half.

I will be teaching a free one hour Self Rescue clinic 1:30 Sunday April 28 at the event site.
The clinic will focus on
1) When to self rescue and when it’s too dangerous.
2) How to safely move to the kite as you wind up the lines.
3) How to safely move to the kite without winding the lines.
4) How to get the kite into self rescue position
5) Self rescuing to a safe location

The clinic will start on the event site lawn with a classroom sesion and then move out into the river for the second half.

These clinics are offered in the hope of reducing the number of kiteboarders exposed to dangerous situations in the Gorge.
Students can prepare for the clinics with online instruction at:
http://www.gorgekiteboardschool.com/cgi-shl/12-online.pl

Sella · Wed Apr 24, 13 12:15 am

Very cool Mark. Thumb's Up

If you're new to the game these info hours are pure gold and Worthy of your time. Besides, the weekend forecast is shaping up so nothing better than a free refresher before you go hit it hard. Smile

4Stringer/KipWinger · Since 27 Apr 2005 541 Posts Hood River Addicted

I was just thinking that I need a refresher as it's been years. Hope to attend. Thank you.

MarkWorth · Since 02 May 2011 149 Posts Hood River Stoked

We will also cover Safely Launching and Landing Kites each day

knotwindy · Since 25 Sep 2011 615 Posts Addicted

sweet. appreciate the time and effort you are putting into helping others. hope it is well attended. we can all use a refresher now and then.

Bettyboarder · Wed Apr 24, 13 12:09 pm

Thats awesome.

ShiverMeTimbers · Since 26 Feb 2013 381 Posts Gig Harbor Obsessed

will you be doing another clinic in June? I would like to attend.

MarkWorth · Since 02 May 2011 149 Posts Hood River Stoked

Thanks for the interest and support
I am waiting until I see the response before scheduling additional clinics.

My normal summer hours start the next weekend and that schedule does not easily accommodate an additional hour of teaching, but I am working on finding another hour in the day, or the student that would prefer a short two hour lesson insted of the normal 3 hour on that June clinic week end.

bulae99 · Since 12 Jul 2006 1691 Posts I give out bad advice.

Very cool opportunity.

MarkWorth · Since 02 May 2011 149 Posts Hood River Stoked

I have had a few calls and messages with the same question.
Where do I sign up for the Free Safety Clinics?

Answer:
You can just show up at the event site.

The number of students should not be a problem for the classroom part and once on the water a little traffic control goes a long way.

Feel free to let me know you are comming if you like.
you can pm me or use the contact page at:
https://www.gorgekiteboardschool.com/cgi-shl/10-contact.pl

Students can increase the value of the instruction by peparing for the class.
they can read relevent chapters at the online school :
https://www.gorgekiteboardschool.com/cgi-shl/12-online.pl

A.K. · Since 01 Jul 2006 190 Posts Stoked

Jump on this opportunity guys. Valuable tips from easily one of the most experienced and highly regarded instructors in the industry..

A.K.

melokitegirl · Since 28 Oct 2008 396 Posts Where the wind blows Obsessed

Cool beans, Mark! What a great thing to do.

MarkWorth · Since 02 May 2011 149 Posts Hood River Stoked

The online School is working again.

Sorry for the inconvenience.
I was building slide show of school pages for the display system at the second wind store and left a short test cycle running in the program controlling the online school.

It should be working properly at this time.

The Fundamentals Of Kiteboarding by Mark Worth:
http://www.gorgekiteboardschool.com/cgi-shl/12-online.pl

JeffT · Since 07 Jul 2012 238 Posts Deep Southern Portland Stoked

Mark - thank you so much for spending your time to put on these two clinics. I attended both and learned a TON! I'm so glad I was able to attend both. You have a great deal of experience and it comes through in your teachings.
You covered much more than was outlined in this thread. I wish I had a recording of it (there's so much to absorb). I was very surprised you spent as much time as you did helping people one-on-one with the upwind body drag technique (way more than your 1hr allotted time). You are very generous!

Thanks again and I look forward to utilizing some of the skills you covered in these two clinics.

If anyone is looking for a highly skilled and experienced instructor don't hesitate to give Mark Worth at Gorge Kiteboarding School a call.

ezryder111 · Since 24 Dec 2012 131 Posts SE Portland Stoked

I agree with Jeff, thank you for spending your weekend giving free instruction. I will use your knowledge and try to pass it on!

WindWarrior · Since 13 Apr 2008 64 Posts

Hey Mark,

I hope you had a good turnout and all learned the basics!?! A buddy on mine just lost his new board last week and was really pissed that he could not kite upwind/upriver to retrieve. Glad to say, someone rescued it and returned his board. Boy could he have used your 1 hour lesson!!!!

Cheers and thank you!

MarkWorth · Since 02 May 2011 149 Posts Hood River Stoked

Thanks you to all who showed up for the clinics.
We all learned from each other and strengthened the bond of the kiteboarding community.
Big thanks to NWKite and Second Wind, Windance, and Big Winds for spreading the word.
Over 20 students showed up and we covered a lot of safety information.
The Students who worked in the water Saturday afternoon all went up wind very successfully with 5 minutes practice.

For those of you who were at the class but did not have an opportunity to work with me in the water I have 1 suggestion:
The only problem students have once their body is under control is that their instinct is to try to go at an upwind angle that is too close to the wind.
Start out going directly toward your kite, and after you start moving and establish floe (steerage for you boaters), only then turn up wind and carve.
If you turn too far upwind or start at an upwind angle your body will stall.
You will feel a big pull and lose your edge and slide sideways towards the kite instead of carving up wind.
You are now a sea anchor instead of a wing.

I encourage JeffT and the other students to take 30 minutes to review the information I covered on line at :
[url] http://www.gorgekiteboardschool.com/cgi-shl/12-online.pl [/url]
The review will allow you to internalize some of the information that I only touched on.

For the intermediate and advanced kiters that want a more effective way to get upwind to the board then the industry standard body drag they were taught,
I strongly recommend spending 10 minutes with the online school learning these completely different concepts.
Stop body dragging and learn to bodysurf instead, it’s more fun and you actually move up wind every time.

Thanks for the support.

I had a great time and I will consider offering another free safety clinic in May focusing on additional subjects, if people are interested.