Finding a good teacher, someone with years of experience, in whom you can have confidence, and who will teach you at a pace you're comfortable with is invalueable.
My local school is just such a place! I can recommend Kitevibe without hesitation; it's run right here in London by my friend Mark Parker. Based in Richmond Park, Kitevibe offers courses ranging from first steps in 2 line powerkiting, right through to advanced buggying and landboarding; all set in the fabulous surroundings of London's largest park.
Kitevibe offers group courses and 1-2-1 Coaching (if you would like to focus on a specific area of your kiting, boarding or buggying or even have a refresher course).
Contact
Mark Parker 07866 430979
Words & pictures: Mark Parker 2009.
KjK
Tuition
Power kiting is a definite muscle memory activity. The more the you do it the better you become. Gradually it'll become instinctive, giving you time to concentrate on other exciting things like buggies, landboards and moving forwards with your kite.
There are any number of ways you can enjoy your new found kite skills, moving on from your first static flying lessons to buggying, landboarding, kitesurfing, snowkiting, in-line staking; in fact, you name it, a kite can probably pull it!
Putting all this together and getting the most from the sport is the role of the kite school. One of the first things any good school should teach you are the essential safety precautions all kiters should abide by.
As a novice kiter, you won't go too far wrong if you remember this:
"If you think the wind is too strong, it probably is".
"If you think your kite's too big, it probably is".
Two line course If you want to get into power kites a 2 line kiting course is the ideal place to start. This course will give you the confidence to fly two line power kites safely and also the core skills to progress onto a four line kiting course.
4 line kites are a serious challenge, delivering more power than 2 line kites; so much so they need brakes, hence the extra 2 lines.
By using brakes you can get a dazzling array of spins, turns, stalls and some very serious power by 'dead spotting' the kite in the strongest bit of the wind.
Buggying Now that you've done your four line kiting course you're ready for the hi-speed world of buggying. Buggies are three wheeled go-karts which use kites for power. Being sat so low to the ground you'll get an immediate rush as you race around and learn how to carve and tack up upwind.
Kite landboarding has to be the fastest growing chapter of the power kite church yet. All the thrill of kite surfing and no need for any lengthy drives down to the coast.
Snowkiting is the sublime marriage of snow and power kiting. By using a power kite on skis or snowboards you can glide across snow on frozen lakes, go off piste on "safari", or even be pulled up the sides of mountains.
De-powerable kites use a bar which slides back and forth increasing or decreasing the power whilst you are harnessed into the kite. Ideal for an intermediate kite landboarder or snow kiter they can generate incredible amounts of power and lift.