Kiting Action

When I need an adrenalin hit down here, kiteboarding has replaced my usual snowboarding, mostly due to the lack of any kind of hill and/or way to get up it. It's not such a bad trade off, kiting is probably the best combination of peaceful and exciting I've ever found. There's something incredibly beautiful about zooming along, leaning back against the force of the wind, then at the smallest tug of the power bar as you go over a bump in the snow, you float for what seems like hours (it's really only seconds, but the jumps do last a lot longer than snowboarding).
These photos show vehicle mech, Mat, the most experienced kiteboarder on base, polishing his skills. Unfortunately I can't control my own kite well enough yet to get near the photographer without causing multiple injuries, that's also the reason why my own attempts at jumping tend to end up with me eating large amounts of white powdery stuff. Still...practice makes perfect.