Winds were around 8 - 9 mph today and I was skiing at my local frozen lake. I saw another kiter (first one I have seen).

So I started working my way upwind to him to say hello.

I was getting in a few small jumps on the way. Well...one went bad when I sent the kite to around 1:30 and I got surprised by the height. I choked and did not redirect. This sent me backwards & kind of upwind and I landed on my back. The next thing I remember is waking up in the back of an ambulance on the way to the Hospital

I must have thumped my head pretty bad...I have no clue who called 911 or who wrapped up my kite and lines. I was wearing a brand new Giro Fuse snowboard helmet. It has a nice dent in it now.

The Cat scan came back good – I’m so happy I was wearing a helmet

What a crappy day…

ole sh.t

dont know what to say, but glad that you are ok now.

I guess you were flying this SA19 to get that high

take care.

glad you are ok
Someone did some good looking out, by packing up your equip.

oh man! I am so sorry to hear that. Hope you recover from it soon without any long term effect. Good thing you were wearing a halmet.

eh, thanks god you are okey, get better davinch.

Thanks guys! Yeah, I was flying the 19m SA2. The jump wasnt anything spectacular but the landing must have been really hard.

I feel fine - no broken bones (just a sore tailbone).

It's just crazy. I would have never expected to get hurt today. I was just cruising along. I'll be using my full face motocross helmet the rest of the season

Glad you are OK and your kite gear was packed up for you. A good lesson for others to not ski alone (a rule I never follow )and never go out unprotected.

So, what's the story while you were out? Who called 911 and who packed up your kite? Just curious.....

I'm still not sure who packed it up? I plan on going out next weekend and maybe I'll meet up with the other kiter.

There were a few cars stopped watching me. Maybe they saw me go down and called 911.

I was happy to see all my gear when I woke up

Feel OK this morning - it feels like I went out drinking last night...

WOW! That sounds scary i'm glad you're ok! I've landed on my back a few times after screwing up 360s and that's always how i've hurt myself the most!

PS. I sent you a psychotic colored psycho this morning, priority mail... should be with you before the end of the week

i have had the same things happen except not on a kite, but the waking up after an injury in a hospital, i was so scared. totally freaked out. good thing your okay though.

Yeah...I still can't believe it happened. It wasn’t even that crazy of a jump - just a hard landing on ice.

Thanks for the info Dom! I'll be ready to fly again by the weekend,

Joe

:wow:

Sure glad you are O.K. ! I'ld hate to imagine the outcome if you didn't have a helmet ?

Thanks for sharing !

P.S. Baluck, Has your Sister started to recover ?

Thanks Snowbird!

Here's a picture of the helmet where it hit the ice.

Glad to hear you're ok! A good reminder to follow the basic safety precautions that others have mentioned, i.e don't go out alone and always wear your brain bucket. Looks like your helmet took a good whack.

FYI, if you ever happen to come across someone who's been knocked out on the ice, here are some tips to follow:
http://www.infosports.com/clvclinic/moveornotneckinjuries.ht...

Thanks for the link scissor.

As for not going out alone, that's a tough one. There are not many kiters here - especially on a cold nasty day on a frozen lake

I always have a cell phone. However, it didn’t do me any good yesterday...

Glad to hear everything is pretty good with you DaVinch! Even better that it was like you got to go party. heh.

Snowbird... thanks for asking - she's doing fine as far as I know. She flew a kite this weekend, in light winds... but still. and she took two kites from me this morning as she left to go back to her home.!! arrgh.

But I have a Liquid Force M-80 to try out for a week or two.. so I pretty happy with that, heh. However, I won't be able to go out for a week or so... I hurt my ribs, nothing broken, but I can barely move for anything that involves moving my arms upwards or forwards... :thumbsdown:

PS- not that anyone really cares :D, but my last name is pronouced Bah-luke. Not Bah-Luck.

Glad you are OK DaVinch! I shattered a helmet couple of weeks ago in a similar backwards fall, but from an OBE onto hardpack sand.

Got a new Bell to replace it and was pleased to see that they still have a replacement policy. If you have a wreck, send it in with store reciept, a letter describing the detail of the accident so they can use it for R&D, and about $25 and you get a new helmet.

Wow, thats some hardcore damage to your Brain Bucket..

Man, You could have been seriously messed up for maybe life if You were not wearing it...

Damn, just a very good thing you were wearing it..Glad You are OK

Glad you're ok and there's no permanent damage...Could have been so much worse...I'm no doctor but if I remember correctly, that's where my brother hit his head and he still can't smell or taste!

Bummer, DaVinch -

Sounds like you lucked out.

An experienced kiter here in Minnesota on Lake Waconia last week decided to try some tow-ups behind is pickup truck becasue winds were so light. We've lost most of our snow cover on the lakes, and the surfaces are icy. Things seemed to be going well with smaller jumps, so he went up 30-40 feet . After unhooking the tow rope with one hand so he could glide down, he misplaced the right hand, pulled the bar left in the process, looped the kite, lost power, and dropped like a brick. Tried to tuck and roll, but slammed onto both heels and shattered them along with his left leg. Full recovery will take a year, and he may not be able to kite again.

Full details of that one are on www.windancing.com

Take care and be safe.

krumly

Wow - that's sounds bad Krumly!

I wasn’t doing anything that crazy. In fact, I was just kind of cruising getting in some small jumps. I still can’t believe I got knocked out...

I’m still hoping to find out who helped me and thank them

We need some more snow here also. The lake is mostly bare ice with a few patches of blown snow.