While it’s true that all but the hardest core of the snowmobilers have started their annual migration away from Mecca, there is another group that is just getting going — the kite boarders. I don’t know if you’ve seen these guys, but they are certifiably crazy.
Sure snowmobilers blast down the trails at 70 plus miles and hour. Sure they take turns too fast and go where they ought not, from time to time. But one thing separates them from the kite boarders: they have brakes.
Kite boarders have no such thing. They also blast across (or sometimes above) the snow at speeds approaching mach 9 with no brakes (as near as I can tell,) no steering to speak of, and no apparent way to save their own lives.
For the uninitiated, kite boarders strap on a snow board, then attach themselves to a parachute. Sailing upwind (across the wind, actually) they are able to reach speeds well in excess of the wind velocity. What happens if they hit a bump? They’re airborne – sometimes for hundreds of feet (I think that may be some of the “fun” of kite boarding.)
The thing I haven’t figured out is what you do when you want to stop. I mean, there’s still a parachute out there dragging you across the snow. Maybe it’s like riding a tiger. You don’t ride ’til you get tired, you ride ’til the tiger gets tired. I guess when the wind stops blowing, you can reel in the parachute and go home. Let’s see. In Island Park, that would be about July.
