Pop a few airs

Power-kiting is the latest daredevil beach craze and Scotland is ideal for it. Louise Gilbert gave it a twirl

The initial research for this story throws me into a world of unique vocabulary. Power-kiting equipment has, let's just say, rather unusual names.

‘Frenzy', ‘Littledevil' and ‘Meteor' are the names of just a few of the kite models available. Kite-boards are no exception, with such colourful titles as ‘Sicko', ‘Viper', ‘Skidzo' and, my all time personal favourite, ‘The Lord of Hellfire'.

I begin to wonder, is Power-kiting really a sport or is it a pseudonym for some kind of nocturnal underworld activity?

Power-kiting is indeed an exhilarating sport and it's taking off in Scotland. Why? Because, once you've learnt to fly a Power-kite, you can use it to power a variety of different kinds of craft.

That means speed and lots of it, with the added bonus of no engines and limited noise. With a Power-kite, you can wake-board without a boat, snowboard without a ski lift or dune buggy without an engine.

Not only is this sport eco-friendly but it's accessible to all.

The surf at Balmedie Beach, near Aberdeen, is often alive with kite-surfers zooming along as if they're running across the waves.

With the help of a Power-kite, surfers skim the ocean's surface, wind in their hair, sea-spray shooting out from the board, as they carve a path through the water.

The more advanced, might throw in a few somersaults for good measure. Actually, my use of the word ‘somersault' seems slightly insipid next to the phrase “popping a few airs,” which is the terminology used b...

To read the rest of this article you can do any of the following.

• By : Louise Gilbert
• In : Outdoor Scotland
• Issue : 12
• Page : 32
• Words : 1,488