Like many Alaskans, I get annoyed while driving the Seward Highway when slow drivers backing up traffic don't pull over. I also grip the wheel a little tighter when tourists swerve to the side to observe goats or to see whether white caps are belugas. The highway is dangerous enough. The added obstacle of random motorists on the side of the road walking around their car to point their iPhones at wildlife is unnecessary.
One thing always puts me in a good mood, though; seeing people fly around the middle of Turnagain Arm with kites. If you live in the Anchorage area, you've no doubt seen the silhouettes in head-to-toe drysuits, slicing across the Inlet with their feet on a board and kite high in the air. After I've been driving for a long time or am frustrated with the RVs, I am proud of the kiteboarders who break free of day-to-day activities to play in the wind and water.
While gawking, I've often wondered who these people are. I'd assumed they were superhuman -- one part extreme adventurer, two parts extremely capable. Finally, earlier this week, I got to talk with two of them -- one who kiteboards for fun and one who instructs. Turns out I was right.
'Pretty cool sensation'
Darren Mattingley, an outdoor enthusiast who kiteboards for fun, made the whole endeavor sound suspiciously simple.
"You've got a kite in the sky, you're flying it, and once you get going up on the water you're gliding," he said. "It's a pretty cool sensation."
Mattingley described himself as a "rookie," having taken up kiteboarding earlier this year. He described it as a natural extension of snowboarding, and said many of the lessons, such as how to carve and turn on a snowboard, carried over.
"I've been going downhill all my life, down mountains," he said. "But this is a new alley. You don't have to buy a lift ticket or a pass or anything like that."
Mattingley checks the Alaska 511 website's wind condition reports before he goes out (he calls the service a godsend), and coordinates his kiteboarding with the tides so he's safe and has plenty of time available for kiting. He wears a dry suit, and when he started in early April, he also wore a down sweater underneath. He calls kiteboarding a full body, mostly anaerobic workout that leaves him sore almost every time. He is working hard enough that even though he's playing in cold water, only his face and hands are chilled by the spray. He loves the sport because it allows him to harness the wind.
Still, he mentioned to me that he'd broken his ankle. How? I wondered.
"Kiteboarding," he said casually and without further explanation. Still, he didn't seem daunted. His advice for anyone looking to try the sport? "Take a lesson. Definitely take a lesson."
Snowkiting, paddleboarding too
Tom Fredericks, owner of Alaska Kite Adventures, offers lessons in kiteboarding and its winter counterpart, snowkiting, and also is the co-owner of Stand Up Alaska, a paddleboard outfit in Wasilla. Once a professional whitewater kayaker, Fredericks saw kiteboarders for the first time while working in the Columbia River Gorge in Hood River, Oregon, where the sport started. Impressed, he moved to Hood River, determined to learn the sport. He spent a winter repairing kites in a shop before learning how to kiteboard himself. Then, in 2006, he began teaching. After a few years, there was opportunity for him to instruct in Alaska so "I packed my car with my kites and my dog, and the rest is history."
Fredericks said it's important to learn how to kiteboard with an experienced instructor, and those are hard to come by in Alaska.
"A couple other guys do it part time, but I'm the main guy in Southcentral Alaska. The people who kite don't really want to teach their friends because it's a big commitment in time and energy." Fredericks compared kiteboarding to learning to drive: "If you have a drivers-ed teacher, the chances of passing your examination are pretty good. If you don't and you're learning on your own, it could be a little chaotic."
Fredericks prefers one-on-one lessons, and since the wind and weather is so variable, sessions frequently are scheduled the night before or same day. For beginners with no experience, he requires 12 hours of practice before allowing newbies to kiteboard on their own. This means a three-to-four-day commitment for would-be kiteboarders. "In those four days, we're going to different locations, we're feeling different wind speeds because every day you kite, it's a different wind speed. That's what keeps it a dynamic sport instead of a static sport."
The Alaska Kite Adventures course covers:
• Wind theory;
• "Neutral and power zones" on the kite;
• How weather, especially high and low pressure systems, impact kiting conditions;
• Tides, currents, and water temperature.
"I start out the first day with a very small 2- or 3-square-meter kite, just to teach you where the zones are, just enough so you're not getting in over your head. It's more of a finesse sport than an overpowering sport," Fredericks said.
Safety and exercising good judgment is stressed, for good reason. Compared to places like Maui and other warm-water spots where the sport is taught, Alaska is challenging.
"If you can kite in Alaska, specifically Turnagain Arm, you can kite anywhere in the world and be confident and competent," Fredericks said.
Thrill seekers
Fredericks estimates about 100 people in Southcentral Alaska are competent kiteboarders. "Kind of like a climber, or whitewater kayaker, you have to be a thrill seeker," he said.
And a thrill seeker with some disposable income. The cost of getting into the sport can be prohibitive. Different sized kites are needed for different conditions, and the dry suit, helmet, and harness adds to the cost. Then there are lessons. Mattingley compares the cost to a really nice bike, about $5,000 for a full setup that allows you to get started.
While this seemed like a lot of training and investment to me at first, once I started thinking about it, I realized that it's like many other pursuits. The money and time, if you are fortunate enough to have them, are put toward the love of doing something.
At some point, the time and cash simply become a means to an end. Kiteboarders dove into a hobby that helped them get to know themselves and the place they live much better.
I for one am happy they are out there.
Outdoors columnist Alli Harvey lives, works and plays in Anchorage.