Alex and the kite:
Shortly after I had bought a new and particularly lethal power kite I was flying it at lunchtime on my school field. Caught by a gust, I was pulled about ten feet in the air. I managed to hold myself together enough to land it, but just barely. Then Alex demanded a go.

"OK" I said. "But you have to make sure you fly it to the side as soon as it gets airborn, or it will have you". "Yeah, yeah Mat" says he. "I've got it".

He had not. The kite rose a few feet above the ground, heading straight up. It seemed to pause and hesitate for a brief moment, and I thought he might get away with it. He did not.

A little bit of a background note here - Alex is extremely fit (far more so than me) and capable of running an eleven second hundred metres.

Powered by that kite, my friends and I later estimated that he covered eighty metres from a standing start in approximately six seconds. Props go to him for hanging on, especially as he was only on his feet for the first thirty - albeit taking strides some twenty feet long. When he finally came to a halt his previously white shirt was green. Not a patch of grass stian - the entire back and side of his shirt was bright, brilliant green which made a nice counterpoint for the angry red of the friction burns coating his right arm. He deserved it though. Pillock.
( MatJ LOOK, Fri 18 Dec 2009, 23:59, 2 replies)

Kiting
All your kiting answers to this and other QOTWs have made me intrigued to tie a kite to a sled and try it on some of the lakes around here.
(FleetlordVT, Sat 19 Dec 2009, 11:55, closed)

Do it
I was kite skiing on a field near my house today. It's great fun. Bear in mind that it really doesn't take as much power as you expect on snow and ice.
( MatJ LOOK, Sun 20 Dec 2009, 17:07, closed)