Gabriele Steindl: Professional Kitesurfer & Freelance Writer - Action, Lifestyle & Travels

Is kiteboarding dangerous?

Generally kiteboarding is a safe sport as long as one:

a)  goes through a professional introduction & training  and

b)  ALWAYS respects the power of nature.

I usually compare its danger level to scuba diving which is a safe sport as long as one does a course and progresses through experience from  ‘open water-level’  to ‘advanced’ to ‘rescue diver’ and so on.  If one would go to a shop and simply buy a scuba diving equipment and go diving, an accident is pretty much pre-programmed.

It’s the same with kitesurfing with the small but very profound difference that there’s no license officially required like in scuba diving… one actually  c a n  just go into any shop, buy a kite and go hurt him/herself…

Although kitesurfing is easier to learn than windsurf or surf, 2 reasons make it potentially more dangerous:

1)     The dangers are not as visible as in surfing, i.e. nobody would paddle out into ‘Pipeline’ (Oahu’s North Shore) who doesn’t have the skill to do so,  whereas in kitesurfing the power of the wind is not as obvious as the one of a monster-wave.

2)    One is attached to the equipment and in some situations it’s a matter of a split second that one has to react in order to avoid an accident from happening.  Experience is the main factor when it comes to that reaction.

Related content : accidents, beginner, dangers, learning, training