Video: Kite Skiing in Alaska

If you’ve read my updates on the progress of the explorers in Antarctica this season, you’ve no doubt seen a few mentions of kite skiers out on the ice. What is kite skiing actually? It is the use of a large kite to catch the wind, and pull you along across the snow and ice. If wind speeds are good, it can provide a lot of speed, allowing skiers to cover surprising distances in a short amount of time.

In this video we travel to another frozen landscape, as we follow skier Damien Leroy to Alaska where he does some kite-skiing of his own. In the two-minute clip you’ll get a chance to see how kite-skiing works, and just how fast it can propel someone along. The results just might surprise you.

Kraig Becker