Joe Tyler goes kite skiing in Svalbard: Part Two

Joe Tyler takes the plunge in the second part of his Norwegian adventure

Timo and I head up with the plan for a ride down again, but I decide to take a different line - one that Steve points out on the skier’s right. It looks OK, but I can never tell how steep it’s going to be or what the conditions are like as this environment is all new to me. I just have to trust what I feel.

Whilst Philip gets ready, I set off to find the top of my line. It takes me quite a bit further over towards the mine and I find the top pretty easily. Looking down, the snow just banks down over itself and then over the little valley twists to the skier’s left. It looks pretty mellow once you get around the corner. I stand on top for a while, just checking and thinking about the conditions, wondering which is the best way to go in and get out if it does ‘go’. But this side is held in the shade a little more, so right at the top the snow definitely feels more stable.

Riding on instinct

With anything like this, it’s just making sure that first turn comes off OK. Switch off the brain and once the first turn is done, you are away. I don’t feel the need to look back and check on this one; it just felt nice. So I play a little with the turns, go out around the corner and then I see a little ridge up on my left, so I play with a couple of jumps up and off the ridge for a few turns, then pull up just in time to see Philip flying past. We all make it back down to the bottom and congratulate Philip before jumping back in the car and heading down to the cabin where we left all our gear.

"Switch off the brain and once the first turn is done, you are away"

We just chill out for a while chatting and messing around throwing snowballs. Timo, who is a German chef, starts to talk to me about about the speed glider and how we’d both like to have a go - but we just aren’t sure. So I say that if he does it, then I’ll do it. He just laughs and says exactly the same thing. Everyone starts to get a little hungry so we start to pack up everything and think about heading back into town to grab something to eat. Just before we set off, Einar talks to me and Timo, “What do you two think about the speed glider? Do you want to have a go? It’s the perfect conditions for it right now...” I don’t even have to think, something inside of me just says “Yes”. Then I think - oh shit, here we go!

Overcoming fears

We pack everything into the car and everyone piles in. Just before we get to the main road, which can take us to Mine 7 or back to town, I start to think, well maybe we should just go back to town - but rather than saying anything I say to myself, oh well if he turns left, towards Mine 7 - I’ll do it, and if he turns right towards town I’ll just keep my mouth shut and go with that. Einar hasn’t forgotten and turns left up towards the top.

About half way up Steve asks me, “What are you thinking?” I just reply “I’m scared...” Everyone laughs. As we stop at the top I grab my skis and Einar starts to give me some training about how to get the wing up in the air and then what to do at the moment of take-off and landing. I’m really nervous now because I’ve never done anything like this. I mean, sure, I’ve done a tandem paraglide flight in the past - I even did one this year for my birthday just over a month before and I was fine once we were in the air - but I’ve never just been alone with a wing and flying by myself! Einar gives me a helmet and a last minute confidence boost saying: “It’s a great male bonding experience because you’ll either love me or hate me after.” I just reply: “If I’m still alive, I’ll love you for this.”

Taking the plunge

"If I’m still alive, I’ll love you for this."

Right, here we go! Just got to get the wing up in the air then keep an eye on it to make sure it’s straight, then go fast. I don’t think; I just do it. I push off, ski a couple of metres then try to get the wing in the air, but it just collapses right next to me. Round two - off we go again, but this time the wing comes around the right hand side of me so I stop again. Round three - there isn’t a lot of room left now before the point where the hill just drops away for 600 metres to the valley floor. I’m a little more nervous because I know that I’m not going to have a lot of time to see if the wing is up ok before dropping off down the steep. I set off and straight away I can feel the wing take the air, but again it comes around the right side of me so I collapse the wing and stop a few metres from the edge.

I think everyone is feeling the tension now and if anyone had said maybe we should just leave it for today, I would have agreed and walked away, but no-one says a word. Einar comes down to untangle the wing. I just say to him, “shall I walk up a little higher?” and he replies, “yeah, that’s probably a good idea”. Round four - this time, once we are ready, Einar calls Steve and Timo down to hold the wing up a touch, so it will be easier to get up into the air. Again, there isn’t a lot of room between me and the take-off point, so I’m gong to have to commit fairly early if I’m going to do it.

I’m ready and in my head I was thinking, OK, if I take off, just head for the biggest patch of snow - I don’t care if I have to walk for a while. I just don’t want to land on the rocks. Firstly though, I have to take off, so back to the moment. Everyone is ready. I skate off this time, my eyes firmly fixed on the edge. The wing goes up but starts to come around the right again, but then I give it a little skate for some speed. At this moment I can hear Steve shouting “brake!”, but the wing feels nice. It feels like it has me. I’m going. A couple of metres before the edge I let go of the cords and pull the brakes down a touch to get a smooth take off. This is it. Then silence…and I’m flying, soaring above the ground and just flying straight down towards the valley floor. I’m not worried anymore as I’m in the air and the wing is like a part of me. I can feel it supporting me fully. It’s an amazing feeling. Everything’s quiet. No thoughts - just flying.

"Everything’s quiet. No thoughts - just flying."

The art of flight

I fly for quite some time and seem to be pretty high at some points, and once I feel comfortable I think maybe I should try and turn and land a little closer to the road. Before taking off for my first attempt I remember Philip and Steve saying that the controls were way more sensitive on this than on the paraglider, so you have to make every move slowly. I want to turn to the right, so right hand down. I pull a little on my right and nothing really happens, so I try again. Again, nothing - so I just think, well, let’s just go straight.

I keep flying and then as I get closer to the ground, I remember that I have to slowly pull the brakes down a touch about 10 metres above the ground just to slow down. Then, once I’m two to three metres above the ground, I should pull the brakes on fully to collapse the wing and stop. I’m ready. I’m roughly about 10 metres above the ground, so I pull the brakes down as far as I think I need to, but nothing much seems to happen. I’m now about five metres above the ground, so I pull down a little further and I feel the wing slow. I’m two metres above, so I pull the brakes all the way down and drop down for touchdown but focusing on putting the skis down, I let the brakes come back up a touch, which causes me to touch down then bounce back up. I fully hold them down and land nicely in a snow plough and scream out “Woooooaw! Awesome!”

I’ve got a long walk back to the road but I’ve also got a long smile, from ear to ear.