Kite Swinging

The basic idea is to hang a steel cable off the side of a bridge, long enough to almost reach to ground or water below. At the end of the cable is a harness, into which the swinger is strapped. Once secured, the swinger gains momentum and height by using a special kite that has been designed for rapid deployment and collapse.

Depending on a variety of factors--the height of the bridge, size of the kite, strength and consistency of the wind, weight of the swinger, etc.--kite swingers of various persuasions can engage in the sport in their own style. Speed freaks could use smaller, but faster-to-deploy-and-collapse kites to maximize their swing time, while the more idyllic could use larger kites to actually sustain themselves at an altitude higher than the anchor point.

While the use of steel cable might appear to make this sport safer than bungee jumping, it does present its own risks. First, the g-forces generated by the travel through extremely long arcs may be severe. I am no calculus genius, so I will leave it to others to calculate the g's generated by falling through arcs of varying radii.

Another obvious hazard is bridge supports. This risk can be mitigated by judicious measurement of the cable length and distance from the anchor point to the piling.

Watch out for large boats.

Less obvious is the risk of "jolting trauma". This can occur if drops are made from elevations much higher than the anchor point on the leeward side of the bridge. Even worse could be a wind that pushed a swinger, ascending the windward portion of the arc on a long cable, backwards, such that a lot of slack is created in his cable. Shock absorbers could be placed somewhere along the length of the cable to lessen this danger as well.

As with any extreme-type sport, those who can manage the risks could find joy in inventing tricks that challenge the body and please the eye...or the camera.

If any of this ever appears on ESPN2, I don't demand any royalties, but some free gear and other assorted schwag from the sponsors would be greatly appreciated.