U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issues Ban on Tube Kiting

By Mark Hoerrner

The U.S. Army’s Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division, has issued a warning to recreation seekers on Corps waterways to stop the practice of "tube kiting," a popular extreme water sport.

Tube Kiting involves a large rubber tube pulled by a speedboat. At higher speeds, generally above 25 mph, the tube will take flight and soar into the air. The kiting portion involves standing on the tube and surfing until gravity inevitably takes control, usually in the form of inverting the rider and slamming them at high speed into the water.

Following on the heels of a public warning released by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, which is charged protecting the public from death or injury from over 15,000 products, the Corps took action and released a prohibition on the activity. The National Park Service had already begun to examine the sport, banning it in at least one national park that includes Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Two deaths and more than 12 injuries have been confirmed by the USCPSC and dozens more have been reported. The agency cited a multitude of reasons for the casualties, chief among them being the uncontrollability of the tube in flight. Other reasons include unskilled boat drivers, the unpredictability of weather conditions and possible equipment malfunctions.

Minnesotan Travis Kladivo, an experienced snowmobiler and extreme sports enthusiast, was one of the people recently injured while tube kiting.

"I was flying about perfect and all of sudden I shot up about maybe 20 to 30 feet," Kladivo told ABC affiliate News Channel 5 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, "I was ejected off the kite tube after a gust of wind threw me."

Kladivo’s crash collapsed both lungs and sliced through his aeorta. He was given a less than one percent chance of living, but woke up two days later in the intensive care unit at Hennepin County Medical Center.

After his injury, Kladivo says the sport is just too dangerous.

"You can't control the wind," he says. "A gust of wind will take you and just sail you 50 feet in just seconds."

Kladivo is not the only one speaking out against the sport.

Wisconsin resident Jack Schreve lost a longtime friend in a recent tube kiting incident. He and seven friends were out on a lake trying out the specialized tubes which can run as much as $600. He said he and his friends read the instructions and kept the boat speed low, only managing to get the tube a few feet into the air.

"Everyone was excited that they got it to work, but little did they know that he had already fallen off and was laying unconscious face down in the water," Schreve said in an interview with WISC TV in Waunakee. "Even though he was 6 feet up in the air, it knocked him out (when he) hit with that kind of impact."

As a result of pressure from the USCPSC, Wego, a popular manufacturer of Kite Tubes, has recalled its entire line.