the high start

although the most reliable and coolest method to bring the kite up to 200 m or 666 feet without wind (at kite festivals with hight clearing, else 60 m), we discovered, that it's not easy for people to keep calm before the start. the high start offers some relevant conveniences:

you can position the kite at a beautyful or even a spectacular place on the ground: onto a rock, at the opposite bank of the silvaplana lake, on claudia and martin schobs van, ore simply on the perfect flat grass of a football ground, virtually a lab start. if there's a light breeze blowing, place a stone ore a bough onto the spreader to keep the kite on the ground.

you don't have to lay out at least 300 feet of your flying line to the ground, that's a boring waste of time. instead, attach the line to the kite and linger to your start position, until the line is running out on your reel. in my case, that's after two or three hundred meters.

now you start the kite with a resolute pull, so that the long way home or whatever inclines to its kite-climbing-attitude. you can pull through without any hurry and observe the rising path of your kite. pull it further up to the zenith, or better, much more beyond: this results in an elegant, expanded flight curve at the top: lift in glider mode. or:
you initiate an early half flatspin at an altitude of 20 or 50 m, followed by a fly away, 200 m far from you. in this case, make sure to have extra 100 feet of line or more laid out well sorted on the ground.

so: when others are struggling around with a short line, the pro stays cool: thanks to a competent high start!

other launching methods and moves | service, flightcard | start of the furka-movie

reverse line handling

during the first fly away of a session the kite should carry the line out without problems to avoid an early abrupt stop of the still young flight. there's a practical line handling concept: lay out the line on the ground in such a way that it never has to force itself out under a bulk of line. instead, it should follow the gliding long way home without restraint, without absorbing the kinetic energy of the moving kite.

again, ok ok, the high start is a logical solution: attach the flying line to the kite and lay out a generous amount walking, the reel in your hand, straight away from the kite. then, during the climbing phase, the pulled in line facing the kite will always rest on top of the bulk.

in the evening while reeling the line onto the spool: again, i have to work hard operating the line out of the heap! not necessarily: the end of the line facing the kite will naturally always be on top of the pile. if it's not the case, try to optimize your flying style.....
go to the landed kite, remove the line, tie it around a second reel and wind up. voila: no stress.

you can get the same effect with a single reel, if you are cool enough at the beginning of a session and have a small ground peg in your pocket: 
similar to the line-handling at dual line kite or revolution flying, the whole line is rolled out from the winder or the reel and layed out carefully on the ground: