How to learn a kiteloop safely

Advanced A kiteloop steers the kite through a full circle downwind of you while you are in the air. It is the most adrenaline-dense move in the sport and the one with the least forgiving failure modes. Take it as a graded ladder, each rung normalising part of the sensation before it adds consequence.

1. Downloops on the surface. Loop the kite downward through a transition or a straight-line ride. This teaches the steering input and the "keep pulling until it's done" commitment at almost zero risk. Do downloop transitions until they are boring.
2. Downloop landings. After an ordinary jump, as you begin to descend, loop the kite above your head in your direction of travel. The kite stays high, and the loop is about control and soft landings rather than power. Do these off moderate boosts with the kite in a high, stable position. It is the first loop in the air worth having.
3. Low, underpowered kiteloops. Your first true loops: a small jump, or even a hard pop, kite around 11 rather than at 12, then pull hard and continuously on the back hand until the kite completes the circle and climbs back overhead. Do them low, slightly underpowered, on a smaller kite in 20 knots or more. A 7–9 m turns faster and finishes the loop sooner.
4. Powered and late loops. More height, the kite pulled later and harder, and the signature horizontal yank through the air. The higher you are when you loop, the more time the kite has to complete the circle and come back overhead to catch you. The dangerous windows are counterintuitive: very low powered loops, and mid-height ones.
5. Megaloops. Wind over 30 knots, 15–25 m of height, the kite looping through the very bottom of the window, with rotations, board-offs and doubles added on top. This is competition territory.

Non-negotiables all the way up the ladder: an impact vest, a helmet once there is height in it, deep water clear of obstacles downwind, and steady rather than gusty wind, because a gust dying mid-loop leaves you under a stalled kite.

Read the spot page before you commit to a session: it lists the hazards, the rules and whether the wind there is gusty. Plenty of excellent lifelong kitesurfers never loop. It is a choice, not a requirement.