That’s some mad air, brah: Remember that Jeff Foxworthy joke – something to the effect of “you might be a redneck if one or more of your family members has died after saying, ‘Hey, watch this'”? Well, add this to that burgeoning category of high-risk antics: The state is warning boaters and thrill-seekers away from the sport of kite tubing, wherein practitioners are towed behind a boat on a glorified inner tube and, at high speeds, become airborne. Sounds fun, eh? Well, in past weeks a woman was knocked unconscious doing it on Lake Gaston; at poetically named Falls Lake, a man fell 20 feet and snapped a femur; at Lake Norman, a different fellow (we hope) fractured nothing less than his spine during a kite-tubing mishap. Two deaths have been reported in Texas and Wisconsin. If you ain’t skeered yet, you’re purt near a lost cause. State agencies are calling kite tubing “potentially hazardous.” Hmm, you don’t say …
Widening the circle: Earlier this month, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission agreed to partner with N.C. Handicapped Sportsmen Inc., to start making hunting and fishing more accessible to the disabled community. “We’d like to build an awareness of what’s available,” says Edward Mays, president of N.C. Handicapped Sportsmen Inc. “We want more disabled folks who are interested to get outdoors and enjoy themselves. This is a great way to do it.” North Carolina reputedly has one of the nation’s most progressive programs for sports enthusiasts with disabilities. For more information on access, opportunities and adaptive gear, visit www.ncwildlife.org.
