Go fly a kite

[Ripzalot]

I just bought a kite for snowkiteboarding. Wheeeeeeeeeee! Something to do during the dry spells. This will be me in a few weeks.....

[Rampage]

But you know, if we had that much open terrain here... there would be like three major parks!! That and it would a great place for the newest Winter X Game contest... Board-By Babe Ooogling.

[NoKnees]

True Ramapage... At least a couple super booters...

And Ripz, I've heard of a few guys using kites a lot for backcountry access along long glacier approaches... With the right winds they can go up about 20 degree slopes, saving some effort there.

Some folks up in Alaska have been doing it as well. Space is just more of an issue round here.. Looks fun though...

[Ripzalot]

there is a pretty nice snowpark up at the top of where those drag lifts come together plus a bunch of big jumps set up. i got some action on video, need to get it on computer sometime soon and post up.

i've got some skier friends who keep going on about "skinnin up" but i'm way too lazy for that. this might be an easy way to join them (if the wind is right). there are several passes here where people tour, and the wind usually blows up the pass (venturi effect). so kite up, ride down is the plan.

[CanariaChick]

Mine is 7 meters, got it for kitesurfing, but haven't had the right weather conditions yet to use it in the water. Ironically in the Canary Islands the winds get good for kitesurfing after September, which is when I was coming back to Seattle... :rolleyes:

Anyway, what kind did you get? some are multipurpose, you can use them on land and water. Also, I would recommend you practice first to identify the wind's effective area (lower=stronger pull, higher=slowdown), and do figure 8s until you can do them without even thinking. I got really good at flying the kite part, now I need to combine it with the real fun boarding part!

Keep us posted and take more pictures so we can see how you do it!

[Ripzalot]

Mine is 7 meters, got it for kitesurfing, but haven't had the right weather conditions yet to use it in the water. Ironically in the Canary Islands the winds get good for kitesurfing after September, which is when I was coming back to Seattle... :rolleyes:

Anyway, what kind did you get? some are multipurpose, you can use them on land and water. Also, I would recommend you practice first to identify the wind's effective area (lower=stronger pull, higher=slowdown), and do figure 8s until you can do them without even thinking. I got really good at flying the kite part, now I need to combine it with the real fun boarding part!

Keep us posted and take more pictures so we can see how you do it!

i got a cheapie to start with - a Radsails 6.0m. it's a foil kite, used mainly for kitebuggy or snowkiting. it can be used to kitesurf but you don't want to drop the kite in the water (will not re-launch). i'm sharing it with a friend, we'll train with it and see how it performs. he also has a small trainer kite. once we get the hang of it we'll move up to more serious (and expensive) kites. i've got my eye on the Ozone Frenzy kites at the moment. seems to be popular with the snowkite crowd.