can anyone tell me whether or not it would work very well under a kite? i'm guessing that anything is better than nothing, but it's listed as a
"park" board and i don't know if that'll matter or not.
most likely this will be used in school fields and will be running around on a sledding hill at a golf course.
i have zero snowboard experience. i was planning on using a snowskate and snowblades this winter along with the fun, fun, fun snowfeet. now i'm given
a free option if you guys think it'll be ok.
thanks, as usual, for any info.
tomjeffnyc - 21-10-2020 at 11:19 AM
Short answer, sure! Long answer - best for kiting is more of a straight, wide board, as you will be edging and you don't want your boots to drag. But
as long as it is big enough and you can dig an edge in you will be ok with it. If it didn't come with bindings, I suggest Flow, super easy to step in
with your kite in the air if you need to (I normally lock in either sitting or standing, then launch the kite). If you're just screwing around on a
small field (like I know you do), you don't have to bother getting snowboard boots, just fit your bindings to your normal snow boots (not ski - those
are too stiff). If you plan on super long sessions go for dedicated boots. You can find ancient snowboards on craigslist, goodwill, eBay for
cheap/free. I have an old Burton Floater that is perfect for snow kite. As always, post your progress, love hearing about your fun toys :Dtomdiving - 22-10-2020 at 06:44 AM
it has burton's "custom" rachet bindings. it's the longest model at 158cm, but it's only 10 1/2 inches wide at the bindings and may very well be a
heel dragger.
maybe i can find some type of transgender high-heel boots to alleviate that issue. if i ever go toe-side i'll have to figure something else out.
tom jeffnyc - 22-10-2020 at 12:54 PM
It would seem those tips would take some of the edge, particularly with some back foot pressure. I would say ice is a no go, but any decent amount of
snow will work fine. and if you're not too concerned with going super far upwind, you don't *really* have to edge much at all.
Now I'm a bit curious as well, has anyone else tried a board like this? I had a couple I also found in the trash, but they were too small to even
bother with, I donated them the same way I got them (but got an amazing bag for my phantom out of it!). No doubt it would work, but how well?
jeff
tomdiving - 22-10-2020 at 08:24 PM
found these 2 similar comments in a search for kite specific snowboards -
Most conventional snowboards are directional sidecut and stance. Except for park boards, which are true twins, but have deep sidecuts. Either of these
classic snowboard shapes will make setting an edge and riding a clean line difficult. You edge, the board goes up wind in a tight arc
(sidecut=turning=why a snowboard is so good in the park for quick turns) making tight arcs like a serrated edge, rather than a nice clean edge. You
are always kind of fighting the edge.
True twin boards exist in the snowboard market. These are usually park or pipe boards, designed to be ridden equally in both directions. The problem
with these boards for snowkiting is that they normally have deep, or increased side cut, as the boards are designed to initiate and make a turn
quickly and at low speeds. When riding a board like this with a kite, you find that when you edge your board against the kite, it tries to make a turn
upwind, rather than ride across and edge. If you were to look at kiter tracks on a snow covered field, you could easily pick out this type of board,
as it would make a line of many small arcs tied together as the rider edges, turns too much and has to bear off before edging and turning again.Feyd - 23-10-2020 at 01:36 PM
In the absence of either of the above, most older boards work fine especially in soft or deeper snow if you arent edging aggressively and feather or
smear the edge. manitoulinkiter1 - 23-10-2020 at 04:38 PM
I'm with Feyd. Don't get to caught up looking for the "right" board. I'm in Ontario Canada and use a snowboard about 4 months a year.
Don't spend a fortune on a board. Snowboards aren't made to hold an edge like we do against a kite. I have had three de-laminate from constant edging.
Boots will drag in the snow or ice as well. I ruin the toes on mine riding toeside more than the heal.
There are tons of boards for less than 200.00 on kijiji around here and most come with boots. I usually get a couple seasons per board but they
usually start to de-laminate or pull apart.
I have never tried a kite specific one but I thought they were to expensive.
You should be good with the one you have. A bit of kite fix (that's what I used) or stuff for hockey skates or even apoxy on the toes and heels of the
boots will help as well.
John
board or skis?
tomdiving - 24-10-2020 at 05:46 AM
how about this - are there any members here that use a board and skis that PREFERS a board to skis?
are there any particular situations where one would be better than the other, now that i have that option?
i'm no dowhiller, but i'm quite comfortable on the 1m snowblades.
i had planned on beating up the snowskate (and vice versa) this winter in order to try and get going on a landboard next summer without killing
myself.
should i just stick to working with the snowboard the most in order to better handle the landboard?
tom manitoulinkiter1 - 24-10-2020 at 07:19 AM
I snowboard exclusively but my friend uses skis. I tried skies and found I was doing all the work with one leg depending on what direction I was going
in and got tired a lot faster. Probably a wimp though my friend does fine.
Differences I noticed are skis are easier because your feet aren't stuck together, my friend can go upwind better (sharper angle into the wind) and he
can hold his edge on ice a lot better.
Snowboard seems to be better in the deeper snow, I get around better than he does and the big thing for me is anything you do on the snowboard
translates almost the same to a kiteboard for the water. I use the winter to work on transitions, toeside riding and things like that. Don't know if
ride in the water or not.
Using both isn't going to hurt, play around and find out what works for you in the conditions your riding in.
duck angles
tomdiving - 24-10-2020 at 08:15 AM
the bindings are currently set dead straight. is there a given duck stance angle that works best for kiting? if not, where should i start and what
would be considered too much?
tom manitoulinkiter1 - 24-10-2020 at 02:02 PM
Can't really help much there. I just go with what's comfortable. The more you duck out the less twisting you have to do to look in the direction of
travel but I find as the duck angle increases so does pressure on my knees. Dead straight is easy on your knees but requires more twisting to look in
your direction of travel.
Just play around and find out what's comfortable for you. I don't use a lot maybe 30 degrees from straight out of the middle of the board.
I'm not sure how important it is but I learned snowboarding by kiting maybe someone with more snowboard knowledge can explain it. What I told you is
just what I found from riding.jeffnyc - 25-10-2020 at 11:55 AM
Tom - I'm assuming you'll mostly be on your grass field, not on ice, correct? And you get some decent snow there I think, so really, don't overthink
it too much, just slap the board on and have fun!
Skiis are easier for lots of people starting out because you have more mobility launching the kite. You probably know this from your snow feet.
Snowboard you're locked in, so if your lines go slack, or you need to move you either have to hop, or get out of your bindings which can be a pain.
After a little experience you get used to it.
Here's me last year. Was so cold the camera shut down, so only the launch, but you get an idea of how easy it is to get up and going.
Set your bindings to a slight duck, it's easier to point your front foot that way. (just saw manitoulinkiter1 said same thing).
Learning snowboard will definitely help you with your land boarding, and TT on water if you ever go that route.
It's getting cold here, but still have probably 3 months before lakes freeze, but still getting excited :D
jeff
tomdiving - 26-10-2020 at 05:49 AM
yes, fields and dink hill. the hill area is only about 1/4 mile square, which probably doesn't seem like enough room for the flyers here to even
bother with. but for me and my normal tiny school field, it's a paradise.
your vid certainly makes it look easy. of course, though, anyone that knows how to do anything makes it look easy to others that can't do it yet.
what, exactly, were you feeling with the wing that had you adjusting the trim line? too much pull for the moment? potential backstalling? something
else?
i keep watching the snowkite dvd in order to be better prepared to get going with depow, but i know from static flying FB that you just have to know
how things feel properly in order to make changes/corrections. i simply don't have that particular feel yet.
i'll pay the price of face plants, unintended body drags, flops, cartwheels, out-of-board experiences, etc, but i'll get it.
tom
jeff
tomdiving - 26-10-2020 at 06:07 AM
forgot - ice - i do have a switchblade kit but i don't intend to ride the board on ice just yet. i have a small pond, 250x650 feet, somewhat near the
hill. i'll hit that with skates when open or probably the snowfeet when snowed over. it'll be great for practicing turns, since that's the only thing
i'll have room for.
that pond is fun with carbide-studded winter tires on the bicycle. i plan on using that to drag brother's grandkiddies around in a sled there if we
get stuck with windless weekends. wonder what those drag/slide/turn/sled swing/pull tom over/ dynamics will feel like.
tom jeffnyc - 26-10-2020 at 10:20 AM
Quote:
what, exactly, were you feeling with the wing that had you adjusting the trim line? too much pull for the moment? potential backstalling? something
else?
First launch of the day. I normally launch (foils) full power, then adjust trim when the tips are full. Not what you want to do on an LEI, those you
want to trim as close as you can before you launch. That day was pretty windy, so I sheeted in to keep the bar closer to me, just adjusted until it
felt right. You want to be able to lean back into your harness with a straight back and you can't do that if you're reaching for your bar. Once it's
set I don't bother with it unless the wind changes, or sometimes let it out a bit when I'm more comfortable with the conditions and want some extra
speed. That was my first time out in snow in a year - had some great speed runs in the gusts and a couple jumps that went way higher than expected so
I cut that out quick :D Snow wasn't deep enough to be a good cushion if I messed up, but was perfect for edging.
Here's a vid I always point folks to when they have trim questions. He explains it pretty well. On LEI I trim so there's no back stall, but on foil I
like a little to help land.
depow vid
tomdiving - 26-10-2020 at 04:44 PM
thanks a million, jeff. have seen that vid multiple times and it's worth revisiting often. now i just have to keep that ingrained into my little
peabrain as i go along.
tomjeffnyc - 27-10-2020 at 12:10 PM
Sure! You'll get the hang of it. It's pretty natural - if you're getting lifted and bar is pegged at the top, trim in, if you have no bar control and
bar is at the CL trim out, if there are lulls work the kite, if you're getting dragged over the rocks go to the hospital and tell your wife you just
tripped on some stairs (last one is for Windstruck!) :D tomdiving - 28-10-2020 at 05:57 AM
if mr. windstruc ks wife finds out about that, he may have to change his handle to wifestruck. CHICKENKOOP - 28-10-2020 at 12:33 PM
i ride both skis and board on mountain but prefer skis while kite flying because reposition after lull drops and such is so much easier with ability
to walk about. also balance is on skis in gusty conditions is much better because you can shift on foot to the other where a snowboard requires an
athletic hop to avoid flopping over due to rise or drop in pressure.
the snowblades are weapon of choice in my mind. i ride mine when conditions are prime, getting fairly good at riding switch!
for freeride in smaller fields snowblades are a blast. on big lakes long skis rule for speed and stability.
without some pretty advanced snowboard skills already at hand you will find it frustrating at best.
i started kiteskiing long after i had mastered skiing so i didnt have to think about it and could concentrate on my flying.
do a ton of static flying with your depower kite before adding the frustration of snowboard.
good luck!
CHICKENKOOP
tomdiving - 29-10-2020 at 05:47 AM
solid advice, thanks. the things you list are what had kept me from buying a board and associated equipment before. once the freebie hit the scene,
things changed.
other than using the kite to sit down and stand up, can you recommend any other static drills that could help?
tom
