snowkiting.. first attempt

Well.. my mountian board spot got a couple inches last night and the meter was reading 5-11mph so I figure.. hey.. lets put up the silver arrow.... ugh..

Snowkiting is a little different.. found that it takes a bit more work to relaunch when yer strapped into bindings..

The ride was sweet... it was short lived (im getting to that), but I like the feel much better than the mountain board, probably because I grew up on snowboarding. I really like the forgiving feel . if a gust hits you get to just slide it out ...

Then the problems struck. the wind started swinging +/- 20 degrees. and the wind was about 8-10 gusting 17-20.. for me.. this is less than desireable on the Arrow. I dealt with it for a while.. until i finally bowtied and crashed.. then the fun started.. kites slide in the snow.. and i had nothing to anchor to but my snowboard, so I run to the kite and its already a mess.. bridles in bunches.. cant get it to weight down nicely because of the wind swings... then a couple of dogs came over and wanted to play catch with me.. and jump on the kite. oops.

in attempts to straighted my lines.. I then found that they were some large icy/slightly yellowy masses attatched to my lines.. causing the brunt of the tangling..

These problems aside.. snowkiting is awesome. I look forward to getting some more time in.... might need a gust muncher though.. these conditions and swings are just not working for me.

I know EXACTLY what you mean by the nasty yellow clumps!

I had the same fun today.

I ended up on FDS. I forgot to take my stake thinking i could get back to the launch.

FDS was my saving grace. Do you have it ? Did you use it ? The pull once deployed was minimal and my skis did the job of holding back while I tossed my harness on the kite. They stuck like glue to the yellow snow anyway The sticky clumps made pack up a pain. For the 1st time I'm not 100% sure the kite will unpack free of tangles :puzzled:

It gets better !

You may want to get an ice screw or 2 for frozen lakes and fields. One for your base and one to take with !

Glad you had fun :wee:

Went snowkiting this last weekend in the dead of night. You know that big full moon we had friday night, well... saturday I was out at Tug Hill at about 8pm. It as freaking amazing. Was playing my 12m Outlaw in 10-15mph winds and had an absolute blast. Aside from the one accidental airborne and subsequent crash (didnt see the surface well enough to judge where to put the board and it went out from under me), it was totally amazing. Was only my third time snowkiting, and first time doing it under moonlight (which was limited by cloud cover, still enough light to see though).

Things I can say are, definitely use the FDS, and the screw/stake is a darn good idea. I have one, but I'm a little worried to carry it on my person while kiting, dont want to fall on it. I wouldnt think the SA would be that good for snowkiting, due to its size and pull. Thats a good low-wind kite, right? Given the 5-11mph winds I can understand why you would grab it, but once you are up and on your feet, that much kite will probably be a bit much on the snow. I would think something more in the 12-15meter range would be better.

Didnt see the "yellow" snow you were having problems with, and I can understand the shifty winds. What you need is a big frozen lake. Much cleaner winds.

haha my silverarrow reaches wall to wall when its folded in half

so this yellow snow clumps. were the dogs responsible for this?


or was it a mud thing?:piggy:

Quote:

Originally posted by bigsteve these yellow clumps... these were dog related issues..... ewwww

haha yeah don't dogs do the darndest things

OK seattle is getting HAMMERED with snow! so I had a first attempt on my lunch break from working at home today!!

First off.. no clumps of yellow! so the ride.....

Started out on a pulse2 10 and wanted more power.. it was blowing around 13ish. So I put up the 14m, of course, shortly after the gusts got a little more consistent and a little more powerful.

The 14m was the ticket! got upwind a little but was holding ground like nothing. FELT GREAT... put the kite down for mabye 20 minutes...(bridle issues after a gust) when i got back up I found myself fully depowered, sheeter pull all the way, and still getting little dead lifts in the zenith on the gust. so I figure... start going more.. now I could really lay an edge against all that power.. soo I slowly let the sheeter out more and more until i was just leaning as hard as I could..

My power hungry attitude got the best of me in a hurry though.. my legs got tired.. first i pulled a class on my back getting dragged flying blind manuever.. this one i was not worried about about as the kite was well in the sky so I saved it after a few feet..

then next one.. on my belly getting dragged and the kite started to lull and drop into the zone... so that was an FDS time and ended the session there.

definitely havent had the kite that powered on land before, good learning experience.. good FDS practice!

Saw a guy holding a 13m bularoo with no problems on skis.. Either my 14m pulse had WAY more power than that thing... or I really need to work on managing power.

Also.. i really need to quit parking the kite on the edge of the window so much to walk the kite.. every time a i do it and a gust hits it inverts and turns into a mess.


I found it easier to park the kite nose down (back stall and gently swing it to the leading edge) to park it...kept it from twisting around in the snow so bad.

Quote:

Originally posted by bigsteve OK seattle is getting HAMMERED with snow! so I had a first attempt on my lunch break from working at home today!! First off.. no clumps of yellow! so the ride..... Started out on a pulse2 10 and wanted more power.. it was blowing around 13ish. So I put up the 14m, of course, shortly after the gusts got a little more consistent and a little more powerful. The 14m was the ticket! got upwind a little but was holding ground like nothing. FELT GREAT... put the kite down for mabye 20 minutes...(bridle issues after a gust) when i got back up I found myself fully depowered, sheeter pull all the way, and still getting little dead lifts in the zenith on the gust. so I figure... start going more.. now I could really lay an edge against all that power.. soo I slowly let the sheeter out more and more until i was just leaning as hard as I could.. My power hungry attitude got the best of me in a hurry though.. my legs got tired.. first i pulled a class on my back getting dragged flying blind manuever.. this one i was not worried about about as the kite was well in the sky so I saved it after a few feet.. then next one.. on my belly getting dragged and the kite started to lull and drop into the zone... so that was an FDS time and ended the session there. definitely havent had the kite that powered on land before, good learning experience.. good FDS practice! Saw a guy holding a 13m bularoo with no problems on skis.. Either my 14m pulse had WAY more power than that thing... or I really need to work on managing power. Also.. i really need to quit parking the kite on the edge of the window so much to walk the kite.. every time a i do it and a gust hits it inverts and turns into a mess. I found it easier to park the kite nose down (back stall and gently swing it to the leading edge) to park it...kept it from twisting around in the snow so bad.

who took the picture?

I can't wait to go riding this weekend!