Hey everyone, I know it is still really early and the last thing people want to think about is snow, however I thought I should start to prepare now so im ready. I have been sataic flying a 3m legend for bout a year now and now I just want to go, so I was wondering if you could help me with a kite size. I live in the prairies where there is quite a bit of gusty conditions so I want to go de-power I was looking at the Ozone Access XC. I weigh about 190-200 lbs back and fourth, I want to start out with skis mabie twin tip, the snow conditions are anywhere from ankle to knee deep wind packed so some spots are soft while others you can walk on, and the wind conditions last year varied from 13 kph to 25kph probably mostly on the lower half. I was thinking of going with a 8m kite but dont know for sure. Any advice would be awesome.

I think that the 8m XC would be a great first depower and would be great for the higher winds/packed snow conditions. My experience has been that snow conditions make a huge difference and that deeper snow is way more challenging for kiting, in part because you need a lot of power to get through it.

You'll need to add a bigger kite for the lower wind/deep snow conditions though. The 8m would not cover your low end so you'd probably want to look at something like a 13m Frenzy later on. If you're going to try to get through the winter on 1 kite then I'd go for a 10 or 11m at your weight.

would a waist harness be good to start out with ?

If you can't try a harness ahead I might suggest you get one that is a seat / waist combo. I am pleased with my Mystic . The seat is nice.
Ozone makes a XC harness that many like. It is a seat harness .

good to see a fellow prairie kiter! I REALLY liked the Ozone harness, feels really good and would work well over a snowsuit. I'll be using an Ocean Rodeo Session2 which is a waist harness with leg straps (serving dual purpose for summer as well). I'd say you would be looking for a 11m-13m kite. (my friend who runs the kite shop in saskatoon recomended the 10m-12m range for me and i'm 175lbs) as for me, i'll -hopefully- be flying a 15m Peter Lynn Charger. I agree that sask conditions are pretty gusty but I think that the winter winds in wide open fields will clean up a bit. u2u sent

We're caught between the prairies and the mountains here in Edmonton but we get the same winds that you get. You'll probably find the 8m Access is good for your fist depower and then will become a good higher wind kite for you. I find it to be a great snow machine - quick easy pack & unpack, easy launch & relaunch, smooth power, good gust handling. Once you get the nag of it though you'll be wishing for something bigger - especially if you see a lot of those marginal 15km/h-ish days. I'm about 175lb and the 10m needs about 18-22km/h to get that solid pull. It's also great for carving your way upwind so you'll hold your ground with ease.

The Ozone harness is great but sizing can be tricky (in general) in my experience with harneses (because there's nowhere here to really try them on). A guy on here that goes by the name deezPanshes has one so he'd be able to give you waist size / harness size parallels. I've got a large Peter Lynn seat harness which I quite like and it's a great fit on my 32" waist - even over snowpants.

I am 200lb and my first depower was my 8m Access II. Calgary area winds are pretty gusty too and we get lots of 10-20 kph days with little snow. I often thought a 10m would have been a better choice, especially for deeper snow.

I did not like the way a waist harness rode up so bought a seat harness (in the for sale section of this forum). If you can try before you buy, do it.

Enjoy.

as far as the ozone harness goes, it's one size fits all (as long as you have a 28-42 waist) i wouldn't really call it a seat harness. it's designed like a climbing harness. won't ride up and won't feel like a diaper. pretty inexpensive too. if you're sticking to snowkiting, it'd be my first and only choice.

the only reason i'm going with the session2 is because i wanted a one-harness-solution for kitesurfing, but also wouldn't ride up when worn over a winter jacket