Hello all I'm a longtime lurker on this forum, and have been reading up quite a lot about snowkiting and landboarding.

My hubby and I just moved to the Lake Tahoe area and would very much like to get into snowkiting this coming season (and then landboarding once next summer hits).

As far as our kiting experience goes, we're still pretty new. We each have 2 dual line stunt kites (one for low wind and one for moderate), and also a 2.5m dual line foil each (Prism Snapshot 2.5). We've been learning the basics of the wind window & power zone with the Snapshots, and can launch/land them, hover them at the sides of the window and do figure 8's / loops without too much difficulty. I was using this website as a guide for exercises to try: http://www.aksonline.com.au/index.php/Kite-Reviews/trainer-k... , though I still can't do it without looking at the kite! The kites are on handles, not bars though... I'm wondering whether it would be helpful to hook them up to a bar instead for training purposes (I don't know how to do this... is it as simple as it seems or am I going to fluff something up if I just take the handles off and tie the lines to a bar?)

During the course of my reading, I've noticed that people tend to prefer depower kites for snowkiting/landboarding. Is this what we should be looking at, considering the stage we're at? I should mention that we're both not-very-good but enthusiastic snowboarders, so we have all the snow gear. So I'm wondering, what size of depower kite would you experienced folks recommend for us to start with? I am 120lbs and my hubby is 260lbs, so we'd obviously need a kite each as mine would not pull him, and his would probably land me somewhere in California! As for wind conditions... we've only been here 3 weeks (moved from Las Vegas to Carson City), but it seems to be windy in the afternoons, and the wind comes from the west across the Sierras. I know the general advice among stunt kite flyers is don't fly near mountains, but I'm assuming if you plan to snowkite you pretty much have to because the mountains are where the snow is. Is that the purpose of having a depower kite, so you can control it better if the wind is gusty?

Finally, if anyone has any suggestions on where to snowkite in the Tahoe area (or where to landboard for that matter), I'd be grateful

Sorry for the essay... it's just I don't want to spend a lot of money and find I've bought the wrong kite.

All excellent information and it sounds like you are on the right track, what you are saying is very correct and your assumptions are spot on. What you are going to want to do is get yourself a quad or three line kite, I would suggest something like the Ozone Imp Trainer or the HQ Rush Pro - I would recommend something in the 3-4 meter size. Both of these will give you more control over the kite and it will also make it easier for you to launch/land the kites. If you are serious about snowkiting, then I highly suggest the Ozone Pure. This is a "Snowkite in a box" and is specially produced by Ozone for beginners just looking to get into snowkiting. The Pure comes with a 4m quad line kite, control bar with safety leash and chicken loop, harness, storage bag, Snowkiting training DVD and manual - all in one complete package. All you need is wind and a board.

The Ozone Pure is one of the best beginner snowkite packages around and the 4m size is good for most wind conditions to start out with. The kite is not a true Depower kite but it will give you the basics that you can learn on and will make it very easy for you to move into a depowerable setup should you decide later on down the road to do so.

You can see the Pure here and we have them in stock. Shipping would take about 1-2 days to get to you in Carson City or if you are ever back here in Vegas you can swing by the shop and pick one up.
http://www.awindofchange.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&am...

You are correct about the depower allowing you to control the gusts a bit better and one of the reasons they are preferred over the fixed bridle systems. Depower will end up costing quite a bit more but one depowerable kite has the ability of covering the same wind ranges as several fixed bridle kites - so in the end depower could end cost about the same or even less than the less expensive fixed bridle kites because you will only need one or depowerable two kites for you and your hubby to cover an entire wind range. With fixed bridle kites you could end up needing 5 or even more different sized kites to cover the same wind ranges.

Don't be intimidated with the sizes of the depowerable kites compared to what you are flying now. Depowerable kites are much less efficient than fixed bridle kites. To compensate for this inefficiency, depowerable kites need to be about twice as large in size than normal fixed bridle kites so they can produce the same amount of power. Most depowerable kites start out in the 7 meter range - which will usually be equivalent to a 3-4 meter sized fixed bridle kite in power, but will have much more usable wind range. What will most likely happen would be you riding the 7 meter size and your hubby riding a 10-12 meter size. If the wind gets lighter, you would move up to the 10-12 meter size and your hubby would need to go to a 13-14 meter size. If the wind gets lighter still, hubby sits and watches you ride on the 13. The opposite would happen if the wind gets stronger, hubby would move down to the 7 meter size while you watched him ride.

Again the size of depowerable kites will be very intimidating, especially if you fly a 3-4 meter kite and it yanks you all over the place. You will be very hesitant to move to a 7 or 9 meter depowerable. Just remember that with the depowerable kite, you can control the power output and even though it is a larger kite than your use to, it will be easier to fly and still only have about the same power output as your smaller fixed bridle kite.

Hope this helps you out. Let us all know how it goes for you and also if you have any other questions.

Taking a lesson (or several!) can greatly decrease your learning curve!

http://www.ukbinc.com/kiteboarding_lessons.htm

appears to be a Utah-based school but I have no idea if they are anywhere near you.

Welcome! (newb welcoming newb)

Your post reminds me of my first post in July as it seems we are after the same thing. My guy and I are seasoned snowboarders - nothing crazy but still push it - and we also got some land boards, which are much more difficult to maneuver BTW. I'm 135 lbs and he is 210ish so definitely not going to share the same size in the same conditions. But makes it nice to have several sizes as a windofchange stated to build quite the quiver!

I started on a 3m Scout II - which is currently for sale as I became quite the Ozone fan - and have a 7m depower that i can't wait to try with my reverse camber board this winter. However, my guy is going to need a kite too (if I want him to come with) so I've been thinking of getting a frenzy for him (xmas/wedding gift) in a 9m size as he would probably kill himself with an 11. Idea being we get the same kite so we know how they fly but in a size for eqch of us so when the wind gears up or down, we can move up or down the quiver accordingly. Then, if he needs more, He can add an 11m later on when the skill is not as er, undeveloped?!

All good stuff and quite expensive might I add but if you love to shop like me, looking for a new kite, atb or snowboard is just as exhilarating as going to the local mall! Plus it's just another fun activity to do with the hubby.

Here is what I suggest: Get out there and fly your Prism A LOT. The time you spend on your trainer will reduce the cost of your lessons. The things that you will learn in the lessons will be of great value to you (with safety being the big one).

As for the kites you should purchase, Awindofchange has some good points...for you. You can probably get away with a traction kite for landboarding, but your hubby won't even get moving unless he is on a very hard surface (I know). For snowkiting, a 5m traction kite is ok in high winds with skis, but you aren't going to get a whole lot of excitment out of it. On a snowboard, you might move a little, but you are just going to end up frustrated. FYI, the most common sized used for snowkiting is around 9m depower.

You are right about your husband. He is going to need a lot more power than you are. Here is another plug for lessons, you will both be able to get a better idea about what is going to work for you. You will be able to fly a number of different sizes.

Good luck to you. Be safe.

Check your U2U for a little more information

-Mike

Thanks for the info everyone! I found a place that offers snowkiting lessons in Tahoe (Tahoe Mountain Sports), so we'll be doing it the safe way and taking lessons before we go out and do something crazy I think we'll wait until after our lessons before committing to buying kites... at least unless something totally suitable pops up in the sales section.

Until then, we're going to be working with the trainers. Would you guys advise getting bars for them instead of the current handles? I know the bar on a 2-line kite won't really simulate a kite with brake lines or depower, but would it be useful just to get the feel of flying on a bar?

I wouldn't bother paying any extra for bars for your dual line trainers. The trainer is going to teach you the wind window and the bare basics of kiting and you aren't really going to learn that much more with a bar. Instead, fly your trainers and get very very very comfortable with them in many different wind conditions. Learning to fly on a bar after flying with straps / handles is so easy you should be able to pick it up within 5 minutes or so of flying.

Save your cash and just spend it on your final gear after your lessons.

Sounds good, thanks Kent! I think we're going to keep the kites in the car so if we find an appropriate space while we're driving around and have time to fly, we're ready to roll

Welcome!

... Venom 2 or some other arc. They'll see you right!

You can pick up a suitable bar for under $40. If you didn't want to spend the cash, you could always drill two holes into a sufficently thick hardwood dowel, tie some thicker line through the holes to act as a leader, larks head your kite lines to the leader and BAM! you have a bar for under $10. Seriously though, if you are going to be flying a depower kite, you might as well learn on a bar rather than handles.

-Mike

That's a pretty good idea, thanks Mike I'm sure i can rig something up with a broom handle and some paracord that would work adequately, just to try it out.

If you build your own bar, you will notice that the lines will probably pinch your fingers. If you look at any bar from a kite manufacturer, you will see that there is a riser like thing that keeps the lines above your fingers. If you make your own, you will find your fingers being pinched by the lines during tight turns. To deal with this, go to your local hardware store and buy some plastic tubing (you buy it by the foot) that is big enough to go around your leader lines. It will form a sleeve of sorts and will keep your pinkies from getting beat up. You only need a couple of inches on each side. A broom handle might work, but you would be better off with something a little thicker. Also, if you can use duct tape to wrap the handle to make it a little easier to hold.

-Mike