@Kitegonzo - beautiful video. Nice song too. That certainly looked like an idyllic location for snowkiting. I just began going mobile with traction kites this year, having only flown static with some Prism kites before diving headlong into buggying this past summer. I look forward to starting snowkiting with a vengeance this winter, hopefully only a few short weeks away at this point! This will be my first season trying it and I suspect I may too choose it as my favorite means of getting around under a kite as you have done.

So... you've asked me to choose between the Peaks and the STARS for snowkiting and I've never actually done it. I am a former downhill ski racer and at least decent in the buggy at this point so I think I can project into the sport. With those (big) caveats I'd personally be steering you towards the 12m Peak-2 over the 12.5m NS3. In saying this I appreciate that there is a sizable price difference between these kites. Here's the thing: The 12.5 NS3 is a LARGE Fixed Bridle kite. As such it has a TON of grunt but a fairly limited wind range at the high end before things could get outright dangerous. Forget about being able to scrub power with the little yellow ball controlling the center line on the NS3. A wind gust with 12.5m of sail in the air has a LARGE effect on the pilot. It is one thing to be sitting down in a buggy with a very low center of gravity and three very wide spaced tires. It would be (I suspect) a whole other thing to be standing on two sticks of wood (OK, fiberglass, epoxy, wood, titanium, honeycomb, etc.).

Both kites will have comparable low end ranges. Both will launch in about the same (very light) wind. What I have found, however, is that the wind needs to have picked up a fair amount from the amount it takes to launch the kite before the 12.5m NS3 starts behaving the way you want it to, viz., not falling out of the sky bottom first, back flying, stalling, etc. Once the wind picks up the 12.5m NS3 actually behaves like her smaller sized NS3 siblings, just sort of in slow motion. It does have a tighter turning radius than the 12m P2. The rub, I've found, with the 12m NS3 is that it has a pretty tight optimal wind window. Too light and it won't fly optimally; too much and you are in for Toad's Wild Ride. Just right wind and you are just fine. My Utah wind doesn't come like that too often and I suspect your Euro wind doesn't much either.

The 12m P2, on the other hand, will launch in about the same amount of wind as the 12.5m NS3 but will become functional almost immediately, behaving as you hope and expect it too in all but the most lightest of winds. I've even played with 5m line extensions on the 12m P2 to good results, getting what feels like about 10% more power at the price of needing bigger space and sacrificing a little speed in turning.

Now here's the real thing: The 12m P2 is much SAFER to have in the air when a gust comes along or the wind you find yourself riding (or I suspect skiing) in becomes quite a bit stronger than when you launched. Secondly, and bet this is important, wind becomes much more powerful as you crest the ridge of a hill or mountain than on its upward slope that you just climbed. You can depower the 12m P2 so much that you have essentially sheeted out the kite, resulting in a great reduction in power. I suspect that will come in EXTREMELY handy when cresting a ridge. While the STARS are comparatively low on the scale of kites when it comes to Lift versus Grunt, these kites can (and do) lift you if the conditions are right. I could easily see being under the 12.5m NS3 getting pulled up a hill only to get plucked up in the air as I crest the ridge. I don't like the control scenarios at all in that situation, not one bit.

I plan to use my Peaks pretty much exclusively this winter when going into anything even the least technical or when the wind is at all squirrelly. I could see pulling out a STAR for fun if riding on a soccer field in very predictable wind conditions, but my go to's will likely be the Peaks.

A final thought brought up by SSAYER (Sean) in the past is that the price differences become quite a bit less when you factor in the wind ranges these kites cover. The peaks have a huge power range per kite so you don't need to buy as many of them to cover a wind range as you would the NS3. Below is a video I made a while back when I flew my 6m and 12m P2s on the same day for a fun buggy session. I know you have a nice quiver already and am just looking to fill in the low-wind range, so maybe this final point is mute for you. I brought it up just as much for others that might be reading this that are earlier in their journey of quiver building.

Good luck! You seem to have life nicely dialed in for your hobbies. Thanks too BTW for subscribing to my YouTube channel - greatly appeciated!

@windstuck- thank you for the very good information.-
I also think, that depower kites are the best choice for snowkiting but I hoped to get a better low (wind) end with the NST3.
So I will keep my C- Quad for the lowest end.

I think you will not have big problems when starting snowkiting, as you have already experience with both kites and skis.
The big advantage with skis on snow is that you can drift (if you have enough space in lee direction).
Therefore it is much easier in gusty conditions.

Thanks/Peter

Good luck Peter! It's all great stuff!!