Well I got a skiff of snow during that cold snap and the weather broke to -10 today. Good steady wind. Tomorrow it's going to be +5 and what little snow there is will be ruined.

These are the worst conditions I've ever considered riding in, but you only live once so I looked at the patchy 0-2" snow cover on the lentil stubble, looked at my ski and board collection, grabbed my battered set of snowblades and figured they could take one more for the team. Decided on my 5m Apex and headed out.

Well other than a few exciting moments where I encountered several yards of bare ground and came to a rapid stop, I had a good session. About 2 hours before I was ready to call it off due to being out of shape and the wind being on its way down. Turns out that by edging hard you can ski over frozen dirt fairly well, and my old blades don't even look much worse than they did before! The edges are now shiny and rust free and the bases smooth and completely free of wax

My everything is sore because I haven't been kiting in so long but at least I got a big smile on my face :D

That sounds awesome! Glad you got a good ride out of it. If you find a field made out of whetstone, you can sharpen them while you ride as well :D

PS - I'm sure the SS guys will chime in soon enough, and I have no experience with them other than reading about them... but get the Peak! Sounds perfect for your conditions. Or better yet, get a Gin Sherpa, and let us all know what it's like!

Huge thread here on both the LongStar and the Peak, and some good reviews on both at ExtremeKites as well. Nothing I know of on the Sherpa yet, other than the Gin promo stuff.

Quote: Originally posted by jeffnyc

That sounds awesome! Glad you got a good ride out of it. If you find a field made out of whetstone, you can sharpen them while you ride as well :D PS - I'm sure the SS guys will chime in soon enough, and I have no experience with them other than reading about them... but get the Peak! Sounds perfect for your conditions. Or better yet, get a Gin Sherpa, and let us all know what it's like! Huge thread here on both the LongStar and the Peak, and some good reviews on both at ExtremeKites as well. Nothing I know of on the Sherpa yet, other than the Gin promo stuff.

I cracked up at the whetstone comment - outstanding!

If I may say so myself, I believe I showed exceptional restraint keeping my comments on rectifier's other post only on the Peaks. You brought up the LS2s, not me! :karate:

Yep and I need to look out for a field with nice waxy flax straw to get those bases waxed up again!

The LS2 is also something I was looking at but it looks like more of a buggy engine, with almost no lift at all. More bridle too to get caught up in stubble and rough ground. I don't want a "lifty" kite but I do want a bit of controllable lift so I can do smaller jumps.

I was hoping to get in a buggy session today, but Atlanta is pretty much snowed in. Second time this year that has happened.....I think I will get one of the saucers for the next time it snows and try it with a kite. (With any luck it won't snow again for 5 years.)

Quote: Originally posted by rectifier

Yep and I need to look out for a field with nice waxy flax straw to get those bases waxed up again! The LS2 is also something I was looking at but it looks like more of a buggy engine, with almost no lift at all. More bridle too to get caught up in stubble and rough ground. I don't want a "lifty" kite but I do want a bit of controllable lift so I can do smaller jumps.

You have nailed an issue that will be evident on both the Peaks and the LS2s, viz., lots and lots of bridles. That is one of the downsides of SS DP kites. Without second skins and their intermediate baffling between layers the kite needs to develop structure via more bridling than a comparably shaped dual skin DP and more than a FB too for that matter. This is a pain in the seat meat at times when there are things that the bridling can get caught on and for developing bridle tangles as well. On the Ivanpah playa the bridling can get snagged on mud nubs and get caught in between the mud patties. No free lunch. It will cause you to nash your teeth if you land a SS DP in scrub, undergrowth, jagged snow crystals, etc.

This issue may be a tad worse with the LS2s than the Peaks but both have tons of long bridles compared to their twin skin brethren. The LS2s have a tad more bridling than the Peaks but that also makes them fly better in the air. There you go, a trade off.

Randy, you have the opposite problem! Too much snow to buggy!

If you weren't in Atlanta I would suggest solving your problem with snowblades. They are dirt cheap to buy and even a non-skiier can learn them fast, I was a snowboarder and they were how I learned to ski. I still like them because they turn on a dime, never pop off your feet, and are small enough for a car trunk and light enough to hike them out to a field.

However, in Atlanta... they may sit around for years! I just checked your weather and you have our cold air. -4C there and it's +8 here... goodbye snow...

Windstruck I know all about bridle snagging and tangles from years of NPW flying too... sure they are "unharmed" in a crash but crash them into something messy and it's a challenge to get them back... fortunately both of these kites look like they have less bridle than a traditional NPW.