Might seem obvious to most all of you but I'm still not quite sure I know.....

What is it? And how does it differ from a non-race kite then?

Race Kite

Very high aspect, they usually trade off a great deal of stability for a large increase in speed/power/turning ability. A good one will respond nicely to fine brake input allowing you to tune the kite's flying characteristics simply by feeding in the right amount of brake input.


Freestyle kite

Slower through the window, should turn plenty quick, more focus on raw lift instead of speed, usually more stable but still a handful in any sort of gusty conditions. Something like the Blades pretty much define a good freestyle kite.

Beginner/Cruising/Freeride kite

More stable, moves good, but easy to handle, It'll make it easy to learn, easy and enjoyable to cruise around and in general have fun, usually they can take a wide variety of wind/gusts.


Some kites will fit into more than one catagory, something like the blade is fast enough to race with at some levels, but not up to race kite speeds, most race kites will lift enough to jump with, but not really stable so they'll have a tendancy to luff on the landing if you don't redirect properly.

Thanks Pablo!

Yeah I went jumping with my Ace today and it would always fall to the ground every time I landed. The Ace is hard to turn, so do I just need to turn harder or add some more brake on that side? Sorry to hijack the thread, you can have it back, just wanted to ask a Q

More brake, You can keep adding in brake input until you reach the point where the brake input is starting to collapse the kite.

Timing is key, you really need to throw the kite the other way, then with a larger slower turning kite, you've got to start redirecting it early. You may find that you're throwing the kite one way, and starting to redirect in prep for your landing just as you're leaving the ground.

I think I understand this BUT where does one redirect to? Right back where you came from (I don't think that makes sense), back into the powerzone, out to the edge or top of the window?...not that I need to know right now - might just get me into more trouble than I need right now......

Say you're flying with the leading edge of the kite heading to your right; and you flick the kite up by pulling the left side/handle to give you the lift. Then re-direct the kite again by pulling on the right side/handle to give you a smoother landing. It'll maintain the power without so much lift, so you dont get dumped.

Gotcha. Thanks for that!

Now, if I were flying as you say from the left to the right, how high (in degrees) is the kite and at what point will I flick it up to lift (left of the middle of the window, middle of the window, just past middle)?

http://chris.m.whittaker.googlepages.com/pendulumjump

One more thing.....back to the original question.......

What makes a kite a "snowkite"? I see some people selling kites as "snowkites" but the same ones also being sold as just power kites (Ozones in particular but I've seen others). I'm hoping I'll be able to use my Rage and Ace's as "snowkites" but if I shouldn't I better find out why and get some more suited to the purpose.

OK BRoc this ones yours!

My 1st runs on snow were on a 3m JoJo and a 4.5 Bullet and 20mph wind. Then a 7m Bullet so similar gear to you. It worked O.K. but I found that wind speed changes a lot as you travel and my fixed bridle kites limited the range I can handle. Depower is better and safer in the mountians but not required.

Some companies make open cell depower kites with snowkiting as their # 1 purpose.

To me a good snowkite is depowerable, easy to set up, gust munching, total depower with easy relaunch. A nice mesh like Skycountry uses on the openings is a nice bonus !
Flexi's mesh sucks on snow !!!