Well.. my mountian board spot got a couple inches last night and the meter was reading 5-11mph so I figure.. hey.. lets put up the silver arrow.... ugh..

Snowkiting is a little different.. found that it takes a bit more work to relaunch when yer strapped into bindings..

The ride was sweet... it was short lived (im getting to that), but I like the feel much better than the mountain board, probably because I grew up on snowboarding. I really like the forgiving feel . if a gust hits you get to just slide it out ...

Then the problems struck. the wind started swinging +/- 20 degrees. and the wind was about 8-10 gusting 17-20.. for me.. this is less than desireable on the Arrow. I dealt with it for a while.. until i finally bowtied and crashed.. then the fun started.. kites slide in the snow.. and i had nothing to anchor to but my snowboard, so I run to the kite and its already a mess.. bridles in bunches.. cant get it to weight down nicely because of the wind swings... then a couple of dogs came over and wanted to play catch with me.. and jump on the kite. oops.

in attempts to straighted my lines.. I then found that they were some large icy/slightly yellowy masses attatched to my lines.. causing the brunt of the tangling..

These problems aside.. snowkiting is awesome. I look forward to getting some more time in.... might need a gust muncher though.. these conditions and swings are just not working for me.

I know EXACTLY what you mean by the nasty yellow clumps!

I had the same fun today.

I ended up on FDS. I forgot to take my stake thinking i could get back to the launch.

FDS was my saving grace. Do you have it ? Did you use it ? The pull once deployed was minimal and my skis did the job of holding back while I tossed my harness on the kite. They stuck like glue to the yellow snow anyway The sticky clumps made pack up a pain. For the 1st time I'm not 100% sure the kite will unpack free of tangles :puzzled:

It gets better !

You may want to get an ice screw or 2 for frozen lakes and fields. One for your base and one to take with !

Glad you had fun :wee:

Yup I've got FDS on the SA. I didnt use it to land but i ended up pulling it once landed (tried to avoid tangling) and hooked my leash to my board while I ran over.


I've got the same sentiments. my kite looke pretty bad when I rolled it up but i didnt have a choice with the swirling winds.. Hopfully it wont take too long to straighten out.. definitely the first time i've ever put a kite away like that.

Setting up and packing up is an absolute pain in moderate wind on snow / ice. if it weren't for the big smile on my face after the kite is in the air and I'm skimming along the ice, I'd never do it. Evey year I get pumped for the snow and then I get pissed off setting up and packing up with lines snagging on crust and kites blowing all around.

Went snowkiting this last weekend in the dead of night. You know that big full moon we had friday night, well... saturday I was out at Tug Hill at about 8pm. It as freaking amazing. Was playing my 12m Outlaw in 10-15mph winds and had an absolute blast. Aside from the one accidental airborne and subsequent crash (didnt see the surface well enough to judge where to put the board and it went out from under me), it was totally amazing. Was only my third time snowkiting, and first time doing it under moonlight (which was limited by cloud cover, still enough light to see though).

Things I can say are, definitely use the FDS, and the screw/stake is a darn good idea. I have one, but I'm a little worried to carry it on my person while kiting, dont want to fall on it. I wouldnt think the SA would be that good for snowkiting, due to its size and pull. Thats a good low-wind kite, right? Given the 5-11mph winds I can understand why you would grab it, but once you are up and on your feet, that much kite will probably be a bit much on the snow. I would think something more in the 12-15meter range would be better.

Didnt see the "yellow" snow you were having problems with, and I can understand the shifty winds. What you need is a big frozen lake. Much cleaner winds.

I agree.. i almost put up the 14 but when i was setting up there just wasnt the wind for it.

Next time im going to bring a couple of my scuba diving soft weights.. and just weight down the kite in a few spots. I think thats gonna be perfect.. probably will end up costing me ten pounds to lug around to the field.. but it will be worth it so long as i can find them after the session

Just tie some flourescent flagging tape to the weights - I have a set of old ankle weights with the flourescent tape tied they are easy to find even in blowing snow when you are done.

Good call on the flagging tape. I'll have to do that. Of course we get loads if snow to pile on things while we pack and I enjoy hanging kites up to melt/dry in the basement (they look so cool reaching wall to wall inside : )

haha my silverarrow reaches wall to wall when its folded in half

so this yellow snow clumps. were the dogs responsible for this?


or was it a mud thing?:piggy:

I went out too. I launched with my kite at nearly 90 degrees to the wind and held the wind edge (side of the kite) with the kite bag and i used the stake to hold the brakes. It worked pretty well. I just had to find the stake to land. Yeah landing was messy since the kite has nothing to hold it down but I was able to pack up cross wind. The snow here was pretty dry so the only casualty was the slightly wet lines from packing up. But my equip got lot less wet then when I fly at the beach anywhere near water.

these yellow clumps... these were dog related issues..... ewwww

Eww... not fun. We had one dog on the field, and he ran off after a little while. Was someone's local puppy that came over to say hi when we were setting up. Once we were riding though, he disappeared... No yellow snow to worry about...

Quote:

Originally posted by bigsteve these yellow clumps... these were dog related issues..... ewwww

haha yeah don't dogs do the darndest things

I'm pretty sure what I was experiencing wasn't the dreaded doggy stuff :puzzled:

It is extremeley wet here . A sub-tropical rain forest. This yellow snow was just the nice juicey rott that happens normally :megan: Any place I stepped made a potential ice ball for the lines to pick up. They did a good job of dragging up their own ice balls as well :ticking:

I got 3 runs in + my :moon: scared off! It's ALL GOOD :singing:

OK seattle is getting HAMMERED with snow! so I had a first attempt on my lunch break from working at home today!!

First off.. no clumps of yellow! so the ride.....

Started out on a pulse2 10 and wanted more power.. it was blowing around 13ish. So I put up the 14m, of course, shortly after the gusts got a little more consistent and a little more powerful.

The 14m was the ticket! got upwind a little but was holding ground like nothing. FELT GREAT... put the kite down for mabye 20 minutes...(bridle issues after a gust) when i got back up I found myself fully depowered, sheeter pull all the way, and still getting little dead lifts in the zenith on the gust. so I figure... start going more.. now I could really lay an edge against all that power.. soo I slowly let the sheeter out more and more until i was just leaning as hard as I could..

My power hungry attitude got the best of me in a hurry though.. my legs got tired.. first i pulled a class on my back getting dragged flying blind manuever.. this one i was not worried about about as the kite was well in the sky so I saved it after a few feet..

then next one.. on my belly getting dragged and the kite started to lull and drop into the zone... so that was an FDS time and ended the session there.

definitely havent had the kite that powered on land before, good learning experience.. good FDS practice!

Saw a guy holding a 13m bularoo with no problems on skis.. Either my 14m pulse had WAY more power than that thing... or I really need to work on managing power.

Also.. i really need to quit parking the kite on the edge of the window so much to walk the kite.. every time a i do it and a gust hits it inverts and turns into a mess.


I found it easier to park the kite nose down (back stall and gently swing it to the leading edge) to park it...kept it from twisting around in the snow so bad.

Sounds like a great session man. Nice.

Quote:

Originally posted by bigsteve OK seattle is getting HAMMERED with snow! so I had a first attempt on my lunch break from working at home today!! First off.. no clumps of yellow! so the ride..... Started out on a pulse2 10 and wanted more power.. it was blowing around 13ish. So I put up the 14m, of course, shortly after the gusts got a little more consistent and a little more powerful. The 14m was the ticket! got upwind a little but was holding ground like nothing. FELT GREAT... put the kite down for mabye 20 minutes...(bridle issues after a gust) when i got back up I found myself fully depowered, sheeter pull all the way, and still getting little dead lifts in the zenith on the gust. so I figure... start going more.. now I could really lay an edge against all that power.. soo I slowly let the sheeter out more and more until i was just leaning as hard as I could.. My power hungry attitude got the best of me in a hurry though.. my legs got tired.. first i pulled a class on my back getting dragged flying blind manuever.. this one i was not worried about about as the kite was well in the sky so I saved it after a few feet.. then next one.. on my belly getting dragged and the kite started to lull and drop into the zone... so that was an FDS time and ended the session there. definitely havent had the kite that powered on land before, good learning experience.. good FDS practice! Saw a guy holding a 13m bularoo with no problems on skis.. Either my 14m pulse had WAY more power than that thing... or I really need to work on managing power. Also.. i really need to quit parking the kite on the edge of the window so much to walk the kite.. every time a i do it and a gust hits it inverts and turns into a mess. I found it easier to park the kite nose down (back stall and gently swing it to the leading edge) to park it...kept it from twisting around in the snow so bad.

who took the picture?

I can't wait to go riding this weekend!

snowkiting is so much fun !! but harder for the legs than kitesurfing...

In Quebec, we now are all covered with 8-10 inches of powder, and many lakes frozen.

Christmas vacations are going to be a blast with the Psycho4


Steve,

the Pu2 14m has probably a bit more power than Bularoo. The Bularro is closed to a C-shape. But with little practice on snow, you'll come to manage power and handle more.

But wait the P4, you will learn a new definition of depower.

hah im waiting.. ups pulled up to my house today.. started getting real excited... but no p4.... haha

ya on skis the bularoo guy was doin real well, i was jealous of his upwind ability.

Its too bad were on opposite sides of the continent.. I'd like to get in on these frozen lakes of yours!

Quote:

Originally posted by bigsteve ya on skis the bularoo guy was doin real well, i was jealous of his upwind ability.

going upwind on skis is much easier than snowboard.

the pulse sits a back further in the power window than psycho or speed, and a 14m has a lot of pull, so may be you were dragged and then having difficulty to get upwind.

look upwind, egde hard, put pressure on the tail, you'll go upwind easier than water