Kiteboyza and I are thinking of Sylvan Lake for Feb 4th or 5th. I'll double check the webcam tomorrow and post it here (dark now). Just wanted to get the word out before Friday hit.

How are things down south? Should we just head a bit further down?

I was wondering what Sylvan is like. It is still unusually warm down here, lots of ice and great wind. Forecast was for some snow on the weekend but that has changed to sunny and 12C. Get the water skis out

Chestermere's ice is covered with dirt, Cochrane & Ghost are both a mix of black ice and soggy drifts. I have not been to Spray since Christmas but the reports are that there are bare patches too but the terrain on the edges is still great. Sunshine Meadows is the place to be for snow - waist deep powder. Lot of snow up the Icefields Parkway to Bow Lake.

I'm in if you are heading south and want to meet up.

We should talk about a marathon roadtrip me tinks. kitedelight thinks Utah might be close enough if we can find snow - save the extra miles to Skyline if there's much difference. The trucS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s not bad on gas on the highways and has ample room (and DVD & game cube).

We got snow and lots of ice on lakes in our area. We just got about 6" of fresh snow but not a lot of base.

From what I've seen from the various alberta forum posts the conditions at spray are really quite good. Conditions at Sunshine Meadows sound very good. For the money (and time) that it would take to get to Utah the time and money might be better spent getting XC lift tickets to get to Sunshine Meadows...
www.5wwwww5.com/highasakite/viewtopic.php?t=847&mforum=h...

Off topic.. there is a Super Bowl Commercial that was filmed at Spray Lakes.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ecIhO7j0XA

You can see remains of the igloo in photos when you scroll down this facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/groups/205979619417415/

Is it time to visit Spray perhaps D? What's the best best for wind forecasting ahead of the drive?

Spray is awsome for the location at least but it is no Skyline.

So glad Bill took me there this Christmas. I think Spray's greatest strength is that it stays frozen so late each season. + has terrian .

Sunshine meadows !!!!!!! Now THAT looks interesting ?

Another option closer than Utah would be Mt. Haggin in Montana. you could check the montana kite sports forum for more info on current conditions. The Montana Kite Rodeo is coming up in mid-Feb at Jackson Hot Springs.

Mt. Haggin is " all of that " ! :cool2:

Used to be the venue for the Rodeo.

Quote:

macboy posted on 2-1-2012 at 10:16 PM Is it time to visit Spray perhaps D? What's the best best for wind forecasting ahead of the drive?

I have not found a good forecast (it is Alberta eh!) Most models are showing light breeze this weekend for Spray Lakes. Windfinder says 4 knots Sat and 1-3 Sunday. localkitespots says 2-3 knots. WindGURU says 4-5 knots Sat & 1-4 Sunday.

The ski resort forecasts for Sunshine show max 5 kph

More wind forecast for Sylvan 7-11 knots Saturday and 10-16 knots Sunday

Here is a photo of my wife making the most of the light wind yesterday (Thursday) at Spray. It was our first time up there. The wind didn't show up, but it was still nice to check it out. We were here for a family vacation - I threw a couple of kites in the bag just in case we were able to arrange some child care for the bambino, not sure if we'll be up there again before it is time to go back to the prairie.

Sure looks like a beautiful spot. How was the snow cover?

Good coverage. Hardpack with some drifts. It's not deep snow but it seemed very nice to us. May have a chance to get up today, then back home tomorrow.

Between the Sparrowhawk sign and the Spray Lakes Picnic sign there is a nice packed path down to the lake, coverage is best around here. A few km's from Driftwood (the first access point to the lake) toward Sparrowhawk there are quite a few bare patches. I think most folks launch just beyond sparrowhawk where the packed path is. There were only fishermen up there today, there was zero, zilch, nada for wind. My dog did get a good walk while up there though...

Scout is enjoying the ample snow coverage just past Sparrowhawk.
No wind at all, but a beautiful day.

Sorry guys, we should have ignored the forecast. I decided to check it out today before looking at PrairieWind's info. There was a very light breeze at Sparrowhawk - maybe 5 kph max. Some ice showing between Sparrowhawk and Spurling Creek but still enough coverage

Last photo from Spurling Creek looking south toward Sparrowhark. Here is a photo from Spurling Creek looking toward Banff -- the island makes a nice jump

I spent the afternoon at Driftwood. It was a lot better day for your 15m Charger Ken - steady southeast 10 mph. Which I though was strange because the wind was west 16-20 mph on the east side of the mountain. About 6-8 inches of cover plus drifts , very little sun crust. My thighs are burning tonight.

Here is the launch area at Driftwood. Lots of tourists out for dog sled tours and one kiter.

More snow forecasted for Monday & Saturday

Driftwood was where the photos of my wife with the jojo were taken. I liked that area best because of how easy the lake access was.

Yeh, it is really nice in April & May when the snow is off the parking lot - you park on the boat launch ramp instead of trecking through the gully at Sparrowhawk or up the steep banks elsewhere. Unfortunately the wind can be scarce, even when it is blowing at Sparrowhawk (Bladerunner has experienced this)

:envy:

I stared longingly across the street at the neighbors willow begging a branch to even twitch so I could flop a kite out in the field out here.

Nothing.

Walked the dog later on only to find the field really doesn't have enough snow to not trash a good set of ski bases anyway. What a strange winter. Our kitefest on the Fam day long weekend is probably gonna be a no-go....but then again you never know. The good news is we might have a green light to come south next weekend with the family in tow. Kathy and Anna will go see uncle Richard and I'll head westward. I'll keep you posted. Just gotta settle the dogistics. Pooch won't travel that well for a condensed getaway like that.