With a nice winter storm that blew through the area last week, I was able to get 4 straight days of kite skiing in - the best ones all within 30 minutes of my house (unheard of). It looks like it may shape up to be a nice winter.

Also starting get a nice group of guys assembled locally: was out with FrontRangeJeff and Proletariat on Friday as well as 3 other guys who are completely jazzed about getting into kiting. This of course was the worst day of all four: completely blown out. But still a great day with friends hunting for snow and good wind.

Looking forward to many more adventures this winter!

SWEET! You CO boys are still a tad ahead of us UT guys when it comes to snowpack. We're working hard to catch up though. Glad you got your ride on already still in November. Doubly nice that you got to share the stoke with friends!

How'd the Montana VIII compare to the Montana IX... and what happened to "when i need the 8m, it's normally to gusty to put up a kite that lifty". You dirty dirty liar!

Skis are looking a little fresher than the pair you were on previous, cheers to that! Cheers to your winter as well!

Windstruck - I can't imagine your snow is too far behind. The reality is that we had a couple of 50 degree days here that smoked my local spots. Was hoping the storm last night would bring a little more than it did. Sounds like it all got dumped in Oregon!

Moto - Ahh! You caught me. In my defence I was flying in conditions that were a little light for that kite - at least for boosting - like low teens or pre-teens. I'm not gonna lie though - that is a very fun kite to throw around. I bet you can find video of that early bird session somewhere on the internets.

Ya, so the new kites - Murphy's Law is well at work. UPS man was delayed 4 days getting to my house because of the storm we had. Then when he finally did get here, the snow, wind and family schedules were all colluding against me. I did get the Zeekai and Montana IX out on one day in decent winds, but my schedule was reallly rushed, so didn't get a really good test on either of them.

I need more time on the M9, but all indications are its going to be a fantastic kite. Things that I observed right off the bat are it appears to turn faster and pull more constantly through the turns. It would be nice to have my M8 to do a back-to-back test, but I believe it might actually have a little more lift as well. I was doing some static jumps right at my house in fairly ratty wind, and it seemed well behaved with nice effortless hangs. I think its going to be a fun kite - can't wait to get it out for more!

The Zeekai - that thing is going to be a lightwind powerhouse for sure. More on that later.

Nate the skis you were on look like an older pair of bent chetlers. Curious how something with that much rocker rode behind a kite. I've always avoided my full on powder boards for kiting.

Moto: Yes - you are correct. They are '12 Bent Chetlers I believe? Found a deal w/ Marker Duke bindings on Craigslist locally. It is not the lightest setup, but from the little I've been able to use them so far it is worlds better than what I was using before. Haven't had a chance to use them in deep powder yet.

I had a Montana Kiter recommend them to me as one of his favorite kiting/AT skis. Also had some folks recommend Faction Candide 3.0's, which would have been quite a bit lighter, but this deal was quite a bit cheaper than any Faction setup I could find.

We've got one spot out west of us here that requires a 1300' vertical ascent to get to a mesa that sits at 12,000ft with a ton of rolling terrain. I'm hoping to put these skis to some use later in the season to go check it out. Also have some guys that are actually excited about the prospect of some snow camping (oddly not everybody is), so it could be all sorts of fun.

Got the 12m M9 out again today for some low-wind riding (around 8mph) - I think I'm in love again. 12m kites seem to be a real sweet spot for me for the kind of riding I like to do. Just a real nice balance of power, speed, lift and maneuverability. The turn rate seems impressive on the new M9. I sold my M8 to a guy up in Denver so I'd like to get with him at some point for a direct side-by-side comparison. Super fun kite though - even in lower winds.

Quote: Originally posted by nate76

Also have some guys that are actually excited about the prospect of some snow camping (oddly not everybody is), so it could be all sorts of fun.

Agreed. Very odd.

skis...snow...sun...kites...mountains...this does look like fun

Quote:

Agreed. Very odd.

Ha! Maybe its the idea that sounds fun.

I've done some winter camping in the past, not a ton though.

I was just joking around. I haven't spent a night in a tent with snow on the ground in more than 30 years... :P

In my 20's I used to do a lot of wilderness stuff but family circumstances have put a crimp on things like that. Still love it, but just don't see the need anymore. Hike all day and then spend the night in a nice hotel; works for me!

Quote: Originally posted by nate76

Quote: Agreed. Very odd. Ha! Maybe its the idea that sounds fun. I've done some winter camping in the past, not a ton though.