No pricing yet. But some substantial changes in the Ozone Snowkite line up. Sad to see the venerable Frenzy out to pasture. But if the latest releases from Ozone are any indication, the Blizzard will be a sweet.

http://www.hardwaterkiter.com/ozone-blizzard-v1.html

She looks like a honey Chris! Pretty much "giveaway" prices to boot!

Personally, I can't say I'm sad to see the Frenzy head into the rear view mirror for them. Not blaming the kite, but it was the one in the air for me a couple of summers back when I had my freak gasoline fight accident (Zoolander). While that was a dry land disaster I had to swear off snowkiting or look at divorce papers. Easy trade in the end, but with snow settling in our high country now in Utah I do miss it....

Here's to a GREAT cold season in NH!

Why are all the Ozone kites aimed at snowkiting these days? Buggying is hardly mentioned for any of these new kites. What's the best Ozone depower buggy kite these days?

I think you'd have to first ask yourself the question "how big is depower in the buggy segment?". As a snowkiter I immediately went to depower when I learned it existed. Never looked back. Buggy guys either don't have the need or aren't as quick to accept change. I used to try to convince members here that depower on the buggy made a lot of sense and always got resistance. Then when Ozone dumped all thier fixed bridles I felt (maybe a bit loosely) vindicated. That was a while ago now.

So now look at today. There is still a huge fixed bridles presence in the buggy segment. While in snowkiting, apart from a few in here who steadfastly refuse to admit that depower is a more appropriate, is pretty much dominated by depower. And of course not a lot of fixed bridles in kite surfing.

There was backlash when Ozone quit fixed bridles. I think they some amount of the buggy market and buggy fan base. Maybe they recognize this and figure that they are better off marketing to thier best support groups. No different than Cabrinha for example. Cabrinha isnt marketing to buggy at all either.

At the end of the day the kite is just an engine. On land/ice we can run any engine we want. Just because it isn't specifically marketed as a "xyz" engine doesn't mean you can't use it as such. It just may not be ideal.

For my part most of my discussions about kites, especially closed cell foils, is between me and kitesufers. I don't kitesurf. I hardly touch or even see a kite in the summer. But they are the group that use many of the same kites we (snowkiters) do and have some common ground.

This all said, depower has obviously grown a bit in buggy. And will continue to, I'm sure, as new riders come into it.

I agree it's kinda short sighted of Ozone not to market to buggy. For that matter you could say the same about me as I could easily change the wording on our site to include buggy. :P.

Without a doubt there are traits in fixed bridles that depowers can't match. The direct feel, the precision, the raw power per size. Some race depowers come close but... Maybe not close enough for the buggy population to make the switch. As a result some brands continue to offer fixed bridles. I don't think Ozone is interested in trying to compete with them.

If you want to buggy with a new Blizzard or Hyperlink (which the more I play with it the more I like it) we would be psyched. But as Ozone doesn't actively recommend it for buggy use, I can't promise that while you climb into your buggy, that kite isn't going to turn into a pumpkin a drop right out of the sky. :D.

On a side note. Looks like the Blizzard is an AR 4. Almost like an Access on steroids? :evil: Looking forward to it!

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

She looks like a honey Chris! Pretty much "giveaway" prices to boot!

:D

But can you get a refund if you don't like it (not that that is very likely)?

Quote: Originally posted by Feyd

I think you'd have to first ask yourself the question "how big is depower in the buggy segment?". As a snowkiter I immediately went to depower when I learned it existed. Never looked back. Buggy guys either don't have the need or aren't as quick to accept change. I used to try to convince members here that depower on the buggy made a lot of sense and always got resistance. Then when Ozone dumped all thier fixed bridles I felt (maybe a bit loosely) vindicated. That was a while ago now. So now look at today. There is still a huge fixed bridles presence in the buggy segment. While in snowkiting, apart from a few in here who steadfastly refuse to admit that depower is a more appropriate, is pretty much dominated by depower. And of course not a lot of fixed bridles in kite surfing. There was backlash when Ozone quit fixed bridles. I think they some amount of the buggy market and buggy fan base. Maybe they recognize this and figure that they are better off marketing to thier best support groups. No different than Cabrinha for example. Cabrinha isnt marketing to buggy at all either. At the end of the day the kite is just an engine. On land/ice we can run any engine we want. Just because it isn't specifically marketed as a "xyz" engine doesn't mean you can't use it as such. It just may not be ideal. For my part most of my discussions about kites, especially closed cell foils, is between me and kitesufers. I don't kitesurf. I hardly touch or even see a kite in the summer. But they are the group that use many of the same kites we (snowkiters) do and have some common ground. This all said, depower has obviously grown a bit in buggy. And will continue to, I'm sure, as new riders come into it. I agree it's kinda short sighted of Ozone not to market to buggy. For that matter you could say the same about me as I could easily change the wording on our site to include buggy. :P. Without a doubt there are traits in fixed bridles that depowers can't match. The direct feel, the precision, the raw power per size. Some race depowers come close but... Maybe not close enough for the buggy population to make the switch. As a result some brands continue to offer fixed bridles. I don't think Ozone is interested in trying to compete with them. If you want to buggy with a new Blizzard or Hyperlink (which the more I play with it the more I like it) we would be psyched. But as Ozone doesn't actively recommend it for buggy use, I can't promise that while you climb into your buggy, that kite isn't going to turn into a pumpkin a drop right out of the sky. :D.

While not every buggy pilot feels this way, one of the really big differences in my view when it comes to choosing a buggy engine is "lift". As we all know there are compromises in all of this and that in general the lower the AR a kite has the more "dead in bed" it is, particularly in larger sizes. I briefly owned some big Ozone Access kites and really didn't like how they performed. Upwind performance is of course also a consideration.

Something I've often thought about is that there are some distinct parallels between buggy riding and "hardwater" snow kiting. Thinking about your particular situation Chris riding your ski rails on glare ice with your hair on fire, I'd think an unwanted lofting could be every bit as devastating to your body and mind as a buggy OBE. I think of OBEs as Code Brown moments and I think I'd feel that way too up in the air above glare ice.

How do you work through that reward/penalty balance when hardwater kiting on glare ice?

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

How do you work through that reward/penalty balance when hardwater kiting on glare ice?

Hard edging with the kite lower in the window. In my experience, it's pretty hard to get lofted when the kite isn't over your head. Keeping the kite lower in the window to work it more aggressively keeps you on the ground. Though a surge can superman you on a landboard, it's usually more a horizontal fall than vertical plummet.

I would think the detraction to DP in a buggy is the bar. Handles are far less obtrusive and less space consuming. That and the fact that DPs generally turn slower and could result in a collapse or a major pendulum if the buggy shoots by them before the redirect can be completed in the opposite direction.

2c
aside from being in love w/ the feel of fb...and all that goes along w/ it
lots of us have arms that are too damn short for dp's when sitting...i stand up and that kites just fine, in fact great
i mod the thing and don't know but think I'm sacrificing something while upright???
sucks to not be able to grab the trim strap...at times it can be terrifying
being overpowered fb can be the same...but I'm a bit more comfy like that cause my arms are still inside the bug
this all said...wish i had a Blizzard id fly that thing upside down

Blizzard looks cool to me, but I will not buy it, just cannot afford it.

I fly DP in my buggy just for the safety aspects. I was brown pantsed a while back by my FBs and my injury was severe enough to make me want to do things different, particularly to avoid amassing more titanium to hold my body parts together... its just not fun. I really enjoyed the Nasa stars for a while and only sold them to get under the 2 Peaks I have acquired... and I am very pleased about that (Thanks to my benefactor Mr. Steve)...

Ok thats my quarterly post ... gonna go play my Mandolin now.

In order to avoid the use of apostrophes, I have found it entertaining to avoid the use of contractions and possessives... No conjugations were harmed in the creation of this post.

Quote: Originally posted by soliver

No conjugations were harmed in the creation of this post.

Thank goodness for that! They are [ :o ] a dying breed. Nice to see a post from you Spencer. Maybe you can figure out a way to load some sound bites of your playing.

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

Nice to see a post from you Spencer. Maybe you can figure out a way to load some sound bites of your playing.

Thanks Steve,... but I don't want to hurt anybody