Hi all, I have done quite a bit of flying with the Best 3 M trainer, and am decent at piloting it now. I tried it out with skis today, and had a few good, but brief pulls. There was plenty of wind, but it was often swirling which really made launching challenging. I am finding that this kite is extremely difficult to relaunch due to the foil openings only being at one end, also eventually it got some snow in it and was too heavy to lift off the ground. I am wondering about the stance setup that should be used for skiing, it seems like the position of a snowboarder is more natural to using the kite(the board is more or less parallel to the kite in the sky), as you stand on it much like a surfboard. So with this in mind, do those of you who use skis ride with your skis pointing towards the kite when you are not turning? Also, I am in the 140 lb. range, from what I have read, it seams like a kite in the 6 M range would work well, and have a wide wind speed window. Basically I am hoping someone can recommend a foil kite that is very easy to re-launch, with a high de-power range, and that will work for the beginner to intermediate range.

I'm not a kite-skier... lets get that out of the way first. I do ATB and buggy, though, and the proper path in relation to the wind is across the wind. If you are standing with the wind blowing at your back, the path to take would be left or right, but it could be a good idea to start aimed a little downwind. As soon as I get up speed, I turn more into the wind (but not too much) to keep wind in the kite and keep moving forward (what was left or right standing still).

As far as the kite goes... I believe the Best trainer is a 2 line. What you need for easy relaunch is a four line kite. This is where things can be a bit confusing at first. You have some choices to make between a depower kite or a fixed bridle... An open celled or closed cell if you go depower... what kind of kite whether you do depower or fixed bridle.

I dont want to go into too much here, because I dont know what you know and what you dont. There is a lot of information to know about these kites, and the information has changed in the last few years... a kite made this year is greatly different than a kite made a few years ago (at least with the Flysurfers that I fly... big differences).

So, tell us a bit more about your conditions and such. I'm sure a lot of people will be by to tell you more (hopefully some live close to you and can get out and fly with you soon).

Cheesy as it sounds, one thing that helped me more than almost anything else (except PKF:borg was a book on power-kiting, covering all the sports (surfing, buggying, skiing, etc). Maybe you could benefit from one, too. Only about $15, and LOTS of information.

The trainer I have is a two line, but I am familiar with the four line setup. One of the issues I was having is that I would be pulled along, and go past/under the kite, and it would fall out of the sky, sometimes I could catch it, but not usually. It sound like this is happening because I am no turning into the wind. What book can you recommend?

no book, just a good long read through the buggy and ski sections of this forum... just open up every thread with more than ten replies so you've got about twenty or thirty tabs open at once, then settle down for a good long read, you'll get the info you need. (firefox does this really well)

good idea, I'll get going on that!!

Also, I have just been doing some searching, and it looks like this would be a great kite to start with: Ozone Access XC 2009 6 M R2F

Fly with others and we can tell you what you are doing wrong. If the kite is collapsing you are travelling towards it faster than it can pull away so you need to carve more away from it and stay mostly parallel - turning towards it to increase speed and away to hold the power.

Are you using a harness? A harness is a huge help with skis as you can hook in and just ride with the kite off to the side. ONce you are comfortable flying without looking at the kite it will be much easier on you.

Quote:

Originally posted by B-Roc Fly with others and we can tell you what you are doing wrong. If the kite is collapsing you are traveling towards it faster than it can pull away so you need to carve more away from it and stay mostly parallel - turning towards it to increase speed and away to hold the power. Are you using a harness? A harness is a huge help with skis as you can hook in and just ride with the kite off to the side. ONce you are comfortable flying without looking at the kite it will be much easier on you.

I am using a harness, but It is somewhat makeshift and doesn't lock in, I just have a loop on a two line bar that goes over the hook on the harness.
Your explanation makes sense, so by parallel, you actually need to twist your upper body somewhat to have the kite off to one side or the other? This is what I was eluding to in a previous post, it seems like this is a more natural position with a snowboard, but alas I don't snow board, and don't want to learn to things at once, after all, I am trying to learn to kite ski so I will have a better idea on flying the kite when I give kitesurfing a go.
I think it might help just to see others skiing, I'll take a look on youtube and see what I can find.

I learned a lot at this kitesurfing school website also...

CLICK HEREfor the kite-skiing portion of the page, but I recommend you check out the whole site. It also has some kite-mare stories that are probably a good idea to read, too. They help keep me in check sometimes, especially in the earlier stages of my learning.

The book I read was called "The Ultimate Guide to Powerkiting", I think. I know there are a few out there, it had blue writing on the white part of the book.

Reading posts on the forum is good, great if you have specific questions, but the book covered more ground than any one sitting at our kite forum (as great as it is), and you can take it with you on your adventures.

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Originally posted by NHT Kitesurfer so by parallel, you actually need to twist your upper body somewhat to have the kite off to one side or the other?

Correct. It can take a little getting used to but once you do, it all seems normal.

more great info. thanks all!!!!!

YES, it sounds like you want to do a bit of home work about now ! It sounds like you were running pretty much downwind and out riding the kite. The method is the same, no matter the ride . You start off on a slight downwind course . How much depends on the wind + conditions. As soon as you gain some speed you cut 'cross wind pointing your ride toward the kite and keeping tension on the lines. Think about the kite more as a windsurfers mast + how it is passing the wind as you trim back and forward.

A bit of reading and some instructional video will go a long way for you right now.

www.kitesurfingschool.org is a good start.

Unfortunatlely 2 line kites are a pain to relaunch ! Motivation to not crash + save cash !