on saturday at nabx I had the opportunity to fly a 10m alasca made by skycountry. this company makes paragliders and they started making kites a few years ago. the winds were very light and would come and go most of the day. I started out flying my 10m 2005 frenzy but then swithched to the alasca.I have to say I like the alasca much better than the frenzy.
the alasca comes with an ozone bar and lines so there was nothing new there. both fly very similar but the big difference was noticed in the very light winds, the alasca is made of a very light material that was much easier to keep afloat when the wind would die. The alasca would stay in the air when others were falling out of the sky. The alasca also has a very fine mesh covering the opening cells that would help keep out sand if I was on the beach.
I already have a frenzy so I was not in the market for a 10m depower but if I was I would definitely choose an alasca over a frenzy. I think there is a very big difference in price as well, the alasca is hundreds less ( I dont know the actual price). The only disadvantage I could think of here is that skycountry is not as well known as Ozone so the resale value of an alasca might not be as good as with an ozone.
overall it is a very nice kite.
I have flown a 3m skycountry reflex as well and they are a very nice foil as well.

The price of the Alasca is about half the price of the Frenzy. Solaris is selling new ones for $650 US. Not being that familiar with de-power I am not sure how great a kite it is, but a FlySurfer flyer said the comparison to his Pulse was that of a race car vs a tractor. I know I love mine too much to sell it.
S

YES,

The Alasca impresses every person who ever tries it ! As I have mentioned every time I test a 10m kite and go back to the Alasca ,I like it more and more I was the one who traded over with Dagon that day.

I put the Frenzy down after a few runs. I was afraid of damaging it with the up and down winds on the Playa. Dagon took off with the Alasa and I thought He may never come back. Earlier I got a nice but unintentional floaty jump . Not exactly safe on the Dry Lakes. It felt great knowing I could trust the kite while up there !

The AlaSCa was also the winner IMHO !

I think the new ones come with a Slingshot bar ? That should be even better. I think the Alasca has more usable depower than the Ozone bar allowed ?

Great kite at a Great price. I always like flying this one

Thank you Dagon for posting a review
Last year being an OK skier and a kite rider it was so easy to ride AlaSCa and handle its power! I would call it *gentle power* or *friendly power*.

YUP,

The Gentle Friendly power makes this a great 1st depower kite . The same gentle nature makes pretty much everyone that tries it like it !

I finally got around to putting together video of this kite. The footage is from last fall when the kite first arrived.
video

S

how is upwind performance of Alasca? is there a higher AR Skycountry depower?
what bar does it come with as of today?
Ozone or the other? is the Ozone bar their new system with megatron CL?

They have 3 depower models now. The AlasCa. The high aspect Madagascar and the Wave. A medium aspect closed cell.

I think ????

I like the AlaSCa a lot. It seems to do most things well. The Madagascar is far more technical to fly. I have only flown it static and it wants to be moving to perform. The wave seems a nice middle ground and could compare to the Neo.

I'm pretty sure they come with Slingshot bars now ??

The Ozone used in this comparison is an old '05 model, quite misleading to compare it to the newer models on the market today as the '05 would be somewhat of an inferior product compared to the new Ozone FYX or Mantas. Kind of like comparing the Sky Tigers to the new Yakuza GT's.

I would be very interested to see how the Alasca measured up against the newer kites like the Montana IV or FYX though.

The Alasca does look like a very well made product and it does fly very well, the leading edge material is very interesting. I didn't get a chance to fly it out at NABX this year but did get some time to view the kite while it was in the air and on the ground. It looks quite nicely built.

Has anyone got one of these kites and seen how they hold up over time and heavy use? Also has anyone done a comparison against the newer kites on the market? I am sure I am not the only one here that is intrigued.

I have flown it back to back with an 11m Neo , Access , the Madagascar, my 7m Pulse and my 13m P3. + of course the OLDER Frenzy of Dagon's.

It compared well to the access.

The one you saw at NABX has been flown HARD for a while now. It is holding up well !

Quote:

Originally posted by awindofchange The Ozone used in this comparison is an old '05 model, quite misleading to compare it to the newer models on the market today as the '05 would be somewhat of an inferior product compared to the new Ozone FYX or Mantas. Kind of like comparing the Sky Tigers to the new Yakuza GT's. I would be very interested to see how the Alasca measured up against the newer kites like the Montana IV or FYX though. The Alasca does look like a very well made product and it does fly very well, the leading edge material is very interesting. I didn't get a chance to fly it out at NABX this year but did get some time to view the kite while it was in the air and on the ground. It looks quite nicely built. Has anyone got one of these kites and seen how they hold up over time and heavy use? Also has anyone done a comparison against the newer kites on the market? I am sure I am not the only one here that is intrigued.

when i flew it its comparable to the ozone access2 (not the new 09 XC model).

you're right the alsca i flew had the older ozone bar, i saw something they are now with the slingshot bar, but its also not the newer slingshot bar from what ive seen.

nothing survives your conditions / surface my friend (kent) i saw a refex that came back from nabx and its showing wear.
you're lucky to have all that space and wind. one of the Team Cooper boys flew a refex static, he can comment.

the designer of the RII, also had a few words to say what I did to the RII 2.2m proto from the drylake. ROFL

Dusty and I have been flying Sky Country kites for 2 years. Her five meter Reflex was the first North America. It still flies well. The fabric is not crisp anymore, but Dusty is still able to get some pretty good speed out of it.

Ricky wrote: "i saw a refex(sic) that came back from nabx and its showing wear. "

Whose kite is showing wear? Can you remember? It is important to me that I make sure they are not a dissatisfied customer.

I just checked the date and it is two years to the day that Dusty had her first rides in a buggy. Happy second anniversary, Dusty.
S

Quote:

Originally posted by Scudley Dusty and I have been flying Sky Country kites for 2 years. Her five meter Reflex was the first North America. It still flies well. The fabric is not crisp anymore, but Dusty is still able to get some pretty good speed out of it. Ricky wrote: "i saw a refex(sic) that came back from nabx and its showing wear. " Whose kite is showing wear? Can you remember? It is important to me that I make sure they are not a dissatisfied customer. I just checked the date and it is two years to the day that Dusty had her first rides in a buggy. Happy second anniversary, Dusty. S

look on the Red one ... i saw it last weekend. on the LE. NO ONE said anything about being dissatisfied either. :puzzled:
like i stated before, nothing survives the drylake when you rub fabric back and fourth across it.