Power Kite Forum

your approaches to Backcountry...

mukluk - 25-9-2011 at 03:44 PM

I'd just like to hear how people incorporate kites into backcountry travel, how you camp, how you get back when it's calm.....it's going to vary a lot with local terrain....pulks? AT skis and skins? split boards? snowshoes? skijoring? snow caves? mountaineering tents?

My pre-kiting style wouldn't work in mountains and it's only really appropriate in remote boreal country...I like traditional snowshoes towing long narrow gear toboggans, I also like 'hot' camps and have a 'light' dogsledder style canvas tent with a wood stove so i can get dry every night....

I'm thinking of hauling in to a nice base camp and then snowkiting from there for a few days, but I would also be interested in changing my style so kiting could be part of the travel there and back again...maybe skis towing toboggans with kites when winds are favourable?

indigo_wolf - 25-9-2011 at 04:27 PM

Until the fuse gets lit on this thread, here some links to prior threads that might be of interest:ATB,
Sam

P.S. Are you doing this solo?

macboy - 25-9-2011 at 04:29 PM

I need to become your new best friend. I was all for shivering each night up Fiddle Pass. A wood stove?! I wanna roll with you!

Did you look at the vids from those two northerners that have done the crossings?

BV Eric - 25-9-2011 at 04:38 PM

I have done it all to get to my kite spots. I have put on my xcountry skis and caried my board and boots and changed in the snow. I have a split board that I have owned over 10 years 173cm its huge and very directional and heavy, but it realy beats having your board on your pack. I come from a backcountry back round and we used to climb 3hr just to make a run, I love hiking. Now I got a kite to pull me up hills, its incredable. Most people I kite with would rather drive 5 hours than hike 1hr. There are sweet ridges all over just a short hike to get above treeline, but it seem most people ride the lake because it easy. The ultimate tool for kiting around here is a snowmobile, all the high roads close in the winter and are an easy ride up to the goods.

Eric

mukluk - 25-9-2011 at 05:04 PM

@eric...do you have consistent winds on the ridges or are you able to set things up so you've always got a downhill run to the snowmobile track or xc ski stash?? Maybe that's where the split comes in...i keep imagining getting becalmed five miles of powder away from my gear / trailhead

@macboy...hopes crushed, i think fiddle might still be a shiverer...the old school canvas tent routine is pretty high impact and pretty heavy, not so much alpine, think far flung corner of Wood Buffalo or some northern lake country where no one goes

BV Eric - 25-9-2011 at 05:30 PM

Most ridges I ride have very strong wind 12,000ft so once you are up there you can go anywhere and not get stranded. Coming down is just old fashion riding without a kite right to the car. Getting stuck in feilds sucks and its happen to me with a normal board but if I feel the wind isnt good I wont go to far. I think if you are a skier, that might be where you want to focus your energy, it seems a better backcountry tool to me. Guys I know with skies say they wish ride backwards like I can on my board but that can be learned with twin tips. A brand new twintip I think would suit me good every day but I spent all my money on kites.

The idea of an overnight trip sounds great but I think around here it would be hard to get far enuff to justify a big trip. The above tree line riding is limited by steep peaks and tight valleys. Maybe where you are you could do a 100 mile down winder?. I think that would be sweet towing a small sled.

Does anyone live anywhere you could do a 100 mile ride?

dandre - 27-9-2011 at 11:38 AM

WY is your best bet.
There are some alpine plateaus mentioned in the wind resource atlas 30 mi long, sometimes miles wide..

Beartooths and the Wind River Continental divide come to mind....

There is a snowmobile trail that extends along the divide like 300 mi of trail or something.. With easy access like that you could take 2 sleds and just CRUSH the peaks along the way.

Here's a copy of an email I sent to my friend a few weeks ago w/ some info

So here's the plan.
March-April I want to cross the Wind River continental divide by snowkite.

http://www.visitpinedale.org/attractions/destinations/wind-r...
Check out the Continental Divide Snowmobile Trail article


Snowmobile trail map
http://wyotrails.state.wy.us/Snow/pdf/continentaldivide.pdf
Alpine hot springs and kiting town to town?!

How dope would this be?
I'm not sure if I want to do the whole thing, but crossing even 100 mi by snowkite.... @ 30mph?
Casper to Pinedale? We could even get in some FA kite ascents.

With two go-pros and a place for storage, the footage could put us on the map for free potatoes!

Think about it,
Daniel

43patrick - 27-9-2011 at 04:23 PM

If any one is up to meet in WY for some snow kiting let me know. I am eager to check a few spots out around there. Casper to Pindale is a long ways; Maybe 200 miles? If there is any good kiting near casper that is not to far from here.

dandre - 27-9-2011 at 05:11 PM

Haha I was just talking #@%$#! to my friend, the winds are great but access is a huge pain apparently. if you had even two sleds it'd make the trip so much more pleasurable. I was gonna work out something with outfitters.. Get dropped off with a commander tent & wood-stove or something...

I'm planning a trip to the beartooths in april for a week or two, by then the roads should clear up and I was gonna take on the winds with a few more advanced backcountry kids.

If you ever wanna kite in MT/WY please let me know. I'll do everything I can to make it out.

mukluk - 27-9-2011 at 07:17 PM

Darn, I was just about to suggest printing up some 'snowmobiles are for sissies' stickers for the pulks ;-)

Seriously, hope you guys pull something off. I should probably surf the learning curve a bit more to see where i'm at before I get excited about doing any really intense trips. Starting to get more ideas for stuff nearby in the Rockies though..

43patrick - 27-9-2011 at 08:21 PM

I did get out to kite around bozeman last year and would assome that I will make it out at least once this winter. Out between bigsky and west yellowstone looks awesome. I stopped allong the highway there for a short session on may way back to bozeman from skate skiing in west yellowstone for a day. It seemed pretty darn good.

dandre - 27-9-2011 at 08:51 PM

DOOD big sky is AWESOME.
If we got the winds you can just take lifts to the backcountry.

Cedar mountain is like a two mile hike from Dakota chair... Then it's miles of rolling hillside into volcanic basins..

Then there's the spanish peaks, which depending on wind might be a 6mi duty tour, but when you make it to the backside... It's just alpine lakes and reasonable slopes into double black backcountry...

of course if you're lazy, there's the meadow, golf course, or moonlight basin's rolling alpine golf course.

43patrick - 28-9-2011 at 11:38 AM

I may have to look yo up this winter. Ii am on a school schedule so I would be out between dec 15 -Jan 15 or spring break (second week of march) I am all ready looking forward to it. Here is South Dakota we rarely have all three (good snow, good wind and good terain) at the same spot.

dandre - 29-9-2011 at 07:26 AM

I can get you some cheap rooms at the resort. Maybe swing some half off ski passes if you're interested.

BV Eric - 29-9-2011 at 08:11 AM

There is so much to do this winter, but it would be fun to do a road trip and check out some new spots. A friend of mine is storing his old rv in my yard, I think it runs but I dont know if its up for a big trip. I will have to ask him what the deal is. I have never seen anything like it, a cross between the back to the future delorean and a large van, it could be the perfect mobile base camp to find some good wind.

22bene - 29-9-2011 at 10:11 PM

I run skis with touring bindings and carry my skins with me in case mother nature decides to be cruel. I have collapsible poles that fit in my kite pack. I always carry rations and my shovel just in case too. Camping is a whole other ball game I try to plan ahead and make sleeping arrangements before the snow flies, I set up a "yurt" style canvas tent in the boon's pre-season with all accoutrements so that my fave spot is that much better. I always try to get a low profile spot just inside the treeline alyas up high as to give good views to wake up to and sunsets to fall asleep to. and when the snow flies it insulates the tent nicely, and is fun "beaver-sliding" into the tent as well. I had a really good spot at one point but it was too close to "land" and it was poached all the time and that sucked! Always a mess!!! Lesson learned! This tactic started a long time ago when was skiing the backcountry all the time it transferred really well to kiting!!!

macboy - 29-9-2011 at 10:34 PM

Add this one to your thinking cap Mukluk.....I've got visions of kiting the Arctic Circle. Not so much traversing some epic span, just driving to the circle, unpacking a kite and flying. Who knows, maybe there is a A to B option out there but for me I thought it'd just be cool to kite in the tundra. The mosquitoes should surely be dormant by the time the snow's right.

Plus Dawson City is just right cool. Like a trip back in time.

dandre - 30-9-2011 at 06:40 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 22bene
I run skis with touring bindings and carry my skins with me in case mother nature decides to be cruel. I have collapsible poles that fit in my kite pack. I always carry rations and my shovel just in case too. Camping is a whole other ball game I try to plan ahead and make sleeping arrangements before the snow flies, I set up a "yurt" style canvas tent in the boon's pre-season with all accoutrements so that my fave spot is that much better. I always try to get a low profile spot just inside the treeline alyas up high as to give good views to wake up to and sunsets to fall asleep to. and when the snow flies it insulates the tent nicely, and is fun "beaver-sliding" into the tent as well. I had a really good spot at one point but it was too close to "land" and it was poached all the time and that sucked! Always a mess!!! Lesson learned! This tactic started a long time ago when was skiing the backcountry all the time it transferred really well to kiting!!!


sensei.....

22bene - 1-10-2011 at 09:58 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by macboy
Add this one to your thinking cap Mukluk.....I've got visions of kiting the Arctic Circle. Not so much traversing some epic span, just driving to the circle, unpacking a kite and flying. Who knows, maybe there is a A to B option out there but for me I thought it'd just be cool to kite in the tundra. The mosquitoes should surely be dormant by the time the snow's right.

Plus Dawson City is just right cool. Like a trip back in time.


This just got put on my bucket list Fo' Sho'!

22bene - 1-10-2011 at 10:10 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BV Eric
Most ridges I ride have very strong wind 12,000ft so once you are up there you can go anywhere and not get stranded. Coming down is just old fashion riding without a kite right to the car. Getting stuck in feilds sucks and its happen to me with a normal board but if I feel the wind isnt good I wont go to far. I think if you are a skier, that might be where you want to focus your energy, it seems a better backcountry tool to me. Guys I know with skies say they wish ride backwards like I can on my board but that can be learned with twin tips. A brand new twintip I think would suit me good every day but I spent all my money on kites.

The idea of an overnight trip sounds great but I think around here it would be hard to get far enuff to justify a big trip. The above tree line riding is limited by steep peaks and tight valleys. Maybe where you are you could do a 100 mile down winder?. I think that would be sweet towing a small sled.

Does anyone live anywhere you could do a 100 mile ride?


Twintips sure are sweet, but make sure if you get a set that has little to no side-cut. It rounds the kite out ,and makes travel a little more difficult. I have been running on the Kung Fujas which has a decent side-cut and is very soft. Which is good for tricks and all, but on the flats I find the kite likes to travel forward more (travels toward the 9 o'clock position) and needs more compensation. It also changes your direction of travel. Being up on edge all the time you really cut upwind instead of parallel. I just nabbed a set of Vokl fat skis that have no side-cut at all and put my frichies on them and I am much happier but lost the twintip... I havn't had to complain about them yet...

mukluk - 2-10-2011 at 04:17 PM

22bene...i like the hot tent base camp idea a lot...i'm leaning towards straight skis and AT bindings

as for 100 milers and the arctic circle...i spent a summer on a little island between devon and ellsemere and got to fly over the country a couple of times. Something like a Devon island crossing would be sweet, now that greenland's been done a few times. The coasts are spectacular but mostly miles of nothing in between. Early season you could probably fly out of resolute, there is an ice runway off cape vera on the northeast corner for the pick up. There was a lot of wind. The bears need to be taken seriously.

(someone's photo of cape vera)

dandre - 2-10-2011 at 08:19 PM

I just flew over the Beartooths on my way out of bozeman and it looked like you could cross the entire range by snowkite.

the alpine plateaus were breathtaking, leading into sprawling valleys/ old volcanic basins
The vertical gain for some of the more splendid mountains was only lik 2,000 feet since the plateaus are at such a high elevation....

Me and my friend were planning like two weeks in april for mountaineering/snowkite objectives. Then another week or two in the winds..

43patrick - 2-10-2011 at 09:02 PM

I have always wanted to ski in the beartooths. The winds are awesome. I have been to put up rock routes but never to ski. I bet that it is good. You guys should have a blast.

dandre - 5-10-2011 at 04:27 PM

The beartooths are one of the most intermediate ranges in the lower 48.
Colorado can suck a D as far as I'm concerned when it comes to steep, dangerous terrain.

The beartooths/winds are some of the most dangerous country in the continental U.S.

swyper - 6-10-2011 at 08:01 PM

The last few years I've been getting used to the young dopehead snowboarders at the ski lift laughing at my dinosaur old-school Head 210s with no sidecut, and now you're sayin' they might come back in style for this new sport I've taken up? MWAHAHAH there is karma after all...

S