First snowfall of the 2016-2017 season

Short but sweet first session of the season today. Snowed early this morning and was gone by 2PM

I got my first day this season!
dry land soccer field.
low steady wind, just enough snow.
love this sport!

Quote: Originally posted by CHICKENKOOP

I got my first day this season! dry land soccer field. low steady wind, just enough snow. love this sport!

SWEET! Nice to see you getting some in SoVT! Beautiful shot of your big green monster too. A very merry Christmas indeed!

Although technically not the first snowfall for us, it was my first session of the winter here in Wisconsin. Lakes are finally frozen enough to get out and put some miles on the skis. We have plenty of snow on the ice already which isn't the best since the ice wasn't that thick to begin with. Had my first Flysurfer Speed experience as well. Winds were very light so it was a great opportunity to get my first taste of a Speed. So far I love it! It's definitely a different kind of animal. Takes a little finesse to get it inflated and launched, but after that the rest was pure enjoyment! Reminds me a little of launching arcs. Can't wait for my next opportunity to get better acquainted.

I need to stop trying to kite with kites that are too small for the wind... gets frustrating in a hurry lol.

Took the 9m Montana for a ride today, first time skiing with that kite. I thought there was going to be more wind out on the lake, but it was only blowing probably 4-7mph. Had a decent ride, took some work to build apparent, but even the slightest down-wind course brought the kite out of the sky. The kite seems very prone to wing tip tuck, and it kept collapsing on me as I'd try and turn it through the window. It's an older kite, not sure if the bridles are out of wack or if it's me or the lack of wind. It definitely held shape better when I'd hit a "gust" and start moving faster.

I can tell this is going to be a fun kite in more wind though. It really wants to move fast, and it has a huge power difference through the bar throw.

Quote: Originally posted by Cheddarhead

If it was truly 4 to 7, I would've been on that 19 meter speed of yours. It was 13 to 20 today here and I was using my 15 meter speed no problem.

Didn't bring my wind meter, but it was extremely light for sure. I still haven't had the speed in the air yet, need to find a backpack for it or something, it's a loose kite at the moment.

I could dive the 9m through the window, get some speed, but as turned it back up to get ready for another dive, it would start to stall and then the tip would tuck in, definitely light :duh:

like he said not enough wind for that sized kite. With a 9m you probally need a good 15mph to snowkite. 7mph is 16m sized and bigger foil.

Quote: Originally posted by Memopad

I need to stop trying to kite with kites that are too small for the wind... gets frustrating in a hurry lol. Took the 9m Montana for a ride today, first time skiing with that kite. I thought there was going to be more wind out on the lake, but it was only blowing probably 4-7mph. Had a decent ride, took some work to build apparent, but even the slightest down-wind course brought the kite out of the sky. The kite seems very prone to wing tip tuck, and it kept collapsing on me as I'd try and turn it through the window. It's an older kite, not sure if the bridles are out of wack or if it's me or the lack of wind. It definitely held shape better when I'd hit a "gust" and start moving faster. I can tell this is going to be a fun kite in more wind though. It really wants to move fast, and it has a huge power difference through the bar throw.

Quote: Originally posted by gemini6kl

like he said not enough wind for that sized kite. With a 9m you probally need a good 15mph to snowkite. 7mph is 14m sized and bigger foil. Quote: Originally posted by Memopad   I need to stop trying to kite with kites that are too small for the wind... gets frustrating in a hurry lol. Took the 9m Montana for a ride today, first time skiing with that kite. I thought there was going to be more wind out on the lake, but it was only blowing probably 4-7mph. Had a decent ride, took some work to build apparent, but even the slightest down-wind course brought the kite out of the sky. The kite seems very prone to wing tip tuck, and it kept collapsing on me as I'd try and turn it through the window. It's an older kite, not sure if the bridles are out of wack or if it's me or the lack of wind. It definitely held shape better when I'd hit a "gust" and start moving faster. I can tell this is going to be a fun kite in more wind though. It really wants to move fast, and it has a huge power difference through the bar throw.

Had a freaking awesome session this evening after work. ~47 minutes of riding time, 7.97mi covered. New personal best max speed of 34.8mph, and even did my first jumps! No crashes, some decent hang time, holy #@%$#! I'm hooked (even more?) Was also my first ride on my new skis

The wind was around 10mph fairly steady, dropping a bit as the sun went down. I used the Summit 12m (also for the first time lol). The kite is awesome, it was really cool to feel the power difference with bar throw, much greater range than I've experienced before. Also playing with the depower trim actually made a noticeable difference in the power. Not sure if that's because I actually had enough wind to power the kite up properly, ozone makes awesome kites, it's a new kite, or a combination of all 3. Anyway, the thing is way more tuned and precise feeling than the montanas.

My one question is about going up wind. I usually don't have any issue making gains up wind, but I was struggling a little tonight. When I was making good windward progress, I was going pretty slow and the kite wasn't pulling hard. If I pulled in the bar and moved the kite back in the window slightly, it would gain a lot of power but I'd go sideways instead of forward. I don't have a lot of flying time, but I haven't noticed this as much on the montanas, the access, or the apex. Probably user error, but any hints or thoughts would be appreciated!

Still having trouble going upwind with the Summit.

I've attached a couple of my gps tracks from last week and today. Today's conditions were almost the same as last week, winds around 10mph but I was making slightly better upwind gains today. I was flying the kite higher in the window and that seemed to allow me to point a little better. It still doesn't feel great, but I don't have tracks from my other kites to compare to right now.

My max speed today was a little lower at 33.5mph, but I launched my self significantly higher on a few jumps. Still getting the timing down, I've found myself getting caught not turning the kite out of apex fast enough once I hit the jump, and that's twisting me and landing me sideways. Had a few good wipeout landings from 6-8ft in the air, and got drug about 20ft after one landing before I regained control of the kite. Naturally my gopro battery died as soon as I launched the kite, so no video of the mess

First major snow forecast is supposed to arrive overnight!!! I hope we get 5+ inches. Probably going to take off work Thursday.




Not sure how I feel about flying my 7.5M Apex in 30mph gusts. I guess there's only one way to find out.

Was finally able to strap on the board get after it. Was grossly under powered on my Apex. I seem to overestimate wind speed....according to the wind report it was only was 12-15mph gusting up to 20mph. Had to make the walk of shame back to ground stake to pack up before it got too dark.

Still have lots to learn. I feel like there should have been enough wind for me to be able to ride faster but I just couldn't get it together. Next time....

What smart phones apps are you guys using to track distance, avg speed, and max speed? Google fit isn't cutting it because I'd like to know my max speed.

Snow was like 4 in powder. So i think my board was edging into the dirt at times which was not frozen because we had 60 degree temps 24hrs before.

There were occasional gusts where I could start to park and ride, but then it would die off and I would really have to work the kite to go anywhere. I noticed that things tended to work better when I stopped watching the kite and focused on holding a line. Also things slid better when I had the board flatter, but then I would get yanked over on my face by a gust. Edge too hard and I'd fall over on my butt. Maybe I was trying to edge upwind too hard for the conditions. IDK, I'm still learning.

I had the front lines on the 3rd knot hoping that would help. I also could have been in the wind shadow of the Barn. I'm going out again after work on the other side of the farm with the 16m venom. I gotta get a weather station on top of the silo for real time wind reports.


Update: Sure looks like KiteTracker has all the data I'm looking for. I'll try it out tonight.

@offaxis- that venom will work awesome in those winds don't be afraid of that gentle giant but also as you are learning remember to keep your hands towards the middle of the bar near the depower line- will keep you from overcorrecting if you get airborn:D have fun casue I think it will all be gone by tomorrow
oh yeah I use motion-x gps app on my phone has it all

Quote: Originally posted by OffAxis

I was expecting much higher winds, so I made the rookie mistake of leaving the venom at home. I like flying it, hate the ground handling (I need sand/bean bags), and still working up the nerve to fly it more often.

This describes about 99% of my sessions so far this year. I thought there would be more wind and/or was a bit scared to throw up my 18m kite. I actually think the 18m chrono would've been the kite of choice for all but maybe one ride so far this season, and I'm out on the lake fighting it with a 10 or 12m. Go figure.

My lake survived the recent warmer temperatures, and the past week of sub zero overnight lows and highs in the teens have really built some ice back up. Smooth ice and not much snow on top has made for some fast riding.

I took the Summit 12m out yesterday afternoon and did a little cruising. I think the wind was in the mid teens when I started out, and I got 43mph on a downwind run. Coming back up wind was getting hard, and even fully depowered I was feeling like I had too much kite in the air. I stopped and checked the wind and it was up to the 20mph range. I went back to my launch site, packed up the kite, walked in to my house and grabbed the Apex 7.5m.

The winds had kept building and now were in the mid 20's and probably getting close to 30mph in the gusts. I actually felt a little overpowered on the 7.5m in those conditions, but I do like a more relaxed session usually. This is the most wind I've flown this kite in and it's definitely not quite as refined as my ozones or newer kites. Still fun to fly but it liked to move all over the window when gusts hit, and took active steering to keep it where I wanted. Bar pressure was also pretty high and it was easy to get my glove pinched between the bar and the stopper ball. Anyway, took it for a downwind rip and it felt SUPER fast, was expecting to hit 50mph but my gps was only reading 44mph Oh well, still a new high speed for me. Did some small jumps on the way back up wind, and the lift is okay when you ask it, but the kite will drop you pretty fast. Definitely no float

Quote: Originally posted by OffAxis

Yesterdays snowkite adventure was just that, an adventure. Estimated 20+MPH winds with 30+ MPH gusts with changing wind directions. The one time I was waiting out a gust, the kite slid across the snow almost 20 degrees with the changing wind direction. With the gusty winds and deep-ish snow it took me forever to get set up my Apex III 7.5m. I had a tangle in the lines, a bow tie, and the top hat safety release on it own. What a mess. Man it sucks trying to reset that top hat safety. Once I finally was able to get my act together and was up an riding, things got better but not were not great. Even though the kite was overpowered at times, I still couldn't go up wind all that well. The kite gets out to the edge and won't pull. It seamed to like to sit back farther to build power. I was able to maintain a line but not go up wind. I don't know if my snowboard (154cm) is to small for 12in of powder or if i'm over controlling the kite. Tonight is looking like calmer conditions so I give it another go. If I don't have enough I might even try to get out the Venom II 16m.

Even in the higher winds you'll need to build some forward speed before you try and head up wind too high, especially in deep powder with all the resistance that offers. Try heading laterally across the wind until you're moving and powered up before edging hard up wind and see if that helps you find the sweet spot. In deeper snow my upwind angles are really low. It's only on ice in fast conditions that I'm able to really point high upwind and keep moving.