So I happen to have a couple pairs of skiis at my folks place in southeaster Idaho. That area has plenty of open space with a LOT of wind.

I'm just curious if I was to bring my kites when visiting in the winter if my skiis would cut it. Would I want to avoid trying cross-country skiis with how narrow they are.

Would back-country skiis work? They are wider and have edges. But they don't have kick-out bindings.

How much turning/carving is required? How do you turn around anyway--send the kite up, step your skiis around, bring the kite down, and off you go in the other direction?

There is a guy I've read about who kites with teles but unless you are uber confident on pins, I wouldn't.

I am a mogul skier so I like my bindings extra tight and that is the mentality I bring to kite skiing. Pretty much the worst thing that could happen would be for you to loose a ski when super powered.

You do need edges and the more ice surface, the sharper they need to be but if the snow pack is decent they don't need to be razor sharp.

I generally turn around by sending the kite and carving hard down wind. Snow depth determines how fast I send the kite. If the surface is good you will be pulled through an enormous power slide winding up behind the kite so you need to pull it back with the brakes or it will crumple, but if you time it right, you get super powered, slide, reposition and take off at good speed.

Or you can switch direction by sending the kite and jumping around. Or, least desirable if the snow is too deep to manage easily, send the kite back slow and hop around.

If powered you are always on edge so that's why you need to have a decent edge. I don't do too much crazy carving becuase if you carve too quick towards the kite when powered you can slacken the lines and collapse the kite and then have it repower in the middle of the window.

You can carve back as much as you like.