I was just chased off open space in Boulder county flying my practice kite (an ozone access 4m) - the ranger told me it was not a kite, but a parasail and as such prohibited...I was wondering if any other counties in Colorado are more open to wind sports and whether there are locations suitable for land - and snowkiting (other than lake dillon) (e.g. along the frontrange...)

snowkiting was outlawed in Boulder county last year - there is a regulation on sledding - this regulation seems to be completely inconsistent: it allows crosscountry skies but out of the blue bans all other type of activity...some of the park rangers ticketed kids on their sledges last winter after they were sledding on open space after one of the big snowstorms) ...Boulder is the worst place on this planet when it comes to regulations .... it reminds me of regulations in former communist countries ... they ban everthing that's new (even mountainbikes are prohibited on 95% of all the trails in Boulder county)

What is the reason for the bans? Damage control? Animal issues?

not 100% sure, but I think the argument is about soil compaction...

What if you wore those "spike garden shoes" you see advertised on tv? Not exactly the best footware for skudding though are they?

here is the whole story about my land/snowkiting experience in colorado in the last 2 years - at almost every single place (no matter whether large parks, vast open space or public land) I was driven off and told that kiting was not allowed for various reasons ...when I started a discussion with the park ranger today, he told me for example that a kite was something different than what I used (4 m ozone access) which he called a para-sail...(admittedly I also had my buggy on the field in case of more wind - the ranger also mentioned that vehicles were not allowed on public land - so I asked him what if I only flew my kite and his response was that it was a para-sail and not allowed on Colorado County open space...he told me I better find myself some private land in Colorado for this type activity)

my snowkiting experience last year (simliar spot as today - it is approx. 1 mile by 1 mile prairie - not much else except prairie dogs out there) is actually also worth mentioning in more detail: I was snowkiting on (downhill) skies using a 12 m ozone frenzy after a big blizzard dumped 5ft of snow last January. I saw a park ranger on her crosscountry skis patrolling the vast open space, but she never approached me...when I was done, two guys, who drove up from Denver, approached me and were wondering whether I was asked to leave, but I wasn't - turned out that they were snowkiting on the same spot earlier that day, but they doing it on a snowboard (instead of skis) - the park ranger told them that no sledding was allowed and that snowboards from a legal point of view were considered sledges, unlike cross country skis. I think there is a new regulation now that (downhill) skis are also banned (I am wondering about telemark skis...). The official argument seems to be about soil compaction/erosion. This does not make any sense to me, since crosscountry skis are much skinnier and would compress the snow/soil more than anything else...In any case, I was planning on using my cross country skis next season and see what would happen...today's argument about para-sails however suggests that I might be out of luck with land/snowkiting in Colorado (so far it seems that there is only one site (lake dillon) in colorado, where snowkiting is at least not completely outlawed by officials but even that place seems to be more or less in a constant battle with open space policies...)

If you're near Boulder and dont mind a 2 hr drive, I had some success with Montgomery pass up CO14 last winter. Large area, winds almost always westerly and come over a wide gentle saddle. You'd need a tele/AT setup to access it (about a 30-45min skin up) and avi gear recommended as there are a couple of slidey slopes in the area.

Call up the park ranger service or something, he doesn't know what he is talking about, he is thinking of a parglider, which is 30^2m. I honestly don't know how you could get them confused, I would have just stayed because it is NOT a paraglider, and if anyone else shows up tell them the only bans you know of are against paragliders.

After NPWFever hurst hiimself in the parking lot with his 8m Ace being towed by his friends bike this weekend, you may see more kiting bans in CO.

That is unfortunate as there is such great terrain out there.

IMO you'd be better off making friends with the rangers then telling them they don't know what they are talking about.

And again, as in other threads, I'd caution NPW to reconsider how his actions may effect the whole community (I am refering to your attitude towards the rangers and your comments in the thread about towing).

I am not going to do it, we couldn't figure out how to rig it without rollerblades and I don't have any. So yeah, besides if I did get hurt I wouldn't say I did it kiting, to keep away from any crap, I would just say I fell off a high thing....lqtms! But I still think you should call the park rangers. I just said that because It kinda pissed me off how stupid the park rangers can be. I had a ranger come up to me and wouldn't let me fly my RC plane because "model rockets are not allowed"

:megan:ridiculous

Authority trumps intelligence every time. Once you p&*^ him off, then it becomes an emotional issue which you can never win with logic.

Quote:

Authority trumps intelligence every time. Once you p&*^ him off, then it becomes an emotional issue which you can never win with logic.

I agree with BB 100%. What you can also do if possible, find the exact law/statute(sp) and make a copy. If you can show that it does not apply to kiting, skiing, etc. and present that to them in a nice manner, they might let you continue to do what you were doing....worked in Malibu (beach access and high tide mark).

TOMKARL I read your post and I am concerned as I am just entering this sport. I currently fly a symphony 2.7 (dual Line) out at Waneka Lake in Lafayette. All you can do there is free flight, but I have never had any problems there. Thye Rangers do not patrol this as it is part of the Lafayette city properties. I have lived in Boulder for 35 plus years, and know many of the farmers around town. I am in the process of purchasing my first Quad line kite. I will secure a "private place" that we may be able to fly. What I will try to setup is an annual usage fee that we pay to the farmers to be able to use their land. Usually around $20-$100. Post and Let me know if you would be interested. Alsowould like to communicate through e-mail. I am new to this board so I wll see if your e-mail is up. Thank you, Danny Smith Lafayette, CO

Come on up to Ontario, I'm sure you'd love it up here...

come down to broomfield there are some big soccer feilds here and im flying there and the seems to be no park rangersany of you have any small cheap harnesses 4 sale?:singing:

What you do is: Continue kiting, and let him give you a ticket. Then go to court and let him tell the judge that you were "parasailing". Show the judge a picture of what "parasailing" really is.Let him know there was no boat involved at all. Pretty much make him look like he doesn't need to have a job carryin a gun! Then Show him what a kite is, show him some proof that they in fact are kites. If there is no law prohibiting kites, then you will get off scott free and he will look like a ignorant douchbag. Maybe they will take "barneys" one bullet away from him too. People can fight back, that is what this country was based on. You just gotta play by their twisted rules. Sounds like a good reason to have a "tell the colorado chamber of commerce that we won't be coming to their state anymore to snowboard or kite or anything else" Program. Everyone drop em a e-mail. See how they like it going around that they need to be boycotted for being unfair to gen-xers. Make em' see the dollars they are losing. Send em pics of you havin fun and spending money in Utah!


WG