I gotta snowkite this winter…...how’s Colorado. I know Lake Dillon in Summit County is one spot. I basically picked up kiteboarding to replace snowboarding and so I’m guessing it would be really cool to hit some kickers in snow with the added boost of the kite.

Hey guys. I highly recommend getting into snowkiting, especially if you live in a place where you experience the extremes of both summer and winter. Here in Thunder Bay, ON this is exactly the case and we get out snowkiting mostly on the larger lakes around here and sometimes right on Lake Superior if the ice freezes thick enough and enough snow has fallen on the lake.

The benefits of snowkiting are immense. Can you go to your local ski hill and ever get any untouched powder conditions? Not unless you are the earliest of risers and are one of the first five cars in the parking lot. Do you wait for 5-7 minutes just to get back up the hill for a ride and get frigid cold in the process? Nope you are riding all the time, burning crazy amounts of calories, staying cozy warm, enjoying the beautiful scenery, wondering in amazement at the amount of distance you have covered, and sharing the amazing stoke with your fellow kiters.
Snowkiting is quite simply an amazing extension of kiteboarding and will open up a whole new world of kiteboarding for you. Locally we have seen more people enhance their flying skills, upwind skills, and overall riding ability more quickly in the winter on the snow than on the water. So if you’ve struggled to pickup the sport in the water just be patient and give it a go in the winter and you’ll be amazed at how quickly things may come together.

I recommend everyone who owns an OR kite get out in the snow on a windy day in a nice clear field or a wide open lake and play around in the soft stuff, you’ll never regret it! 

I’ll post some pics up in the gallery of some of our local riders in the winter - i know none of them have any or gear in the pics but several of us do for this upcoming winter and I’ll get those pics up as soon as we’ve had a good session in - probably after this weekend.

Cheers

Jimbo

It absolutely kills my thighs though… I need a board with a much much bigger sidecut radius, and being able to set the highbacks further back would be nice too.  Still love getting out there though.  You’re right Jimbo, you burn a ton of calories.

I love snowkiting, wish i was living closer to the mountains in winter time. Other good thing that I like about snow and OR kites, is that they reverse launch very easy.

Will be a while before I hit the snow here. Its summer time in New Zealand.

Hi Matix, just wanted to remind you that part of the beauty of snowkiting is that we don’t need mountains or the slopes to get riding, wide open flat areas provide the best, most consistent wind for kiting. But cheers for sharing the stoke on snowkiting!

Jimbo

The best reason to start snow kiting?

You can stick your beer in the snow out there where you ride.  Nothing better than ride by refreshments.  That and helmets with built in headphones!

You wanna get right into it, you pull a few adirondack chairs and a BBQ out there.  Instant social.

A few min work with a shovel or better yet a blade on a four wheeler and you have yourself a kicker or rail.  Water it down and its there till the next big thaw.

We already have good ice nearby, now we just need more snow.  Cant wait.  Winter kiting is even more variable than summer.  You never know what your gonna get.  Could be a foot of powder one day and the next four inches of slush.  Both can be a blast, but wipeouts are more fun in the powder.  Nothing worse than a gallon of slush down the back of the pants!  Speed conditions are pretty crazy.  Hit 81 kmh on the GPS riding an 8m and a noodly snowboard a couple years back!  Felt pretty quick.  Insight into what those nutters are doing in Luderitz.

Pumped up a spanky new razor in the loft the other day.  Looks pretty sweet.  Now I’m pumped to go ride it.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I’m feeling the stoke….yeee haw!