Foil kite advice

[benhamner]

I'm looking to get a foil kite for snowkiting + to use in light winds in the water.

• • What one's do you use?
  • How have you found them?
  • Any tips on what kites I should look at?
  • Where are good spots in the bay area or Tahoe area to get them (new or used)?

[Kyle]

My first kite ever (after the trainer:) was an Ozone Access XT 6m. I struggled learning to kite on water so after my lessons went straight to snow. I saw snowkiting as the ultimate tool for the backcountry, especially with foil kites. The picture below is from my first day ever on that kite outside of Whistler 6 years ago.

Whistler BC

Snowkite Decker.jpg (2.35MiB)Viewed 3181 times

Ozone has been making foil kites *I think* even longer than LEIs. I'm pretty sure their first product was actually a paraglider. I went with them because they have a complete line of dedicated snow kites, and feel that their knowledge and experience among all sports cross pollinates among their kites. I found it super easy to learn to fly, and love the simplicity of foil kites. There's nothing like watching a foil kite fill and lift off! I will caution that some people don't like them at all. I have a quiver of snow kites (frenzy, manta, access) and fly the Catalyst/Enduro on the water. eBay is actually a really good place to find their snow kites, especially used. It's definitely a sport that people want to get into, but find it difficult to keep up (myself included sadly). You can demo their water kites (and maybe even chrono) at Boardsports School.

The Chrono was their first high aspect ratio mixed-use foil kite, so if you're looking for something that serves both snow and water, that's probably where I would start. I don't like mixing my snow and water quiver, because if you take care of the snow kites, they can last much longer without the damaging environment of sand/saltwater/UV. But that's totally personal, many would argue you should use your kites as much as possible.

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck! Kyle

[Yoda]

• What one's do you use?
• How have you found them?
• Any tips on what kites I should look at?
• Where are good spots in the bay area or Tahoe area to get them (new or used)?
[/list]

I've flown Ozone and HQ foil kites. I'm looking at getting the HQ Montana IX for bc snow only.

Finding these types of kites locally has always been limited. Live2Kite has been the longest local supporter of foil kites that I'm aware of. The rest of the shops that have handled them in the past are no longer involved or out of business.

If you want a foil for double duty, then like Kyle said, a water specific depowerable foil would be more ideal since it will work on land/snow just fine. Check out the following kites...
Flysurfer Speed5, F-One Diablo, HQ Zeekai, Ozone ChronoV2, Peter Lynn Charger

(new) Live2Kite sells the Ozone model. Boardsports CA sells the F-One model.
No shops in Tahoe, only in the bay.
(used) Check out or (or contact) BayAreaKitesurf.com (US F-One distributer) to see of they have any deals on a demo kite. Also check out the classifieds here on BAK, iKitesurf.com, and NWKite.com

[Yoda]

Ozone has been making foil kites *I think* even longer than LEIs. I'm pretty sure their first product was actually a paraglider. I went with them because they have a complete line of dedicated snow kites, and feel that their knowledge and experience among all sports cross pollinates among their kites.

Ozone's roots are indeed from paragliding. I used to be their local kite rep back in the day. From what I remember...
In 2005 at the Winter OR tradeshow, Ozone introduced to the US market their first depowerable foil kite called the Frenzy (originally released in '03). At that time you could only get your hands on the '04 Frenzys.
In '06 they introduced (to the world) their first ever LEI kite called the Instinct.
In '07 they introduced their first ever depowerable water&land foil kite called the Vision.

[Kyle]

I bought my access from Tahoe mountain sports, but it doesn't look like they sell them anymore. live2kite has solid selection though.


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[kitewing]

Another thing to consider is that open-cell foils like the Ozone Frenzy perform rather poorly in gusty conditions. The kite will surge, collapse, and re-open, sometimes violently, so you really need to be on your game. Closed-cell foils are more stable and collapse resistant, and LEIs are the most stable.

I've been snowkiting for longer than I've been on the water, and almost exclusively used foils on the snow back home, where there's really clean wind, until I moved out here. The winds up in the Sierra can get really gusty, and I've pretty much given up on riding my foils around here, in spite of their light weight + easy packing + easy landing advantages.

I haven't flown any of the latest closed-cell foils, though, so if you have a chance to demo one somewhere in gusty conditions, it may be worth considering.

[dwaynej]

Having played with various Ozone Chrono/R1 kites, I have now settled on the Flysurfer Sonics. Totally love them. Local dealer has 40% off R1's and I believe there is an R2 coming soon.