First snow of the snowkite season??

Winter snowkiting topics and locations.
Yoda
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Post by Yoda » Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:21 pm

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. I have a Ozone Frenzy '05 for sale. It's a 7m that has only a few days on it... basically Brand New! I live in Sacramento. PM me if anyone is interested.

I started snowkiting last season and got several days in. I'm looking for people to kite with this season. I'm still learning, but I learn quickly!

Has anyone ridden Grass Lake? I'm on a mission to find some sweet spots this season. Kirkwood may allow access to some of their BC terrain for kiting.

Cheers

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Post by Pablito » Fri Oct 21, 2005 1:19 pm

Welcome, Yoda.

Grass Lake can be okay; Hope Valley is better. Last year most of us here learned that the most consistent spots for kiting are hike-in sites, like Red Lakes Ridge.

Check this forum once it starts snowing -- I think almost everyone here from Bay Area and Sacto is going to be VERY interested in carpooling to kite this winter.

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bdawg
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Post by bdawg » Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:32 pm

Hey Yoda,
I live in sac too. I will look you up when the time comes.

Why are you selling your '05? Going to go with the '06?????


Yeah Pablito I think finding people to ride with won't be a problem this year.

Blair

N8TR

Thanks

Post by N8TR » Fri Oct 21, 2005 4:53 pm

Thanks Dakine 1 for your time. N8TR

Yoda
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Post by Yoda » Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:31 pm

bdawg wrote:Hey Yoda,
I live in sac too. I will look you up when the time comes.

Why are you selling your '05? Going to go with the '06?????


Yeah Pablito I think finding people to ride with won't be a problem this year.

Blair
Hello Bdawg,

Glad to know there are some Sac. locals that kite. Definately looking forward to hooking up this season. As you stated - I'm selling the '05 to update to the new '06 Frenzy.

Think Snow!!!

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snowkiting in tahoe

Post by sflinux » Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:15 am

"From the casinos, follow the signs to Kirkwood. Halfway there you will enter Hope Valley, offering three different flat riding locations with some small terrain features to use as kickers. This is your best bet to ride beginner/intermediate terrain. Continue heading up the pass. Just before you get to Kirkwood at the top of the pass, there is a turnout called Red Lakes Ridge. Park there and load up your backpack for a 20 minute hike to the top of the ridge for Tahoe's best snowkiting. At the top of the ridge, your view opens to another ridgeline with over 1,000 feet of vertical terrain and the area's most predictable wind. It's a good idea to contact a local shop before heading up to find the best location of the day. For more info, contact Graham Sanders at Lake Tahoe Kiteboarding, ltkb.com, (866) 359-5852."

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Snowkiting places around Tahoe

Post by sflinux » Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:19 am

"1.Mount Rose Meadows (North Tahoe)
Season: November-May
Forecast: 10MPH or more in any direction (south-southwest is the best)
Launch: wide open snowy meadow
Wind Direction: all, SSE is the best

Directions From Incline Village:
HWY431 Mount Rose HWY towards Reno. Near the summit of the pass you will see a large open meadow to the right, and a sledding/snowplay area to the left. Park and launch on the large meadow to the right(east).

Mount Rose Meadows is windy often when other sites are not due to its 8500' elevation. The wind here can be very gusty and shifty. Use good judgement when deciding to kiteboard here. There are days when it is windy but would be a kitemare to launch a kite. There are many hazards here such as large trees downwind, the highway, bushes, and cross country skiers. The cleanest wind is found in the middle of the meadow. If you go too close to the upwind trees on the south side things can get fluky(on a normal southwesterly).


2.Boca (North Tahoe)
Season: December-March
Forecast: 10MPH or more in any direction
Real-time Wind: Truckee Airport Windtalker Phone# (530)587-4599
Launch: wide open snowy meadow
Wind Direction: all

Boca Reservoir: From Truckee I-80 East to Hirschdale and go North.
Stampede Reservoir: Keep going past Boca several miles to Stampede.
Prosser Reservoir: From Truckee HWY 89 North, go right on Prosser Dam road, follow to lake.
Donner Lake: From Truckee I-80 West to Donner Lake exit, follow Donner Pass road to the lake.

The Boca area is best on years when the lake level is very low. It usually goes down pretty far in the winter, leaving a wide open lake bed ideal for snow kiting. Check the snow depth here before launching, there are rocks underneath the snow.


3.Martis Meadows (North Tahoe)
Season: November-April
Forecast: 10MPH or more in any direction
Real-time Wind: Truckee Airport Windtalker Phone# (530)587-4599
Launch: wide open snowy meadow
Wind Direction: all

Directions From Truckee: HWY267 South towards King's Beach. After passing the Tahoe-Truckee Airport, go into Martis Meadows. When the road bends to the left turn right where a sign reads "Martis Meadows Wildlife Area". Park in the lot and walk south towards Northstar Ski area onto the smooth open meadow. You must cross Martis creek before launching. Some places are easier to cross than others.

Martis Meadows offers some of the best snowkiting conditions in the Truckee area. The grassy field under the snow creates a smooth, flat obstacle free area, ideal for snowkiting. This area is quite large and can handle 10+ kites(not that there is ever anyone there). Wind is typically out of the southwest or west here. Kiting on east wind is fun here, but be aware of the powerlines downwind (on the south side of the meadow).


4.Grass lake (South Tahoe)
Directions: From South Lake Tahoe, take US 50 west and turn LEFT on "Y" to HWY89 towards Hope Valley and Kirkwood. Follow 89 up towards Luther Pass until it flattens out at Grass Lake. Park in the largest pullout on the right side of
the road and ski down to the lake. Then walk a ways out onto the lake.

There is a big mountain that blocks the WSW winds. On E winds, the place is steady and super fun.


5.Hope Valley (South Tahoe)
Directions From South Lake Tahoe: take US 50 West, turn LEFT on "Y" to HWY89 towards Hope Valley and Kirkwood. Follow 89 to 88 and turn RIGHT on 88. Go ~1/4 mile and park on a big pull-out on the right.

You can kite the whole valley. There's a couple passes across the big creek that are snow Just make sure you have plenty of power when you cross them. you won't get wet unless you stop in the middle. A lot of little creeks that you can jump.


3.Caples lake (Kirkwood bottom)

4.Red lakes ridge (South Tahoe), Parking requires Snow Pass $5
Direction from South Tahoe: Go 89 all the way to 88 take a right and go to the top of Carson pass. Park at parking lot on right just over the pass. when you break through the trees, it will be apparent where you are going(~30 min hike)

May -June spots (unconfirmed) :
Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite NP) -- HWY120
Monitor Pass, West of Carson -- a gradual slope going up Mt. Leviathan NE ???
Sonora pass -- Sardine Meadow on the south side of HWY108 ???
--------------------

Do not forget a snow park permit (at the Chevron in Meyers, $5)
Local weather forecast: http://www.crh.noaa.gov"

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Post by Pablito » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:11 am

Ollie,
Bric's info would be really handy as a post-it in the snowkite section, or alternately, you could add snow kite locations to the "Locations" section of the site.

Also, there's a real-time wind indicator at Caples Lake which can be handy to help determine whether or not it's windy in South Lake area before you head out. I'll try to find the link and post it.

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Post by Pablito » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:16 am

Bric,
Monitor Pass seems like it would be a great spot -- wide open and nothing around, above the tree line. Every time I've been through there it was windy. Too bad they close it as soon as the snow starts for real. I never thought about Snowkiting in the spring, since the water season is usually going strong by then.

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Post by jjm » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:49 am

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?CAP

I think I found some other river/lake sites with wind observations.

I've been playing around trying to harvest weather information from public sites. I might be able to consolidate different sensor information ala ikite maybe. I'll let people know if it actually happens.

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