Snowkiting Tahoe this weekend (Mar. 2-4)

[genek]

After the last set of storms Kirkwood has gotten about 10ft of extra snow dumped on it. I imagine by now the fields are nice and covered with soft snow. Is anyone interested in kiting at Tahoe this weekend? Preferrably somewhere near South Lake or on the way to Kirkwood (like Luther Pass), but I'm flexible. I'd also really appreciate any advice people might have with regards to spots and finding wind this weekend. I haven't kited Tahoe before so am not sure of the wind patterns.

Thanks in advance.

[Yoda]

I unfortunately can not attend the Snowkite Masters in UT this weekend. I was thinking of posting a simular message to entice anyone who's not headin' to UT to come out and play.

In the south lake/Kwood area is Grass Lake, and Hope Valley. There's also Red Lake Ridge, but you have to hike to it. There's a spot along the south shore of Lake Tahoe that I have never been to... no beta on how to get there. My favorite spot is Mt. Rose, but that's on the north shore.

[berrisbob]

genek,

Darn! I didn't know that there was a snowkiting forum on this site, so I didn't read you post until just now. I went to Grass Lake on the 3rd, and had the best snowkiting session I've ever had by far. The wind was incredibly steady for the mountains and the snow was great. I kited for about 2.5 hours, almost the whole time all by myself. I was finally joined by Dave from TahoeMountainSports.com at the end. Mark, check out this shot of Dave...



genek, here is some info on the spots south of Tahoe:

Grass Lake - located right at Luther Pass. Works best with moderate to strong NNW or SSE winds. Can be very gusty, especially if the wind is coming from SW. Usually has better snow coverage than Hope Valley.

Hope Valley - located on Hwy 88, just SW of intersection with Hwy 89 to Tahoe. Works best with moderate to strong winds, and about equally well with any wind direction. Wind tends to be nearly always gusty and shifty.

Red Lakes Ridge - Located at Carson Pass on Hwy 88 between Kirkwood and Hope Valley. You need to park in the parking lot on the north side of 88 (snowpark permit required) and hike straight up to the ridge at the back of the parking lot. Works best with light W to SW winds (it is always significantly more windy here, since it is at the top of a very high ridge, than at the other spots mentioned here). With these wind directions, the wind is usually more steady than the other spots. Also, appears that it would work with light E winds, on the other side of the ridge (a 5 minute hike), but I have only done that hike to see what was there on a no wind day and haven't actually kited there. Caution, this is a more advanced spot since it is on a ridge and the coverage can be sketchy with a lot of patches of exposed rock.

Caples Lake - on Hwy 88 just east of Kirkwood. I've never kited there so I don't have much info on when it works, but I've heard Gabe say he has had some great days there. Caution - this is a deep lake and you need to be absolutely sure that the surface is solid before trying to kite there. I think I'm too afraid of falling through there.

I'm sure all of these spots are pretty much toast right now given the recent warm weather, but we should get a few more storms before the season is completely over. I'll keep an eye on this forum and chime in if I'm headed up there again.

Scott

[K. Cliff]

Hey Scott, That is a nice shot! Also... Ollie started an "off topic" forum too. Can ya share a few shots of "BURNING BUSH"? I'm sorry to beg but the memories are fading from my mind.....

[berrisbob]

Kevin, I've got all the baja pictures posted on my web site, but there isn't a link to them yet because I'm waiting for a 'release' from the individuals on one of the shots. I'll give that a couple more days, and if I haven't gotten the release by then, I'll just remove that image and create the link to the rest. One way or another, when the link goes up, I'll post a message in the main kiteboarding forum that the images are available.

[K. Cliff]

Sweet, I'll keep an eye out

[genek]

Thanks for the lowdown Mark and Scott. It's great to hear you had an awesome session Scott. I was kicking myself for leaving my kites in South Lake on the drive to Kirkwood that Saturday as I saw the wind. Once there though it didn't seem like there was that much wind up top so I figured it wasn't worth the drive back to South Lake to pick up my kites. Also, I wasn't too sure about self-launching my inflatables and riding them there. I saw your tracks in the snow on the way back and was totally jealous. Unfortunately, I broke my snowboard that day and we've been getting some wind in the bay so I might hold off on snow activities until next year and just kiteboard until then

Let's hope for some more wind. It's been stagnant here the last couple days.