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How to learn to snowkite? Need some tutorials or something

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:09 am
by KiteRider
How do you snowkite?

What is the difference between kiteboarding and snowkiting other than the obvious different board and clothes?

Do you use a different sized kite?

I want to try it but have no clue where to start other than to bring my kite (12m) and snowboard to one of tahoe's snowkiting spots.

Any suggestions/tips would be awesome!

Any online howtos about snowkiting?

Thanks.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:16 am
by KillaHz
check out www.snowkiteutah.net that is Jeff Kafka's winter program and he has it dialed. He can provide the gear, support, accomodations and instruction or you can go at your own pace. Either way, take it from someone who lived in Tahoe for 3 snow seasons, you don't get good snowkiting in Tahoe unless you live there. You just have to be on it right when it hits and the forecasts are not that good for the ideal locations...Utah is the shizzle.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:24 am
by KiteRider
lol ok i think i will settle for non-ideal conditions just to try it out.

do you need more lessons to go from kiteboarding to snowkiting?

i consider myself a very good snowboarder but just not sure about how big a kite to get for snowkiting and the difference between riding styles of kiteboarding and snowkiting.

Utah is a stretch for me. Especially for the weekend and having a wife & kids makes it even tougher. lol

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:29 am
by KillaHz
Trust me, it's way less of a pain than you think...leave Friday morning at 7:00 riding by noon in Utah. Round trip ticket on SW Air, $137.

As to specifics, I usually ride a bigger kite than on the water. You could also ride a smaller kite but power is your friend on the snow. You can hold down a lot more kite with a snowboard edge but you can also get going with less kite due to the lack of friction on the snow.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:40 am
by KiteRider
hmmm definitely sounds doable. thanks!

heh thinking more about it, i think i should at least get a lesson or two to learn all the differences and be safe. :-)

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:49 am
by reyrivera
I'm thinking about picking up snowkiting as well. I don't have any snow sports experience at all (stayed in the tropics surfing/wakeboarding most of the time). A friend of mine lives in Salt Lake, and he has the skinny on wide flat and windy areas during winter season.

Can you give additional details on the gear?
I have a quiver of Links (7,9,12,15), so I think they would be okay in the snow, right?
What kind of harness needed?
Any standard snowboard can be used?

Thanks for the info.