Beginner looking for partner for practicing through winter

[ila]

I took my lessons on Oahu month ago. Not even on a board yet, i want continue training, but my friends dont like kite that much. So i want find somebody who interested to practice with me, i got all equipment and 12m kite.

[Pablito]

While you might read recent posts and think the kite season is still on, as a beginner, you should really wait until spring to try getting into the water. Winter wind around here is very unpredictable, gusty, off and on, and otherwise far less than ideal to learn how to get out of the water and onto your board. The water's pretty cold, too, and you'll be spending most of your time in it, not out of it. All the things that are dangerous about kiting, too, are more dangerous in winter.

Keep flying your trainer kite through the winter, and maybe check out snow kiting if you snowboard/ski, but otherwise, forget about kiting until next year.

Sorry for the buzzkill.

[Guest]

While you might read recent posts and think the kite season is still on, as a beginner, you should really wait until spring to try getting into the water. Winter wind around here is very unpredictable, gusty, off and on, and otherwise far less than ideal to learn how to get out of the water and onto your board. The water's pretty cold, too, and you'll be spending most of your time in it, not out of it. All the things that are dangerous about kiting, too, are more dangerous in winter.

Keep flying your trainer kite through the winter, and maybe check out snow kiting if you snowboard/ski, but otherwise, forget about kiting until next year.

Sorry for the buzzkill.

Thanks for warning, but i'm might be crazy. :shock:

[Guest]

Wind in the winter is rare and when it comes its not a beginner deal. Go snow kiting or travel to Mexico or other windy spot if you need practice time. Mountain boarding is also a good option to get kite training that will help a lot with kite boarding.

[Kawika]

So, along those lines, are snow kiting and/or mountain boarding all that reasonable for a newbie to take on? Are you assuming one already does these things, or are they just an easy transfer from the water?

[Pablito]

If you know how to ski or snowboard, snow kiting might actually be easier than kitesurfing -- you don't have to pull yourself up out of the water, and it's much easier to slow down (edging against the snow). However, there are a few techie things you need to do to have fun -- like setting up your LEI kite with a reverse launch system (see Kiteforum.com for details) or buying a depowerable foil kite, which isn't cheap.

Mountainboarding, well, I've been trying to learn the last few weeks, and I think I can say that it's actually just as difficult as kiting on the water, except that it hurts alot more when you fall. Maybe if you are already a natural on a skateboard and know how to fall off one, it would be easier. The plus side of it is you can do it with your trainer kite and the only extra gear you need is a board. If you live near a big parking lot that gets plenty of wind, all you need is a long skateboard.

[elli]

If you land kite on snow or a mountain board, you can use open cell non depowerable foils. Similar idea to your trainer, but much better performance. They are cheaper than depowerable but have smaller wind range. There is a huge selection of foils, but watch out as some of them are great and some are not, when the price difference is not always that big.

On the mountain board sand is a great helper. Much easier to slide and hurts less. The slippery nature of the sand also compensates for your mistakes, especially once powered up. Ocean Beach (SF) is a great spot when there is wind and the tide is low.

an important skill is how to jump out of the bindings when the kite is powered. It has to be a second nature. When I learned to mountain board with a kite one of the things that really helped me is mountain boarding down a slope with the brakes (no kite). Walking up the hill will build your motivation to use a kite very quickly. :)

A key is also a good stable kite that stays where you put it, absorbs gusts and user errors with grace and powers up gradually and not in spikes. I had a hard time starting to mountain board until I used the Buster on handles. That kite made the difference.

Both snow kiting and mountain boarding will build your kite skills and get you used to controlling a powerful kite, like leaning against the power, sinning the kite to generate power and so on. It will definitely help self confidence.

It does hurt more for sure, land is not liquid. :)

Snow kiting is the easiest of all three types from my experience so far, and I am not a good skier at all.

[Kawika]

I have a couple of Quadrifoil traction kites. Is it reasonable to fly these with just handles? I'm quite good at controlling the kites. I just have no experience with a board on land or snow. (Although I am a pretty good conventional skier.)

TIA

[Scanman]

Handles are good for fixed power (no-depower) kites, better control than with a bar. But a depowerable foil is more like the ones used on the water. Better yet, get a Flysurfer or Peter Lynn and use it on both. I use a fixed power 6m Ozone Samurai (with a bar) for landboarding and 13m Peter Lynn Venom for water.
If you already have good kite control with the handles, it should be pretty easy for you to kite ski.

[Kawika]

Cool! I may give it a go, then. Two simple questions first: 1) do I need extra heavy lines, or are my standard flying lines (typically 800# front, 600# back) strong enough for this? 2) Where is the open space in the north Tahoe area?

cheers,

David