I have a question about snow kiting.
I am keen to give it a go next winter, but only as a method of ascent for skiing in the backcountry. I would rather ski down normally.
How often do conditions line up where you can actually get up the hill? Is there a mountain weather pattern that you can take advantage of which gives you consistent up-hill winds? Or do you just have to wait for the right direction for a particular slope?
Good luck getting anything decent done over here. Ive been down the Snowies regularly over the last few years teaching backcountry and only now and then have I got useable snow kiting conditions. Getting out of the valleys is pretty much impossible due to the terrain and tree cover so the only real chance of kiting is once your up on the high ground or the exposed spur lines. I found the predominant wind direction was westerly but that meant that the up kiting could be done on windward / wind scoured slopes. The lee slopes naturally had far better snow coverage but lacked the right wind direction. Most times I got out was in the morning or evening using the anabatic and katabatic winds.
Id go for kiting up on the plateaus and give the 'up-ski' a miss.
NZ would be a better bet.
