Going to do some glacier snowboarding at the beginning of May at Zermatt Switzerland and then to Austria , Hintertux.Then Iam considering going snow kiting in either Norway ,Sweden or Iceland in Late May .Any seasoned snow kiters got some recommendations ?.
Im thinking Riksgrassen in the north of Sweden ,but its a big journey 1400 odd kms north of Stockholm.Norway has a good reputation on the internet and it seems like there is some decent locations there .
Any help would be great thanks.
Did a fair bit of arctic training in Norway,
( Northern) asegarden , unsure if there's anything commercial here, but 40klph winds snow ,mountainous terrain in abundance ,
Thanks for that Cauncy.15 to 20 knots on a plateau is what I'm looking for. I think by the looks of it late May might get a bit icy in Europe and southern Scandinavia .
Just came back from a snow kiting trip to Norway, they had deep snow there last year through until August (it was still snowing in July!). Haugastøl is the place to go for snow kiting in Norway, it is 4 hours from Oslo from train and then you can enter the backcountry from there. Pick up a key for the huts from the national parks folks before you leave the city and you can do some pretty heavy duty exploring with easy/moderate terrain to the south and more intense terrain to the north (leading up to the Finse glacier), or there is a hotel in Haugastøl which you can base out of.
The hotel also has put in wind meters at the main snow kiting locations, you can download the app for free for an iPhone (also called Haugastøl), and get live wind and a webcam at some locations.
Some pics below credits to Jay Button (@jaybutton_) for these pics, also scored some Northern Lights while camping up there, pretty awesome! 
Cool Jack ... Cheers for that . haugostal looks amazing ... I was thinking of heading there .If it snowed in July last year the I should be right by late May!....how much is the hotel ?
Select to expand quotediamond2001 said..
Going to do some glacier snowboarding at the beginning of May at Zermatt Switzerland and then to Austria , Hintertux.Then Iam considering going snow kiting in either Norway ,Sweden or Iceland in Late May .Any seasoned snow kiters got some recommendations ?.
Im thinking Riksgrassen in the north of Sweden ,but its a big journey 1400 odd kms north of Stockholm.Norway has a good reputation on the internet and it seems like there is some decent locations there .
Any help would be great thanks.
if your actually kite SURFING in the glacial melt get curved gloves (fingers bent not straight) and dont stress about dry suits and ****. shell be ****n cold but 3mm wetty that is proper fitting (tight against your arteries in your armpits and groin) with a 3mm hood youll be sweet as.
snowboard wise cant beat where they hold ragnorak that national park in norway is enoooorwaaaymous seriously google it, harrrghagraaahhhgrraeaaajklll or some ****
Select to expand quotejackforbes said..
Just came back from a snow kiting trip to Norway, they had deep snow there last year through until August (it was still snowing in July!). Haugastøl is the place to go for snow kiting in Norway, it is 4 hours from Oslo from train and then you can enter the backcountry from there. Pick up a key for the huts from the national parks folks before you leave the city and you can do some pretty heavy duty exploring with easy/moderate terrain to the south and more intense terrain to the north (leading up to the Finse glacier), or there is a hotel in Haugastøl which you can base out of.
The hotel also has put in wind meters at the main snow kiting locations, you can download the app for free for an iPhone (also called Haugastøl), and get live wind and a webcam at some locations.
Some pics below credits to Jay Button (@jaybutton_) for these pics, also scored some Northern Lights while camping up there, pretty awesome!
Awesome pics, looks like a great trip Jack! super Jealous. Bring on NZ 2016!!
Select to expand quotediamond2001 said..
Cool Jack ... Cheers for that . haugostal looks amazing ... I was thinking of heading there .If it snowed in July last year the I should be right by late May!....how much is the hotel ?
Hey mate, check out their website for prices. They are pretty booked out in season but i think the time of year you are looking at would be pretty good.
<div>www.haugastol.no/en/accommodation-prices
The nice thing about the area is there is almost always somewhere with wind, as it is mostly katabatic effects. You can also drop down to the fjords from there (you can kite from 1800m to the water and get a boat to pick you up if you're really good/keen).
@Kozzie: Haugastøl is where they base out of for the Red Bull Ragnorak, thats where the competitors and media stay (the guy who works at the hotel won it three times). Incredible terrain that goes for miles like you say! There is some dudes around that area who are doing some seriously crazy sh!t with gliding off some of that terrain, scares the bejesus out of me.
Select to expand quotecbulota said..
Awesome pics, looks like a great trip Jack! super Jealous. Bring on NZ 2016!!
I realised after this trip what an undiscovered spot NZ is for snow kiting. Norway had some super deep powder and some pretty mad terrain but i think NZ might have the edge for wind consistency (the second pic is on a chrono with 60m lines in about 2-3 knots, still absolutely hammering).
Also it was -3OC in that first photo, which is starting to get a bit chully.
Select to expand quotejackforbes said..
@Kozzie: Haugastøl is where they base out of for the Red Bull Ragnorak, thats where the competitors and media stay (the guy who works at the hotel won it three times). Incredible terrain that goes for miles like you say! There is some dudes around that area who are doing some seriously crazy sh!t with gliding off some of that terrain, scares the bejesus out of me.
gliding scares me to man
not sure i can agree with your sentiments on nz for snow kiteing... what is there? snow farm? old man/lady ? wind was shocking the season i was theyre.... and no matter where hell you live in NZ its ALLWAYS an hour drive to the snow. gotto bloody do the 45 minute drive up the mountain every damn time (only spots snow farm but eff stayin theyre for months at a time)
Select to expand quoteKozzie said..jackforbes said..
@Kozzie: Haugastøl is where they base out of for the Red Bull Ragnorak, thats where the competitors and media stay (the guy who works at the hotel won it three times). Incredible terrain that goes for miles like you say! There is some dudes around that area who are doing some seriously crazy sh!t with gliding off some of that terrain, scares the bejesus out of me.
gliding scares me to man
not sure i can agree with your sentiments on nz for snow kiteing... what is there? snow farm? old man/lady ? wind was shocking the season i was theyre.... and no matter where hell you live in NZ its ALLWAYS an hour drive to the snow. gotto bloody do the 45 minute drive up the mountain every damn time (only spots snow farm but eff stayin theyre for months at a time)
I've been mostly backcountry in NZ and have been fortunate enough to have some chopper access to get into some pretty cool spots and then camped from there. Its a bit weird in that you can be in one valley and there is not a breath of wind and then the next valley is cranking. But yeah, it is pretty much unworkable for day trips. That was a neat thing about Norway, you could basically roll out of bed and snow kite out the door. Southern hemisphere doesn't offer much like that.
My experience of nz in August and the first week of September in 2013 was not so good .Old mans range was basically ice on the top . Absolutely horrible to ride on .We got down to a valley , but wind shadows everywhere and Lots of time spent driving in car.
In saying that I'm sure it has better areas and getting there at the right time is critical.
I'm hoping May is not to late at haugastol for the pow !.
Just wondering what kite prices are like over there?
.I have a 10 metre ozone reo and 7m North Neo .Im thinking of just taking the Neo as it is a very light kite and has better free ride than the reo.Jumping and hang time is better too.
Over there I consider hiring or buying a light wind foil kite depending on the price.
