Snow kiting - advice from experts wanted

The transition from water to snow kiting can be easy or difficult depending on:

-Wind conditions and wind quality
-Snow condition(s)
-Terrain
-Overall flying skills
-Overall Ski/snowboard skills

Say you have a steady 15 knots wind and some nice consistent soft snow in a flat area with no terrain obstacles or wind obstacles it would be incredibly easy even for intermediate skiers/boarders and kiters. It's actually easier to learn to snow kite in these conditions than learning in the water.

I've snow kited in Australia and NZ but started in Canada on frozen lakes with soft spring snow and moderate winds, which was very easy. Going from this to the mountains was quite a step up.

In the snowy mountains of NSW I found the conditions to be quite challenging as the winds are often unpredictable and can vary from very light to strong in the same session. In the snow fields of Australia, strong winds are often accompanied by a storm which brings poor visibility and gusty winds. Adding the variable snow conditions (ice, soft snow, crust, powder) and you have some very challenging conditions to learn in.

In short, the better you are at flying a single kite size in very variable wind conditions (5 to 30 knots) and the better you are at skiing or boarding in variable snow conditions and terrain, the easier the easier the transition will be.

A good way to train for snow kiting would be to fly say a 7 to 10M kite in low/gusty wind conditions (say 5 to 12 knots). Practice keeping the kite in the air for as long as possible and start using loops when the kite stalls due to very low wind. Also practice relaunching and reverse launching in low winds, these skills are essential for snow kiting. Also, If you get some time on a landboard with a kite that would be the closest you can get to snow kiting.

I wouldn't recommend using larger kites on the snow as you need about half the power to get going and if the winds picks up you want to be able to handle the power. We usually fly 7m kites in anywhere from 10 to 25 knots, where 15 knots starts to be well powered and 25 knots is trim strap in all the way with the bar out... If the winds don't pick up above 15 knots, then 10 or 12m kites are the go.

hope this helps

PS: it's blowing 35 knots on top of the snowy mountains as I type this :)

Christian

No worries,

it could be a good idea to spend a day or two are the ski resort first and get some lessons, spending most of your time in steeper off piste with variable terrain/snow conditions.

As far a snow kiting technique it's mostly about edge control, you have to make sure you edge enough to control your speed and avoid going flat base which in stronger winds would easily get out of control and become dangerous. In hard snow you would have to edge harder and in softer snow or powder snow you have to edge a lot less.

If you have hard snow or icy conditions, make sure your edges are very sharp as this will make a massive difference in the grip and speed control.

if you have soft melting snow, be sure to wax your skis with appropriate wax, otherwise it will be too sticky and make it more difficult to get going at slow speeds. In these conditions we wax almost every day as the wax wears off super quick with warmer snow temps.