I was able to saddle up and get out this Sunday. I’ve been chained to my computer since the start of session and I was more than going a bit batty.
My experience with water kite boarding stood me in good stead. I was almost immediately able to get up and skooting across the snow. Its very similar and if anything quite a bit easier. Especially for those who already know how to ski or board. I found my bottom half from the hips down just took care of itself.
It was a light wind day with some strong gusts and I was using my 16 meter Cabrinha Crossbow. Which is quite heavy and a very slow truck. I was wishing I had something a little more responsive like a nice Ozone Edge the entire day. Winds did pick up, even a bit too much. But, my water experience means I just detuned and when that wasn’t enough I just bore off and zoomed off downwind which was a blast. But, the long trudge back upwind was a very long hike. It took me at least 90 minutes in my ill suited alpine gear.
I’ve learned some things.
- Drop the kite instead of zooming off downwind!
- My water kiting harness is just too small once I bundle up with fleece and outerwear. Fortunately, I’ve got the appropriate harness coming. Thank you Tom!
- My very heavy alpine gear isn’t really suited to this. I’m going to switch over to my much lighter and more mobile telmark gear.
- I need to wear a big backpack that I can stuff my kite into. And the backpack needs to include skins, poles, water, a few energy bars, emergency gear, and etc.
I do need to pick up some collapseable ski poles, but they are easy to acquire.Done!- And my normal ski wear was sufficient to the task.
Where did I go you ask? Portage Lake just east of Girdwood. It was a 20 degree crystal clear crisp sunny day. Below is a video the AKA boys made three years ago at the very same location. I ended up pretty much at the very end of that lake.