2011/12 Snowkite Season Day One!

Here in New England we occasionally get hit with a certain type of storm refered to in this part of the world as a "Nor' Easter".   To put it simply it's a hurricane like storm system that  usually follows the eastern coastline heading North East and really pumps out snow and wind. With it's rotation winds come out of the North East and can be REALLY punchy, even for around here.  They can make a hell of a mess but at the same time they can dump a ton of snow in a short period of time and with the wind they produce you can go from having no snow, no wind, and nowhere to ride to having plenty of snow, crazy wind and riding in the fields.

That's what we got on October 29th.

I heard the weather report a few days prior but didn't give it much thought.  They said there would be a Nor' Easter and that some snow was expected but it's been unseasonably warm this fall, the trees still hadn't lost many leaves (in fact many were still green) and it just hasn't felt very "Fall like".   I didn't give the Nor' Easter any thought really. 

Well Friday Oct. 28th rolled around and all hell broke loose.  The majority of the wind and snow was south of us.  Rhode Island, Mass., Southern N.H. got it the worst.  With all the leaves on the trees the wind and heavy wet snow brought branches down on powerlines and knocked out power all over New England.  Some places got almost three feet of snow and some didn't have power a week after the storm.

We lucked out.  We only got six inches of snow and the winds were pretty tame for the most part.

Saturday morning I woke to a fresh layer of white and a wind report that promised, if nothing else, to be interesting.  The forcast was for 12-15mph developing to gusts over 40mph as the day went on.  This put the pressure on to get out to one of the local fields and get some riding in before the winds got to be too much.  Wind like that is fun on a speed day on a frozen lake but not so fun a freshly snow covered grass in the confines of something like a soccer field.

I grabbed my Rossi Phantoms threw a few Arcs in the van and headed off to find some riding.

 I had spoken to our friend Jim Cline the night before and he had mentioned that he would head up to ride if we got snow.  As I left the house I felt an urgency to get out and ride before the front came through and the wind got too burly.  But as I got closer to the riding area another feeling of urgency started to come over me.  FIRST TRACKS!  I guess it's residual from my alpine ski days.  Usually on the kite it's not that important to me but as this was the first day of the season I guess I wanted the first tracks of the season.

As I got closer and closer to the field I got more anxious.   I kept expecting to see Jim at an intersection, pulling out ahead of me, and beating me to first tracks.  I was getting rabid!



J.C. and me.

 I was relieved when I pulled into the parking lot and no one was around.  The winds were pretty good and the fields looked great. I was half unloaded when Jim rolled in.  My relief has now turned into a big scramble to get out and get a kite in the air!  I threw up my 15m Phantom 2 and Jim launched his 10m Apex 2.

Fortunately Jim has a tendency to pass his bar through the bridles when he packs up which makes for a hell of a mess when he unpacks and it slowed him down enough for me to get launched and get first tracks.  Slow tracks due to the wrong wax but first tracks none the less.


The wind was off and on at first which is usually the case when you're between systems.  The temp had warmed up to about 45f. and the sun had come out which made for just a beauty of a day.  The riding was good when the wind was rockin but there were definate lulls in between.  I usually fly my Arcs with all the internal settings at full loose.  With the periodic lack of wind I decided to try maxing out all my internal settings to see how that would offset my wax situation.

Phantom 2

The Phantom 2 is a great kite.  For my tastes I pretty much prefer it over the Charger.  It has a lot of the qualities of the Charger that I like but some of the aggressive tendencies of the Charger (which I like in some situations) are toned down a little bit.  That said, when I max out the internals on the Phantom 2 it develops a VERY "Chargeresque" feel.   Which is just what I needed to get things moving in the sticky snow.

I went from poking along and feeling a little underpowered to ripping along and getting yarded off my edge a few times.  It was awesome!



N.J. and Arcs



Jim and I tracked up the field for a few hours when Mike Elliott showed up with his fiance' Nicole and her  6yr old son Nicolas (aka NJ).  NJ made a snowman, Mike threw up his 15m Charger, Nicole kept an eye on everyone and shot some pix.

Soon after Mike, Nicole and NJ showed up I noticed that the weather in the mountains to the NW was changing quite a bit.  And the wind we had was getting steadier and stronger with occasional punches that made me want to stay well clear of anything downwind that I could hit or get tangled up in.  I figured that the nasty wind was going to be picking up and it was almost time to quit for the day so I opted to try jumping a stream and riding in an adjacent field, track it up a bit, head back and pack up.



Mike, J.C. and me.  The front in the distance.

 Well, things start going awry at this point.  I cruise in, jump MOST of the stream (my tails landed in the water),  and immediately get tangled in the unmowed grass that was hidden under the snow.  It was like kiting into quicksand.  All I could do was put the kite directly in the powerzone and force my way slowly through.  This worked well for a few seconds until a gust it and pulled me over.  Now I'm tangled up in tall grass, skis up wind of my head, trying to get the 15m to the zenith so I can compose myself in time to get out of the mess before the wind gets even meaner.

And the wind was getting meaner.  I got myself squared away and up  just in time to look over to the other field and witness Mike cutting his safety while getting dragged downwind into a backstop and the treeline.  The kite went down on the other side of the chainlink and depowered perfectly right in the edge of the trees.

Hmmmmm, not lookin good.

Jim Cline on the other hand was upwind of both of us and had room to manuever so he was in no immediate danger.  He was just rippin back and forth, leaning hard in the saddle and hauling ass.  I can't believe how far Jim has come in his riding.  The guy is a damn machine.

After seeing Mike's debacle I decided I was going to swap to the 12m.  I got myself turned toward the launch area and muscled my way through the tall grass to the stream where this time I didn't have nearly enough speed to clear it.  I jumped, made it about half way, tips went under the water and a small grassy island, one ski pre-released and in I went.  

So here I am.  One ski gone, the other snagged under swamp grass, laying face down in the water with the wind picking up.  I can't get out of my other ski and my pit zips on my jacket are wide open (because it's about 50f now) and they are allowing the rapid filling of water into my jacket and bibs.

I'm down in a gully.  I can't see the kite as I bring it down to the edge of the window but I can feel where it is and I land it sight unseen.  I know it's down when the lines go slack.  I manage to roll over in the water and kick my other ski off and scramble up the bank.  The water pools in my boots when I stand upright.  I hate that feeling.

View from gully as water fills my clothing.

Nicole and Mike have his kite under control.  Jim is now getting thrashed and has landed hiw kite,  I secure mine and head back to the stream to get my skis.  One ski is sticking out and is easy to find.  The other I had to wade in and dig out of the mud.



This is just wrong.

Snowkitng is FUN!!!!!


Notice Jim in the background rippin'.

 At that point Mike and I decided to call it a day.  No point in getting hurt the first day of the season.  Jim launched his 8m Access and got thrashed withing seconds.  He bagged it too.

So at the end of the day I was soaked to the bone with 12 miles under my belt and a top speed of 31mph.  No injuries, no damaged kites or skis and first tracks in OCTOBER.  Not bad! 

And I gotta say it's wicked cool to be snowkiting while there are still leaves in the trees.  Green leaves no less.

Hopefully this early season jaunt isn't just a tease and we get a better season than last year.  The ice will start setting up soon and we'll be on the lakes before we know it. Keep your fingers crossed.

Until next time!