Spent the Weekend Girl Watching Down At Sandbar.

Champlain

 Another Girlstorm has come and gone and as usual with our kite adventures it was not without some interesting occurrences. Molly and Rachael Miller (owner of Stormboarding) spent the weekend instructing and I spent the weekend cruising around Sandbar State Park and riding with Burlington’s local kite speedster Gary Kjellerin. I saw some pretty strange things over there at Sandbar.

We rolled into Sandbar at about 11:00 and were greeted by mostly snow free ice and hardly a puff of wind. Rachael was out with a lesson trying to teach people how to fly a dead kite on the ground. In a way still a valuable part of learning snow kiting, eventually you need to learn that you won’t have wind every time right?

Molly had some time wanted to fly a little bit before the Girlstorm attendees showed up. With almost zero wind she decided to ride her P4 SA 19m. With her weight and the clean ice it would be just enough to get her out and moving. Although she had to work it at least she was out flying. She flew for about and hour. In the mean time I let Sirius out, organized my gear and talked to Rachael for a bit. The Girlstormers started showing up and Sirius got to hang out with them for a bit while I pulled my stuff out of the van.

Eventually Molly came in and met up with Rachael and the Girlstormers. The wind picked up and I was able to get out and poke around a little on the P4 before I put it away.

Girlstormers

One thing that we noticed that morning was that there were a huge number of Nordic ice skaters at Sandbar. I’m not familiar with the Nordic ice skate population in the Burlington Vt. Area but it did seem like a lot of skaters. And with the ice on the Champlain as nice as it was I would be out too skating I guess but a bunch of the skaters didn’t look to stable on their skates.

How?

While I was out cruising I started to notice a few small fish every so often frozen in the ice. The further west I went the more fish I saw. There were fish everywhere locked in the in the crystal clear ice. Then I started seeing larger fish frozen in the ice. Further out I came across more fish and now some are on the surface and some of the big fish are visible swimming just under the ice. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Live fish

I flew for a couple of hours. I was easily out numbered by the hoards of skaters out on the lake. Families and what looked like tour groups. Come to find out some guy was giving away rentals. Great idea right? Sure, too bad the people he was giving skates out to had no clue about the dynamics of lake ice and pressure ridges. As a result Molly spent half of her lesson time pulling people out of the water that had strayed into the edge of the pressure ridge and fallen through the ice. Seriously these people were swimming in Champlain. Molly had to rescue three people Saturday. One middle aged woman and one older woman and the husband that she pulled in with her as he tried to save her.

Fortunately Molly had her skis on so she could get a purchase on the ice. She spent the whole day warning people away from the pressure ridge. Her students couldn’t believe what they were seeing especially after both Rachael and Molly had just said they had never seen someone go through at a pressure ridge.

In the words of Homer Simpson, “D’oh!”

Molly had Andrea and Dani as students. They started out by getting a run down on the kite handling then moved on to actually skiing on the kite.  This was Dani's seconf Girlstorm.

I missed the chaos of the pressure ridge swimmers. I was out past Fish Bladder Island when the wind died on me. I was able to limp the kite back about half way until there was no wind at all. The kind of dead air you often get before a wind shift. Nothing but absolute zero wind. The weather was warm and I was tired from being up late and getting up early and driving over so I found a nice snow patch anchored my kite (not that it needed it) and took about a half hour nap. It was great! I was in no hurry so I figured “Why not?” This is one of the things I really like about coming to Sandbar and touring. There’s usually no pressure. None. I can go out and just go wherever I want. I can park my kite at an island and do some exploring like I did last year or I can stop on a snow patch and take a nap. So what if I can’t get back right away? There’s no rush, I’m not in danger and the wind usually comes around eventually. No pressure.

It’s A LOT of freedom.

I awoke to a light breeze coming out of the NW and decided to take advantage of it and launched my kite. With a little coaxing it caught the wind and I was off. I’m always amazed at how your sense of speed changes with the given conditions. I’m perfectly comfortable ripping along at 50-60mph without a thought beyond the sheer enjoyment of it. On a light wind day anything over 25mph seems just as fun and exciting to me.

I was able to get within about a quarter mile from my anchor when the wind just died again. I could see Molly and Rachael and the Girlstormers doing their thing on the other side of the pressure ridge off towards the beach. I could have easily skated the rest of the way but this is one of those times where I’m hell bent NOT to do a walk of shame. The wind would be back and I knew it so I found another snow patch and took another break. I laid down, dug my ski tails in, put my feet up and waited.

As I lay there I could hear some skaters in the distance talking about somebody that was down on the ice. They were wondering if they were hurt or unconscious because the person down wasn’t moving. As they discussed the situation they were getting closer and closer and I realized it was me they were worried about. A man and a woman came up and asked if I was okay. I told them I was just waiting for the wind but that I really appreciate that they came to check on me. They didn’t see the kite laying on the ground and they though I was just lying on the ice. It’s good to know that some people still care in this world.

Gary

I asked them what time it was. “3:45”the man said. “Good” I said because Gary Kjellerin told me the wind was supposed to pick up around 4:00. I have no problem lounging another 15 minutes. The guy thought I was nuts. But Gary seems like a guy with his act together and I’d bet his weather reports are pretty accurate.

And at 4:00 I was able to launch and fly back to my anchor.

Trike

I landed my kite as the wind continued to pick up. Gary was there and so was his son on an old Columbia trike (three wheel bike) that they found on the side of the road. I love old bikes and this in my eyes was a major score! I couldn’t believe that someone would just throw one out. All Gary did was air up the tires and it was good to go. Perfect for playing around on the ice. Trikes in good shape are pretty rare. Molly has one that she uses for hauling veggies and stuff. They’re fun as hell to ride. But like I said pretty rare.

But not as rare as I thought since there was another one on the ice on Sunday. Are you kidding me? What are the chances of two trikes out on the ice never mind at the same time? Vermont’s a little different.

Gary launched one of his Bests (not his best kite, the company is called “Best”) and we flew together for an hour or so. It was interesting in the still fairly light wind to see how the 19m Charger with my weight and his 15m Best with his weight worked in comparison. We were evenly matched for the most part but I think I had just a little more “grunt” most of the time. If we were racing I think I would have had him but it would have taken forever to gain any real distance. Gary’s no slouch when it comes to speed and I think he probably knows a lot about squeezing every bit of power out of the kite that he can.

I’ll have to work hard to beat him on Saturday.

I saw Molly waving me in so I broke off to check with her. Day one of Girlstorm was over and it was time to leave to head down to Rachael’s. Like a little kid I asked if I could take “one more” spin out around the pressure ridge and back. Molly reluctantly agreed and I took off. The thought crossed my mind to take advantage of my temporary freedom and stay out a little longer than she would have expected but I knew she was tired and it’s a long drive to Rachael’s so I opted to follow orders and come right back.

But I definitely know how the dog feels when he’s hiding somewhere and I’m going nuts calling him. “Just a little longer” he’s thinking and so was I.

We loaded the vehicles and headed down to Rachael’s where her husband James Lyne and their two Newfoundland dogs Hickory and Smudge we’re preparing dinner, some kind of crazy garlic and shrimp pasta. It was awesome, especially after a long day out on the ice with me playing, Molly and Rachael teaching and saving lives. (shaking my head) We watched the Olympics while we ate you get an interesting perspective when you get to do it with people who compete at the Olympic level.

The next morning we went back to Sandbar for day 2 of Girlstorm. As we approached the park we noticed several small furry dead animals on and along the road along the last stretch before the park turn off. They were muskrats. Overnight some sort of horrible “Muskrat Massacre” had occurred. It was very weird. I didn’t know they were muskrats until one crossed the parking lot in front of Gary and I later that morning. Then I saw one disappear into a crack in the ice. I didn’t know there were so many muskrats at Sandbar. It made me a little nervous. If you don’t know what a muskrat is they’re like beavers without the flat tail. Another difference is that they are extremely aggressive carnivores. They may be small but they hunt in packs and have been known to take down dogs and even small children. They even wrote a song about the little killing machines it’s called “Muskrat Love”. Play it backwards and it tells the whole story about how efficient they are at killing and eating everything they see.

Do you believe that? I hope not.

Gear sled

We met up with Rachael as she unloaded her truck and got the gear ready for the Girlstormers. As Molly and I unpacked the van Gary rolled up. He said he had something to show us in the back of his truck. We had no idea what we were about to see.

Evil.

“I made this in my shop this morning” he said as he pulled his creation out of the pile of kite clutter in the back of his pick up. We couldn’t believe what we saw. Gary had fabricated some sort of steel edged weapon out of an old Volkl. He said it was for use on the clean ice but it was clear to me that it was more suitable for hunting Moose or as a defensive weapon against the muskrats that surrounded us.

Look at that blade

It looked good and dangerous. I wasn’t about to try it but I was ready to watch him try it.

Molly and Rachael were gearing up the Girlstormers while Gary and I headed out to the ice in the truck. Gary inflated a 12m Best and I launched my 15m Charger. The wind was a lot better than Saturday. There were a couple other kiters out as well. One guy on skates with a 3m Ozone Sammy and another guy on a Slingshot inflatable and skis. After about an hour Gary decided to take his new creation for a ride. With one regular ski on one foot and his creation on the other foot Gary was off. It was quite a sight. It didn’t look very safe or even very fun but I have to say it was impressive. Gary went out pretty far and made it back without blowing a knee or cutting his head off in a crash.

And you should have seen the rut that thing made.

Beyond that the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Gary changed to his Switchblade ( a bolt on blade assembly for riding a snowboard on ice) And I just ripped around on my boring old DH skis. Wind picked up a little bit. Molly had three students Andrea, Dani and now Vanessa who moved up from the beginner group. With the increase in winds everybody was getting around really well.

I had a minor crash and tweaked my knee crashing at about 50mph and slid into a snow patch where I caught a tip. I felt a “pop” but my brace locked out the compression so I didn’t get tweaked too badly. It swelled up a little more than usual and was too tender afterward to drive my partially used up edge so I decided to switch to a fresh pair of boards.

To the van for new skis and a check on the dog.

On the way back Sirius I stopped by Molly and her students to check in and grab the camera to get some shots of everyone getting out to ride. While I was taking shots a guy and his little girl ice skated across the lines of one of the trainer kites and severed the brake line on a 3 line kite. Once the line was cut the kite launched while it was on the anchor and went crazy. It was fully powered and ready to cut someone’s head of. Eventually it whipped into the ice and I was able to grab it and get it under control.

The guy just skated off with his little girl. “Sorry!” he said but no attempt to see how much damage, no offer to replace what was probably $40 kite line. People just aren’t accountable these days I guess.

That’s okay. I saw a pack of muskrats moving in on his truck when he was helping his little girl with her skates. Good ol’ Karma. I can dream can't I?

I went back out and rode with Gary for a couple more hours. His son was back with his trike and now another kid was out on the ice with a trike. I couldn’t believe it. I was hoping to see some drag race action but it didn’t happen I rode with Gary until he had to leave. Of course as soon as he left the wind picked up just a little more and I was able to play on the 9m and get my speed up to 55.6mph. While I was out I saw one rider lose a kite out in the swamp and another lose a kite into the parking lot. Molly finished her class and came out to ride a little before we went home. She took the 9m and went way North. Farther North than Gary and I were able to get that day.

Molly came back after a short tour and we packed up our gear and began the trip home. On the way we stopped in Burlington at one of my favorite places to eat in Vermont a diner called Al’s French Fries. I love diner food and this place is a must see every time I come to Burlington. The food is cheap, tasty, fast and beats the hell out of Burger King or McDonalds. The fries are awesome.

It’s the perfect refuel point for me. Al’s is just east of the Windjammer Best Western so it’s also really convenient. During Kitestorm, which is coming up this weekend, I’ll be back at Al’s by Friday or Saturday and definitely on Sunday for the trip home.

Mac n Cheese, Cheese steak, Chili dog, Grilled Cheese, Fries

We ate our fill and jumped back in the van and headed for home.

As I said Kitestorm is next weekend. We’ll be there just to ride and Molly and I have a race on Saturday. I’ll try to get a blog entry about in as soon as possible.

Thanks for watching!