Hey guys,

Is anyone snow kiting around queenstown anytime between the 13 - 24th august?

im going snowboarding but going to take my kites aswell.

Any suggestions on kite sizes to take?

Hopefully kite cardrona and snowpark.. if anyones keen to come for a mission?

is there a snow kiting crew in queenstown?

hit me up if so...

Stevo

?Sorry to highjack your thread and a little off topic......but im heading to Cardrona end of Sept for a week of skiing / boarding, then onto Fiji for a week of kiting. I'm taking all the kit for Fiji, and was hoping to try snow kiting while at Cardrona or at Snowpark.
Just wondering (having not done any snow kiting or know much about it);
a) can I use my regular gear i.e 12m switchblade / harness etc?
b) is a snowboard or skiis better for 1st try?
c) how does the windrange of a kite differ on snow compared to water i.e do you generally use a smaller kite on snow?
d) anything in particular I need to be aware of?

All info appreciated, as I have yet to do any research at this stage.
Just wanting to give it a crack while im there and have my kiting gear with me

Cheers

ok, now that i have got some time to write a reply,

as for skis vs snowboard it really is just up the the rider. I use a snowboard, and the one thing that you will have to do it wind the back part of the bindings along way back so that you are not leaning over the snowboard. Some people find skis easier to use with the kite.

Kite size. Well im around 100-106kg and on the water on basicly use my 13m and 10m sle kites all the time. On the snow i have never used my 13m, just my 10m and 7m kites. There is very little resistance on the snow comparded to water. Plus i found that using inflatables on the snow was sometimes better in marginal conditions. Say if you get stuck in a gully with a sle you can most of the time work it to get back into the air, but I seen people with foils and they folded up into a ball and had to walk out and re launch in the wind again.

Cardrona works well in a SW wind, well works really great, better than snowfarm. Launch from the carpark and do not enter the ski field as anytime. You can track around the side of the ski field to near the top. Beware of the steep terrain in the back bowls, several people got have been taken out by avalanches in other ski areas around queenstown (not snowkiting, backcountry skiing or snowboarding). These areas are not patroled by ski staff at cardrona.

Snowfarm is good for nearly any wind direction. Best direction is a NW. Last year there was a $20 charge per car for the road access fee, payable in the SnowFarm lodge. Also there was a backcountry register to sign as well for using the Pisa Range.

I will be heading up a little bit this year, but not all the time as I live in Dunedin, which is about a 4 hour drive. There are plenty of people in Wanaka and Queenstown that snowkite, so if it is blowing there should be people out, esp at snowfarm. I got my first snowkite session last year at the start of June, and there were already people out there on that day.

Hope to see you up there. :)