In my opinion, snowkiting is the easiest kite sport to pick up. No problem starting as you don't sink when you stand up and no wet factor. Personally I've only snowkited with foil kites, I don't like the idea of using an inflatable on snow possibly with sharp icy bits around. So relaunching you inflatable would be the same as if you crashed it leading edge down on the beach, foil kites relaunch differently.

Next depends where you want to snowkite, if you're on a flat field then you don't need to be able to snowboard and stance, etc are just the same as kitesurfing. If you are in the mountains then being able to snowboard is an advantage as then you can kite up the hill and snowboard back down. If you can't snowboard then getting down could be a challenge.
The most important thing I would say about going out in the mountains is being able to navigate properly, particularly if the weather turns nasty and you end up in a whiteout. On a field this doesn't really matter. Also the wind behaves differently in the mountains compared to the ocean.

Like I said above I prefer foil kites but a lot of people prefer LEIs, each to their own. As for boards, you get snowkite specific boards but a regular snowboard is just fine. Even at top level competition many will still use regular snowboards. Look for a true twin tip, look online for what size you need for snowboarding and use the same for kiting.

Hope this helps!

Hi rickwindt, snowkiting can be a lot of fun and you don't need to have much snowboarding skills to enjoy yourself. I know a couple of snowkiters who are not great snowboarders and they do just fine in snowkiting. Although advanced snowboarding skills are very handy for handling various snow conditions, uphill kiting, downhill kiting, freestyle tricks, etc. Your stance should be about the same as in kitesurfing on a twin tip but will also vary depending on snow conditions.

As NaturalHigh mentioned, foil kites are an advantage in the snow as they are much lighter and will perform best in lighter winds. They also have the ability to pack very small and you don't need a pump (faster setup and pack down), great for longer trekking sessions. But, because of their limited budget, most people I see out in the snow fields use their inflatables kites, which are great for anything above 12 knots, and also perform better in strong gusty winds in comparison to foil kites.

In snowkiting, you need to have the ability to reverse launch your kite, which is often the only way to relaunch your foil kite when it falls downwind on it's leading edge, I'm sure you can find info on reverse launching on this forum, or google, youtube...Reverse launching is also very handy to relaunch your inflatable kite when the wind is lighter and you don't want to drag your kite to the edge of the window to relaunch it.

The snowkite specific snowboards are designed with very little sidecut along the edges, which means they wouldn't turn very well when snowboarding in the slopes downhill for example, but because it snowkiting you don't turn your board so often, straight sidecuts can be advantage for going faster in a straight line along your edge.

I would recommend you get started in snowkiting in flatter areas with a lot of space and predictable winds. I think in Australia Mt Hotham would be your best choice. Then New Zealand is where it's all happening when you get more skills.

I hope you get a chance to enjoy this great sport!