NJ Snowkite Club???

Thats freaking Great!! Best part is “So Long, suckers!” But we really know that blokarts are cooling than snowkiting. Send some photos from the iphone. have fun.

hmmmm, I wish I could be part of your club Brian, but I’ll be in the “got to stay home club” this week end since we have a Dutch visitor again, but I’d like to hear and see more of your outing as I was talking about snowKiting with Don last time…

What kind of boots and bindings do you suggest, I am still using a pretty old snowboard for regular snowboarding with step in switch bindings, but the boots are too rigid to have a good time with a kite yanking you around I guess.. I was looking into a new snowboard and flow bindings, and nice softboots, any suggestions??

Also make sure to get the 11 meter Don gave you out and get pics.. We want pics, we want video and we want to be jealous too!!!.

So long cool guys

Linked below is a picture from our tughill adventures on day one. We had a freaking blast. Day two is looking even better. Predictions tonight are showing another 2-4 inches of fresh snow overnight, and the wind prediction is 15-20 mph. Promises to be a fun day.

Tug Hill

Jesse, the boots and bindings that you have would be pretty good for snowkiting btw. Reasoning behind that is you wont have to hassle with the bindings too much getting on and off the board. The thing is, is your snowboard a true twin-tip board? I have a lot of downhill snowboards but they are not twin tip boards. Which you will need for snowkiting.

Its a blast man. Maybe you can come with us next time and join the “cooler” club.

On our way back from tug hill right now. You folks missed an amazing weekend in the snow. Although the winds were a little gusty we had a blast. I have a vid of brian riding, but I have not posted it yet. I’ll see what I can do when I get home.

Guess I will have to make some skies for my buggy and come play in the snow you guys.
Glad you had a great time!

Awesome time! Plan to go there again one more time in mid Jan.

I would have gone but the invite was a little late. Give us some advanced warning next time guys.

How much advance notice do you need? With changing weather conditions it can end being a little spur of the moment. Let me know, and I’ll try to keep you included in the e-mail traffic so you can come on the next trip…

Glad you had an amazing day. I don’t have a buggy, yet… but I do have a snowboard. I read different oppinions about the type of bindings to be used for snow kitting. What types of bingings are you using?

Hey, Tibi! You are alive!!!

I use K2 Cinch. Love it! Some said Flow bindings work better but I haven’t used them.

Wow, more interest in snowkiting here than I thought. Our next trip will be mid or end of Jan, 2009 then another one in Feb.

Let’s do it!

Mine are “5150″, but I’m thinking about getting something more suitable for snow kiting.
Thanks.

5150 is more of a brand of bindings. What Brian is referring to is a type of binding more than the brand necessarily. The Cinch bindings work in a way where you can simply slip your foot under the straps and pull the back against your heel, locking it into place. I am not sure what the “flow” bindings are. I was using some normal strap on bindings (Gnu UltraLights) and found that the setting I had them on was too tight.

Basically, any bindings you have are probably going to work just fine. The key you will find, is that something you can get in and out of very quickly will be preferrable. Especially if you get into a situation where the kite does something unexpected and you need to recover it quickly. Ideally, you won’t find yourself in that situation, but it could happen (fifth-line safety systems in these situations are ideal).

I’m going to be playing with my bindings before our next trip to see if I can get it into a setting that will be a little easier to use. Brian’s “cinch” bindings are nice, but not necessarily something I would trade my current bindings in for…

Tibi- What model 5150 bindings do you have? Also, do you have any depower kites? Flying a fixed bridle while trying to snowkite is going to be a bit difficult…

As far as boot bindings, Stepins are getting harder to find and boot selection is limited. I have a freind that swears buy them. My wife has ridden burton stepins since she started ,maybe 6 or so years ago.She always complained that her feet hurt, I finally got her to try regular strap ins and she will never ride stepins again. If you can find confy stepins go for it, but if your feet hurt you not gona have fun.

Lets not forget about Kitestorm either. Thats one of my must dos for this year.

Snowkiting Sucks……………… only kidding,,,it sounds like you guys had a great time… that is cool. Maybe one of these days I will get into it. I have to get the landboard thing down first I think before the snowboard comes in. Just now I would not have alot of time to get there….maybe if you guys hit an area closer to philadelphia if they get snow let me know……

I love my strapin bindings. So much more comfortable. I do have a pair of step-ins, but the boots are too tight for my feet. Same size as my other boots, just different brand… makes a huge difference. I’m trying to figure out a way to stretch them a little bit so I can use them for snowkiting.. but not sure its going to happen.

I wont be able to make kitestorm this year as I already have a week long trip to canada for downhill snowboarding already booked and set…bummer…

LBJ, personally, i think snowkiting is both safer and easier than landboarding. Landboarding is not very forgiving at all. If you fall, you are gonna hit hard pack, which hurts like hell. Snow… its soft, white, fluffy and cuddly… Take a tumble and yer fine. Thing is… have you ever done any downhill snowboarding? If you have, then the mechanics of steering the board will be easy for you to learn.

The problem i was having with snowkiting is that i have been downhill snowboarding for 7 yrs now and have learned to ride right-foot dominant.. and now i have to learn how to ride with my left foot lead again… Not going to be easy..

Ragden,
My bindings are strapin bindings “5150″, model “FF2000″. I checked a few websites about bindings and I found out that “Flow” is a brand, but also some people refer to them as a type. They are similar to what you described about Brian’s bindings.
About depower kites… no… I don’t have any of those, yet. Are they really necessary for snowkiting? What kites did you use on your last trip?

Hey Ragden, that makes sense about the snow being a softer landing…. i will have to try it one of these days….I have never been snowboarding before but I do have a slight bit of time on the landboard.

Tibi- I was using two different depower kites. Both are Flysurfer Outlaws. The one I flew the most was an 8 meter, but I did spend a little bit of time getting dragged around by the 12. You could probably do it with fixed-bridle kites, but I would think it would be a lot more difficult. Not sure, I didnt even try it. Everyone who was out there was flying depower kites.

LBJ- If you have some time, I could show you the basics of snowboarding. What you need to know for snow kiting isnt very difficult. You just need gear. Course, it would be easier if we actually had snow to do that one. A small gentle-sloped hill is all that is really required to learn the fundamentals. A ski-resort type hill would probably help, but is not really required. The biggest difference you are going to find between the two (landboard vs snowboard), is getting started. You can launch the kite and step into the straps on the landboard, but with snow kiting, you have to strap in your feet to the board, then launch the kite. Changes things a little bit.

Rag ya headed to BC to ride? Or somewhere more local like Tremblant?

LBJ i may have some gear you can use. I def have boards, what size shoe do you wear? I might have boots too.

Maybe we should all get together at Whitetail or roundtop do some riding.

I also know some of the EastKB guys snow kite in central PA somewhere. Have to hook up with them if we get good snow this year.

Tremblant? Funny you would mention that place as I am going to be spending a week there at the end of February.

When I go snowboarding, most times I head out to Ski Roundtop. I live in the DC area, so that is the most local place I can go.

I have extra boards, and an extra pair of boots.

I’d totally be game for a meet up at Whitetail or Roundtop. Just let me know when and where… I’ll be there..

Central PA doesnt have much snow right now… And that would be really situational. They would lose snow very quickly unless its really cold. My experience with PA has been that snow melts very quickly unless its a big storm…

Let’s do this weekend again. Searching for snow…

ooooh snap! its on like donkey-kong!

Hey Snobdr, Thanks for the offer,,, I wear a size 8 1/2 or 9 boot. I will diff take you up on the offer for the loan one of these days.. right now with the kids and all my schedule is always full… I am lucky,,,,hence the LBJ name, that I live so close to the beach so I am able to get there pretty easy without burning alot of time traveling…I will make some time in the future for the snow…i will keep watching the chat here about it… It the rain holds out I may hit the beach tomorrow,

I have a pair of boots that are size ten, but dont fit my feet at all. I think they are actually smaller than a size ten, or rate larger than they actually are. You are more than welcome to try them on to see if they fit you…