No, but the ski school I once worked for was managed by a man called Kite.
Kite/parachute traction is a great concept, but you need wide expanses of snow, free of obstacles. There's a well-known Scottish skier who was badly injured using an Upski chute.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I acquired a Power / Traction Kite over the summer with the intention of giving it a go on Skis. The kites used for Kite skiing are the same ones as used for other land based kite activities such as buggying and land boards ... but different from those used for kite surfing.
It is amazing the amount of pull one can get from one of these.
In theory a brilliant idea as you could get up the mountains when the lifts are closed due to high winds ... but I also suspect pretty dangerous as I have experienced first hand being lifted off the gorund before and running about 20 metres trying to control it ... neither of which you would want to have happen with trees or steep drops anywhere!
After all it is free
After all it is free
A guy called Mike Hamilton I met did it on Baffin Island. Had to go 80 miles across frozen ocean to reach a set of couloirs he wanted to ski. Worked well apparently, he had a sled with all his kit on.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
agavin wrote:
I acquired a Power / Traction Kite over the summer with the intention of giving it a go on Skis. The kites used for Kite skiing are the same ones as used for other land based kite activities such as buggying and land boards ... but different from those used for kite surfing.
It is amazing the amount of pull one can get from one of these.
In theory a brilliant idea as you could get up the mountains when the lifts are closed due to high winds ... but I also suspect pretty dangerous as I have experienced first hand being lifted off the gorund before and running about 20 metres trying to control it ... neither of which you would want to have happen with trees or steep drops anywhere!
I've seen people windsurfing on frozen lakes in Norway.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
hobbiteater, my sons are both keen kite skiers/boarders they offer skiers/boarders the chance to try for thenselves on the Col de Petit St Bernard, I'm sure Daniel has a section on his website devoted to kiting go to www.morealps.com for details.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
This was taken in Iceland on the Langjokull glacier. Im in the distance on the blue kite. Its fairly easy to pick up, certainly easier than kitesurfing. Its not really about getting up a mountain to ski down again - theres so much more to it than that, and you can do stupidly high jumps if you're into that sort of thing.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Never on snow, but kite'd on land for years, and started kitesurfing this summer......
Used to do a bit of Kite buggying on Benone Strand. Great craic when the wind is right.
There were a few guys on the Lake at Zell doing it when I was there in March
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
daehwons, like the look of the sail thing
hobbiteater, I do a bit of kite surfing and a lot of skiing and I have to say I'm not too sure of the point of having a kite up a mountain but if you've got snow and flat land I reckon it's a top idea.
Last March, driving along the A12 just east of Innsbruck, we saw a couple of guys kite skiing in a snow covered farmers field at 5 or 6 in the evening ... what an excellent idea - you can pop out after work and there's no need to traipse up a mountain where the lifts would probably be shut anyway.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
The ozone guys really know what they're doing - we ran a feature on them in a mag a while back and the latest trick mastered was a jump with the kite then looped twice underneath them ie they accelerate towards the ground before saving themselves from certain death with an upwards swoop. To be honest it looks quite alarming. I don't think you have to do that to pass a kite certificate, by the way, though it would be a usefully Darwinian test.
there are clips of Chasta doing kiteloops in the vid I posted higher up.......
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
another resort which offers kite skiing due to having a big wide flat area on the top of a hill is Semnoz - just out the back of Annecy. Again, I think its often the Ozone guys who are there and I did see a leaflet about a ski school for it...
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