Kite Stoke?

[TSterling]

Anyone know where the edits from the hours of video shot snowkiting are? I'm not sure of names, but a bunch of Ozone guys seemed to have the tripod cinematography down pretty well. I would love to know where it all goes. One day in particular was late spring at the Berry and most were parked at Chicken Creek East, while hitting up the hills to the west. I had a pink 12 meter frenzy, and was thinking I was rad after feeling confident from parking the kite and making some decent ski turns. Then the guys showed up and were going off. I had briefly met Billy B. prior to this day, but never really witnessed the skills in good wind. Another guy had the sickest glide style I had ever encountered. It's almost here again...

Billy from a distance with a point and shoot:


Another:


Someday, I will fly:


You guys help me dream.
That is all.

[Ralph Morrison]

Another guy had the sickest glide style I had ever encountered. Someday, I will fly:


You guys help me dream.
That is all.

Good eye. That's Tom Reynolds. The glide he's doing in the picture is very modest compared to his other sport.

Tom speed flying,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f79j4Fat ... re=channel

Tommy snowkiting,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo6EEhjW8_Y

[TSterling]

Thanks Ralph...nice Vids Tom! I really appreciate your ambition for snowkite photo/cinema. It can be a really difficult sport to shoot well, with the perspective and framing of it all. I think most are just too stoked, when the wind is up, to take a few minutes. Nice work.

[Tom Reynolds]

That was a fun day. I was just learning and practicing kite gliding on that day - staying low and trying to stay stable. I'm trying to follow in some big foot-steps with the forward body position gliding - namely Robbie Whittal, and Jerome Josserand. I have fun videoing and editing the kite action, and can't wait to get some new footage this season. You can see all my vids here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/trinpc
And for some really sick, and inspiring kite gliding, check out GGs vids(Jerome Josserand)
http://www.youtube.com/user/ggkite#p/u/6/_wqeNJKM_7Y

Think Snow!

[TSterling]

I've often imagined this perfect sport of being able to ski with a wing and leave the ground over large expanses of undesired terrain, gliding maybe only a few feet above the snow. I feel it would be more of a skiing experience than a flying one. This sport is obviously here, speed flying, but it seems everyone spends more time flying than skiing, and models really fast paragliding with small wings. Is hanging mellow similar to kiting on a frozen lake? Lame? I would think the skills it takes to ski with the wing inflated and pointed in the correct direction would keep the mind occupied enough. I once hear someone say, "Skiing is not like flying. Flying is like flying." This has had my mind for a while. I'm sure someday I'll throw down some $ to Cloud 9.

GG is...not close to the ground, but amazing stoke nonetheless. Love seeing the skiers with smooth style. Snowboarders flailing look just as bad as skiers flailing. Done well, both disciplines have amazing aesthetics.

[Kenny]

I've often imagined this perfect sport of being able to ski with a wing and leave the ground over large expanses of undesired terrain, gliding maybe only a few feet above the snow. I feel it would be more of a skiing experience than a flying one. This sport is obviously here, speed flying, but it seems everyone spends more time flying than skiing, and models really fast paragliding with small wings. Is hanging mellow similar to kiting on a frozen lake? Lame? I would think the skills it takes to ski with the wing inflated and pointed in the correct direction would keep the mind occupied enough. I once hear someone say, "Skiing is not like flying. Flying is like flying." This has had my mind for a while. I'm sure someday I'll throw down some $ to Cloud 9.

Gliding and speed flying are two very different ways to fly. The first one is very accessible to kiters, the second to paragliders. In Utah at least, not vice-versa. Speed flying is basically relegated to the backcountry area at The Canyons Ski Resort. For a beginner, it is a lot of work for a little flight time. For PG pilots, the learning curve is small. For non-PG pilots it is a much longer curve. Unfortunately, the beginner area for speed-flying at The Canyons is quite short, so it takes a lot of work to get much flight time as a beginner because every run requires a boot pack up to the out-of-bounds area, unpacking the wing, take a short ski/flight of a 100 yards or so, pack it up again, ski down to the bottom, ride the chair up and do it all over again. Gliding on the other hand, requires that you set up the kite, loop up the hill, fly down and repeat with no packing/unpacking of the wing, no chair ride. If I lived where I had access to an open glacier or I had the PG skills that I didn't mind flying over trees/cliffs, etc. then speed flying would be a good option. Speed flying is inherently safer as you have multiple lines connected to the wing, when you glide with a kite you have 4 lines connected to the kite. So safe gliding is probably best performed within 25 feet of the ground, but some go higher . Both speedflying and kiting are exciting as they are done with smaller wings than a PG wing, so the forward movement is relatively fast.

[TSterling]

Wow, surprised to hear about speed flying logistics, but it does make sense as the Wasatch is pretty steep, treed, and gully f'd. My best "glides" with a kite have been small 40 footers a few few off the ground, but have me hooked for life. The feeling of the harness catching when gravity would normally set you down is indescribable. Kiting is one of the hardest things to put into words to an outsider, but a friend once said, "Kiting is like combining the two most fun activities in life. Skiing and flying." It creates a good image. So excited for the season; and the next ten years.