Utah Snowkite Trip

[Steve-O]

Some of you have been asking how the trip went to Utah.....in a word EPIC!!!!

The snow was amazing and there was tons of it. All the locals said it was they best snow they could remember. My wife wanted to take a sleigh ride, however, they were cancelled due to the snow being too deep. Driver who grew up there says that has happened in a long time.

Took a snowboard lesson and picked it up rather quickly. I wasn't doing any blacks, but mostly greens and blues. Very cool. The weather was typical high pressure with blue skies, warm temps, and unfortunately not alot of wind.


On Wednesday, drove out to Powder Mountain, a ski/board resort that also caters to kiters, but no wind and it really didn't cater to kiters IMO....but the mountain was epic powder for sure. Well worth the drive and for hardcore borders, the ultimate adventure. Cheap too.

On Sat. Mar 2, drove out to Skyline to check out the big kite event sponsored by Ozone. Crazy, crazy drive. Imagine driving to Mount Dora to go kiteboarding...you get the idea....way off the beaten path. I got the funniest picture of a kiteboarding sign on the side of the road. Will post later.
So the contest was ok, nothing exciting, it was very cold due to the wind, but the place was just like the pics. Lots of rolling hills and open areas to kite. I just stayed and watched for awhile but did not want to try and snowkite for the first time at this contest. I thought I was going to miss my chance, but I didn't really know what the hell I was doing and I didn't want to be "that guy" with the circus music in the background. Didn't really see anyone throwin down by the way.

On Sunday, back in Park City, last day by the way, we were ready to get back home. We decided to take my daughter tubing again...that was fun by the way....and while driving on the highway saw this kite in the distance. It was this lone guy on this huge open area. Found him, wasn't easy, and sat there for 1/2 hour. Van pulls up full of snowkiters, one was an instructor. Guys were way cool. We modified my board a bit, they launched me, and I was off. Basically, I was glad I did it, but the water is way better. I think for those guys, this is a way to get away from the crowds in the ski areas and save some money. I am sure they have some epic sessions, but my session was like a 12-15mph day at East Beach on a big kite. I don't think I really got a true taste of it. I would do it again for sure.

But for those considering it, it was super easy to pick up. The snowboard and boot combo however, was very uncomfortable on the feet. I am not sure if they have designed some specific snowkite boots, but my boots were fine snowboarding, but awful for snowkiting. Further investigation needed.

I will post some pics soon.

The big downer of the trip is my daughter and I caught the flu, so there were a few days we were down for the count. That sucked.