With the passing of Summer and the start of the Autumnal change, I thought it would be a good point to start another chat thread.

Also I wanted to throw out some ideas to get us talking about stuff, and then actually doing something about it..

- Snowkiting: There has been some interest in getting some snowkiting started by some of the more prolific posters round here. There are 2 aspects to this.

Firstly, as you will have seen there is an announcement post in these forums to see if there are enough people interested in an 'organised' snowkiting trip down to the Wanaka/Cadrona area later this year. We can keep the costs down if we can get the numbers to make it worth while. Alternatively we can take the less organised approach of asking people to sort out there own arrangements and just meet up down south on a specific weekend. Either way, if the interest is there, I am happy to try an make some arrangements.

Secondly, there is some thought that there must be a more local spot to Christchurch, where people could go to practice some snow kiting as a day trip. I think that we need to think about doing a reconnaissance trip in the direction of Arthur's Pass one windless weekend, (there have been plenty to choose from), and see what we can find. The Castle Hill area springs to mindwhich has its own weather website, (http://www.castlehill.net.nz/Weather/weather.htm), which would make know what it's doing in the mountains easier to find out. Who's up for a day trip out before the snow arrives...?

- Other flying sites: On the subject of reconnaissance missions, maybe the local CHC flyers should get together to scout out some more flying sites for when the beach is just not right. There just has to be more sites around CHC that would work in the right winds, we just have to find them... Again, this might be a good use of a windless weekend... A couple of spots that may deserve some investigation are, Wigram, the A&P showgrounds, Darfield, Halswell... Any other idea's..?

- Spot 'X' : The infamous Spot 'X' is a great spot for some non-beach flying which doesn't get used as much as it should.... This is probably as it is not 'technically' open to the public right now. This site is good in all wind directions, (except maybe SE), due to its elevation, and even though it is inland and subject to all the problems with gusty inland sites, I think we should make more use of it. I think we need to get some more experience in gusty condition, I thin we are all getting a bit spoilt using the beach, (I know I am..!) I have contacted the council to start a dialouge about the Use of Spot 'X', but hey if they don't like it then they will have to do something about it... We have enough people with cars to get people out there so I propose that we should try and use the place on a Sunday when the wind is not ENE-E. Any thoughts...?

I am just starting the conversation, so come on guys step up and lets get it sorted...!!

Spig im definitly up for that scout mission to Arthurs pass or where ever to find some snow kiting locations.

I really want to get talking to those guys at Wigram to see what can be arrannged...cause being an airfield it means shed loads of space as well as runways for getting some good speed on or off and landing on the grass.

Zee

just a thought here but its all a good idea going snow kiting BUT i thought tim has this field covered and most who go are involved with the snow kite missions are gong with a booked crew through tim.

just thought it might be a good idea to ask tim his thoughts as he is the best person to ask about spots etc prices.

we do NOT want a waikuku on our hands esp at the price of it all.

was waikuku any gud??? i know you guys are going/thinking about going to cardrona for snowkiting, if the snow is good then it should be mint as cardrona is for cross country skiing so no chairlifts i dnt think. I can also check if there is ski/board hire at cardrona or if you will have to hire in QT or wanaka. rob my buddy sed he's bin snw kiting there so it must be the spot! Btw coz work is slowing down due to the fact there are less tourists in sunny ol riverton during the chilly months hopefully ill be able to catchup with the CHcH crew and maybe see if i can get more southland kiters to make the trip, i heard theres another land based kiter around here so i will have to hunt him down................

Waikuku suffered from a lack of wind, but apart from that I think everyone, including Kiter had a good time...

Thanks for your offer to help out Bond, I'll keep you in the loop mate....

Bear in mind that Snow Farm, (http://www.snowfarmnz.com/) is almost guarenteed to have snow in August, unless it's a real bad year, (yeah, that can happen). And you can't control the wind, so that is always a variable.

The good thing is that if there is no snow at the farm, there will be snow at higher elevations and the recognised ski-area's. If we have transport, we can go and hunt down some snow and wind. And even if there is no wind, then we'll have the equipment and be able to go snowboarding at Cadrona or Remarkables instead. So it's not a case of having nothing to do if we make the effort to get down there....

SNAP... see other thread.

Ok, here is my take on the weather situation:

We gather a big range of forecasts for the weekend, combined with live readings (I'm sure we can find some from the skifields) then make a judgment call at the last possible moment (Friday around noon). If it looks like a "no-go" then we all just stay home.

By "no-go" I mean, no snow, no wind - Or adverse blizzard type conditions.

Of course, the only problems associated with this would be canceling the booking of accommodation.

That way, it gives us peace of mind, and a contingency plan of sorts. Plus it means we don't end up paying 300+ for the honour of drinking beer whilst brooding in a sub-zero environment.

sounds good to me

but with out a kite to hold me up i could be in real trouble

may i suggest a trip to check it all out and at the same time do a lesson on the board.

DAY TRIP close to home like porter hights

im up for a snowboarding training/lession mission somewhere close... learnining to board wont be hard without a kite, but both at once would be interesting.

how much would a board only trip to porters cost?

It's the opposite, or so I've heard. It's far easier to learn how to snowboard with a kite, as it "holds" you up.

Apparently kitesurfing and snowboarding cross over quite a bit, so it would be a good idea to have a go on the water at well!!

Also, any experience with KGB will help heaps...

I'm guessing that for anyone who is stupid enough to ride the surfari then snowkiting will be basic.

ahahaha then we need to take the beast to old school then

free lessons/broken legs for all

yeah even coronet myt be an option coz we could all go off piste as a group and there is board and ski hire at base camp. the problem with coro is that the snw is not natrual and often shit, remarkables has good snw but i have never gone off piste there, they also have ski hire at base camp and probably board tho i havnt seen it since i ski. treble cone is sed to have good snw and tracks but i have no idea what the mountain is like coz i have never skied there. I was wondering if you guys do come down where will you most likely be based Qt or wanaka?

BTW... the CSA Snowshow / Ski Sale is on at Addington Raceway on the 6th May... (http://www.skisouth.org.nz/skisouth/CSASkiandBoardSale/)

Might be a good place to pick up some cheap gear...

Ok just checkd up the sites of the southern ski mt's

CARDRONA:

Ski/snowboard hire: Adult - $40 one day $106 3 days

Clothing: Adult - $32 one day $78 3 days



NZSKI.COM (that means coronet/remarkables/your very own mt. hutt)

Skis/boots/poles: Adult - $41 one day $102 3 days

Snowboard/boots: Adult - $53 one day $138 3 days

and unfortunately they dnt seem to rent gear on the spot.

http://snowkiting.com/

A useful site for those wanting to check snowkiting out...

:roll: :roll:

:roll:

OMG!! im going to have to sit down....Kiter may have said something USEFULL.....

Im already sitting down....Im going to have to get up....This is a shock to the system.

yea thought i would post something usefull instead of the DRIBBLE you keep posting.

MERKIN. :roll:

From another thread.....


Hmmm... I fancy a drive out that way sometime soon, anyone else interested...?

Yeah im up for a Ride....This Sunday i want to go kiting....We are forcast for NE if that fails i want to go to the Port Hills and cheack out "old school reserve" but to be honest i forgot where it is....That way mason and i can hit up some downhill buggying....and Blizzad if he wants to come. Will be a good way to end the school holidays.

Also i think it would be a good idea if we could get hold of someone who knows something about the sport so we can find out what size boards and skis we need to get hold of.

for all you adventurers out there some other spots i've been thinking about for some buggy cross country adventures would be around mckenzie country you could clock up some serious km's

could do a downwinder from omarama to burkes pass... or short sections inbetween - just need to jump the fences, fly low under the transmission lines and float the gear across a few rivers so you'll need to be running on bigfoots.

molesworth flats looked good too.

Shaner you are full of ideas keep em coming....Would definitly need to get some bigfoots to cross rivers but unfortunatly it would cost heaps and i need to save my cash for the snowtrip later. But if we found somewhere where we didnt need to cross rivers id definitly be up for some cross country buggying...Spig thinking about buying that buggy yet....we will get you converted.

*sigh* all this talk is making me despirate to get out flying

i've had some damn good buggying at the eastern end of lake clearwater, up the hills and down, along the 4wd track, into a rock....

pays to have something solid in the bottom of your seat for sneaky rock protection...

R.I.P.S

RECTAL IMPACT PROTECTION SYSTEM

You right on the money there kiter. Mines on the way....Hopefully.

I reakon cross country kiting is where its at. Two Issues of powerkite mag ago i think it was there was an article about outback kiting....They said it was something to be explored a bit more. Anybody know any good places free of huge trees?

for kiting on snow have look at the latest "power kite" mag

if you have never skied or snowbd before i think you should do 3 or 4 days leaning it first it will save you a lot of frustratation (ive done 15yrs of it :roll: )

if you have not snowbd before, then lean snowkiting on skis it should be easyer.

from what ive seen the best wind is round 10-12kt at 20-25 the ski field nornal shut down as the chair lifts can derail plus it gets gusty in the mountains. i was at turoa car park last year with a 7kt wind gusting 4-27!!!! in 10 seconds!!!

gear wise, snowbd short twin tip 150-155 freestyle/park board
skis shortish as well twin tip/freestlye would be good

you want as little side cut as possible(so it turns less), most snowbd will be about the same
but you should stay away from sl skis if you can
becaues to turn skis/snowbd you lean it on to it's edge,cool!

but you need to be upon the edge to counter act the kite so your board will want to turn and not go straight so your feet/leg will get tired faster

some kitsurf companies make snowkiting boards with very little side cut


drunk 2cent dripple......


hey its 1.30.....

Some good advice there 50psi...

The Nobile & Best snowkite boards all start around the US$350 mark , (NZ$475) plus whatever shipping and GST needs to be paid... A bit too rich for most kiwi's I bet....

So if you are looking on Trademe for a potential snowboard for snowkiting the ideal board would be wide (25cm+), 150-160cms long freestyle, twin-tip, sintered base with a 10m+ sidecut radius.

That said, any old piece of cheap crap will do to get you started...!!

I visited a ski shop on the way home from work today and they said for skis you want them to stand up to about eye lvl. And for snowboards then you want them up to about your neck.

Simple get out the measureing tape and get on trademe. Ski season is coming up so it would be a good time to look.

so carvers not racers????.............. makes sense

Sizing sounds about right Zenon.....

Skis are supposed to easier to snow kite with if you have never done it or you don't landboard, (ie you do not have basic board skills). Snowboards are supposed to be easy for snowkiting if you have snowboarded / kitesurfed / landboarded before. But having either is better than have none... (especially if you want to use them for pure skiing or snowboarding).

Apparently, snowboards with a low sidecut radius, or a bigger sidecut value, (<9m radius), are supoposed to track poorly when riding across the wind on hard snow or ice. This is because they will effectively have a curved edge against the snow/ice meaning you will always be fighting against edging upwind. In soft snow it is not so important as you are not edging so hard.

I figure I can buy either ski's or a snowboard and get some use out of it when not snowkiting.... It's all good...

gonna get some mean speed coz there arnt speed wobbles to worry about lol well there wont be on a snw board neway

so are we going to the hills 2moro? the wind forecast looks non existant...

Yes Sym thats the hopefull plan provided i can manage to convince Dad to take us. Will probably be somewhere around lunchtime.

Blizz you want to come or what?

Which Hills....?

I'm up for a reccy round Castle Hill.....

who else is gonna turn up?

Na were going to the Old School reserve. I think we should wait with the Castle Hill untill there is some wind....would then at least make the trip slighty more worth it. Save this no wind day for the Port Hills.

So who else is going to come and take the photos of me and sym wrapped around several trees?

Easterly is building....

Easterly is dying..... damm the wind

I'm still keen to take a trip into the mountains, anyone else...?

Which mountains are you talking about?

At this point this is our plan (me sym and blizz)

Load up gear.
Drive to old school reserve.
Do some downhill buggying.
Detore past the beach if the wind is up and tide rideable spend a bit of time with the kites.
Back home at 5.00 as requested by Blizz.

What are your plans spig?

I was considering checking out Castle Hill for downhill and potential snowkiting sites, and a couple of other places along the way, while the wind was crap...

ok well as i said above is our plan.

We aiming to leave hopefully at 12.30

Spig take your camera so we can see what its like. And well take the camera where we are going.

Cheers Zee

THAT WAS AWESOME.

As the plan said we went up to "old school" reserve and wow.
Awesome downhill buggy runs. Loved every minute (apart from having to walk back up the hill.

The wet grass made everything so much better with nice buggy slides.
Small jumps beside trees added to the fun and with a whole range of courses to choose to go down it was awesome.

If you do what Blizz does and fail to stop on the huge grass area provided then the trees at the end will catch you as illusrated by both Blizz and Kitedaddy.

Then to top that off the NE was up at about 10 knts which meant hitting the beach at southBrighton was on the books.

Good session crusing even meet Steve with the Flexifoil buggy and Samuri. Unfortunatly he got a puncture and left but not after getting some runs in with the crew. Did a group run to the estury.

I even made a kicker out of seaweed which resulted in my making a nice big 180 jump accidentally.

What better way to finish the holidays and return to school.

Zee

Ah yes, fully agree with you there Zenon.

Awesome, totally awesome day cruising on the beach. the winds just gave us all the strength we needed, any less and the kites wouldn't have flown

However, Zenon did neglect to mention that I beat everyone, using the proto scorpion, despite the fact everyone had like a 100 metre headstart

Really good day for chucking the kites all over the sky, just kitelooping like there is no tomorrow...

I actually don't mind the light winds so much... cruising at speed with the MP3 going, wind in the face, fast turning kite just looping around everything, going over dunes, up hills... no better feeling.

so how much am i going to own that bent old nana of a buggy for.

or rather how much am i going to offer you eh :wink:

Sounds like you had a good day out, sorry to have missed it....

Back to school..... That's just like 'back to work' and we do that every week... ughhhhh

Anyway, I took a trip out to the Castle Hill area to take a look at potential kiting sites, both for normal conditions and snow kiting. Firstly, the weather was completely different in the mountains yesterday, with super hot sun and a light breeze, very different to the Canterbury Plain. Something to remember...!

There are a couple of places around the Castle Hill area that would be awesome for kiting, particularly the terraces which are relatively flat and wide with shortish grass covering, but lie adjacent to some serious slopes...! These would be awesome for buggying./snowkiting, (with snow covering), and depending on the grass length, do-able on the landboard. The downside is that these pieces of land are all owned by either Castle Hill or Flock Hill sheep stations, which would mean jumping some fences avoiding the sheep/cattle and using the land illegally..!! It may be worth trying to contact these sheep stations and seeing if they would be happy to allow us some access by agreement, or we just go and do it until we are chased off with shotguns...

Other than the sheep stations, the area around the access road to Porter Heights ski-area, (1hr 20mins out of CHC), would also be awesome, but I couldn't get up the access road to see if there were any fences to jump...? The car park at the Cave Stream reserve would make a great spot to fly, (except for all the tourists campers and some rocks - RIPS a definite requirement), as it has several elevation changes and slopes, even though in the scheme of things it's quite small. Plus it's open access land until DOC tell us otherwise. Lake Lyndon would be a great spot when it freezes over, as it is in a narrow part of the valley that would funnel the wind. It's the closest spot to CHC, has obvious open access and plenty of off street parking.

I have been to Porters Heights, Mt Hutt and Broken River and know from personal experience that these would not make good spots for snowkiting as they are all mall, narrow, steep and sometimes crowded. I am not sure what Craigieburn or Cheeseman are like, but if they are similar to the other Canterbury fields I suspect they will be non-starters... Further a field there are a couple of other ski area's that may work for snowkiting. Mt Lyford, (http://www.mtlyford.co.nz/ataglance_.htm), has a huge open bowl area that could be a snowkiters paradise and only 150kms from CHC. Mt Dobson, (http://www.dobson.co.nz/dobson/trail-guide/) also looks to have potential with a wide open field and only 3 lifts to avoid. Also Roundhill, (http://www.roundhill.co.nz/trails.html), or the area around it could also work given enough snow cover. All these locations are within 200kms or 3 hrs drive of CHC so day trips are quite feasible.

I also checked out a couple of other spots around CHC late last week. Wigram airbase is OUT.... sorry..!! They have 16 to 24 flights in and out per day and therefore kites would be a hazard to air traffic regardless where on the base we flew. Even the adjacent big paddocks are out as they are on the flight path for both the planes and helicopters. The A&P Showground's have too many fences and permanent street furniture to make it ideal for flying and in reality the fields there are too small.

I found a place called Canterbury Park, (just to the south of Wigram), that has some potential. It consists of a couple of HUGH paddocks which are currently set up with cross-country horse jumps and obstacles which would easily be avoided by anyone with any kite skills. The upside is that this park is relatively open and exposed, (not too many trees), open to recreation, and is bookable in advance. The downside is that it would be completely irresponsible to try flying a kite there if there was even a single horse using the place, (I wouldn't want a crazed horse bearing down on me for any reason..!!). As I say this place definitely has potential so I will follow up with the Council to understand what restrictions there may be around usage.

Still a few more places to check out, but if anyone has any other suggestions, let me know....

wind is picking up

good work spig, i was actually thinking about the carpark at cave stream being worth a look - it's not as if it would be getting regular enough use for anyone to have a problem with it. the other sites around castle hill i definately try ask permission for though.

like i said in the other thread, not been to lyford but it looks good on topomap so i think it'll definately be the first place i try this winter, could become a regular as it's an day trippable from chch. faces nicely into westerly winds. check the area aroun mt terako as thats the skifield bit, although the area off the road by lake stella could work also, although it's a fair bit lower and might not have snow cover.
f7.yahoofs.com/users/445c9007mb2a7db26/6...jpg?ph4jALGB2XtrMMUo


i've skied up dobson and it looked like it would hve some good areas for snow kiting, well away from lifts, both at the field and just off from the road up - faces nicely into the SW so could work quite well. it's a good place for ski/board beginners too if it aint on. i could possibly organise some very cheap accomodation down at tekapo too.

here's a warm up:

www.flyozone.com/snowkites/do...n_winter07.wmv[img][/img]