Got out to Colorado last week for some boarding, and between a couple days at Telluride and a few days at Silverton, I had set some time aside to snowkite. I had one day of good wind, one day of marginal and one day of none...
...I have to again give a huge thanks to matthepp for the sincere hospitality and local intel on my second trip to kite in SW Colorado. Even more than the water kiters, I've found the snowkiters to be extremely welcoming and will go out of their way to help out visiting kiters. We had the same experience visiting the Jackson Hole kiters last year. That said, here's the SW Colorado trip report...
I had two days at Lizard Head pass. Had to wait a bit for the wind to fill in on Day 1, but then got a ripping session until sunset. I need a bigger kite, though. That 12M just doesn't cut it in the deep snow and variable air. The guys on 15Ms always seem to have a lot more margin to play with. Watching matt soar off the hills and float down in pretty light air was a treat.
Visibility was a little sketchy, but I went back the next day to find a bluebird day. The wind was much lighter. I got to slog around a bit (would have done better on a 15M or Peak 12) but it was one of those gorgeous days that I didn't really care. It was just a treat to be out there!
Day 1 LH
Day 1 LH, came in to a gorgeous sunset. Always love a sunset session...
Day 2 LH, view from above
Day 2 LH,
Day 2 LH, light wind, waiting for a gust.
For my 3rd snowkiting day matt called and said they were taking Timbersleds into the Maggie Gulch area. They were hoping to kite and offered me a tow in. "hell, yeah!" was my response. This is an absolutely gorgeous valley that I have to imagine is epic on a windy day. We didn't get the forecast wind for the day, but matt did drag around a bit on his 15M. I didn't mind the lack of wind. It was a pleasure to be out in that beautiful area, tour around a bit on skis, and watch the guys have a field day on the sleds. Definitely felt lucky to see that area as a tourist. Absolutely gorgeous.
On the same day, though, TommyGun went over to Lemon reservoir and they had a nice snowkite afternoon. Some pics of MG;
Day 3, MG
Day 3, MG
Day 3, MG - these guys pulled my ass in. Thanks again for the effort to get me in here! (lorne, matt & tom)
How bad-ass are these sleds? Damn!
(sorry about the purple tint to many of those photos - those were all editted while traveling on the iPhone. I just cropped, hit the auto enhance button, and uploaded. Came to find out that Apple thinks everyone like a little purple with their snow! )