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Advice for gear for snowkiting

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tautologies
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Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby tautologies » Mon Mar 13, 2017 5:12 am

Hi. SO even if I grew up in snow, I have never snow kited...so I need some advice on gear.
I want to snow kite on skis. Last time I had skis on is more than a decade...and i have kited since 2001, but I grew up skiing so I am not too worried about the whole kite. and ski. What I am wondering about it what gear should I be looking at:

Type of skis, binding, shoes, ski pants, and jackets. Anything else?
If you have links to products / examples that would be killer.

Thx guys.

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby geopeck » Mon Mar 13, 2017 6:26 am

Bibs better than pants everytime. Some version of seat harness is better than a waist due to a waist sliding over the clothing layers. Balaclava/helmet pretty nice combo. Are you going to drive up a volcano?

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby joriws » Mon Mar 13, 2017 6:30 am

Helmet, goggles.

If kiting on ice also ice screw and karabiner from climbing shop. I use standard alpine big radius r=20m carving skis, std bindings and stiff boots. If you want to go fast and furious then more stiff and larger radius is the better like 80s skis or super-g style competition skis.

If kiting on mountains I'd recommend telescope poles and freeski bindings like dynafit or marker/salomon guardian mnc-style. Freeskier ascent 'tapes' to skis. For the case if you accidentally go to no wind zone or need to ski above treeline. Avalanche gear depends a lot of your location and snow conditions.

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby Windstoked » Mon Mar 13, 2017 7:25 am

If you have all your old ski gear in a closet somewhere, you're actually ready to go.
I think bib pants are better than regular ski pants, because they prevent snow penetration under your upper layers pulled up by the harness.
The problem with bib pants is they can tear out from the crotch stretch of a seat harness or climbing harness backup.
I found that wearing overall pants under regular ski pants and the mid-layer upper worked great. When it's warmer, I skip the mid-layer upper.
Some use coats with a special opening for c-loop.
Upgrading to randonee bindings/skis opens up more areas, and can be better for a bailout hike.
A pack with collapsible poles and other safety items is recommended for going farther out.
Good luck!

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby Regis-de-giens » Mon Mar 13, 2017 9:24 am

I love my old-80's integral ski suit for snowkiting, which limits the number of layer superposed under the harness, like this one:
Image
I also prefer seat harness ( light if possible).

Skis depending on snow quality ; mine are 98 cm wide but for hard snow narrower ski will fit ; generally speaking I often say that " every thing works in snowkiting" ; To ease transitions in deep powder i would recommend a smaller length than for standard freeriding, say between your heights and -15 cm, like official slopes of ski resorts.

Bindings depending on you site access : if you do not need to climb hills, standard bindings are perfect.

When I ride far away from my starting point and with hills, I take telescopic sticks and hiking skins in my back pack in case of wind drop.

Regarding kite size, one smaller size compared to TT riding is generally the good choice.

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby tautologies » Mon Mar 13, 2017 8:31 pm

Regis-de-giens wrote:
Mon Mar 13, 2017 9:24 am
I love my old-80's integral ski suit for snowkiting, which limits the number of layer superposed under the harness, like this one:
Image
I also prefer seat harness ( light if possible).

Skis depending on snow quality ; mine are 98 cm wide but for hard snow narrower ski will fit ; generally speaking I often say that " every thing works in snowkiting" ; To ease transitions in deep powder i would recommend a smaller length than for standard freeriding, say between your heights and -15 cm, like official slopes of ski resorts.

Bindings depending on you site access : if you do not need to climb hills, standard bindings are perfect.

When I ride far away from my starting point and with hills, I take telescopic sticks and hiking skins in my back pack in case of wind drop.

Regarding kite size, one smaller size compared to TT riding is generally the good choice.

Onesies FTW!!!

Thank you for the advice. I am thinking now I might just rent skis and get the scoop and test some stuff out...but what you said makes sense.

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby Hardwater Kiter » Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:23 am

All we do is snow kite. :-)

Here's a link to our recommended gear page. It has a good amount of the basic stuff that we use and sell for snow kiting. To make things easy a few key bits of gear help...

http://www.hardwaterkiter.com/recommend ... pment.html

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby fernmanus » Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:47 am

Tell us where you are going. The gear is much more dependent on location compared to kitesurfing.

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby tautologies » Tue Mar 14, 2017 5:18 am

Hardwater Kiter wrote:
Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:23 am
All we do is snow kite. :-)

Here's a link to our recommended gear page. It has a good amount of the basic stuff that we use and sell for snow kiting. To make things easy a few key bits of gear help...

http://www.hardwaterkiter.com/recommend ... pment.html
Thats an amazing resource. Thank you!!

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Re: Advice for gear for snowkiting

Postby tautologies » Tue Mar 14, 2017 5:21 am

fernmanus wrote:
Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:47 am
Tell us where you are going. The gear is much more dependent on location compared to kitesurfing.
Not 100% decided yet. I am considering just renting first tho.


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