Favorite Beaches: Ivanpah CA, Metro Park MI, 6 Mile on lake Mohave NV. Daulpin island Al
Style: Snow kiting, buggy, water
Gear: 21m Flysurfer Soul, 17m LEI Cabrinha Contra, 13m Waroo LEI, 11 m foil Frenzy Ozone, 11m Lei Escape PL, 9m Lei Nemesis Best, 7m Lei Waroo, 6m foil apex HQ, 174 SB for the Pow, 169 split SB for the outback, Cabrinha 154 twin tip for the lake, 600 switchback Polaris to get me there, and why not add in a nice new big foot buggy for that once a year buggy blast at Ivanpah.
That makes sense to me. The wind front that is! Not having any of the proper gear: beacon, probe, etc that definitely makes me want to stay away from slopes. So scary glad your friend was ok.
I think snowkiters in general have very low safety skills for traveling so far into the backcountry. They almost never have proper gear, and ride suspect slopes most educated freeriders would not touch.
Same in this video. The snowpack in the western and central Alps is was very dangerous that week with a persistent weak layer and a lot of bonded windblown snow. Not smart to even go out in those conditions.
Please read the local avalanche report and educate yourselfs before kiting in the mountains, or hire a guide.
Holy cow, what a thing to go through. I read a couple papers that the powder blast of a dry avalanche knocks over trees and it's at least thought that the wind generated travels at the same speed as the moving snow, which can be really fast. The footage indicates a kite won't help you ride it out because of the wind phenomenon.
Alpha angle is a good thing to have in mind. You don't need to be in avalanche terrain to be very vulnerable. Slides can travel long distances on flatter terrain. Glad everyone was ok, and the visual lesson is substantial.
All fun and games till it hits! Hardly comparable, but I once had to sit on my kite to hold it down when a front came through at Cape Hatteras, sort of like the guy sitting in the one tent that did not get blown away. I like that the fire keeps burning.
Booof.... that's scary... I like how he tried to style it out though with a lofty front roll kiteloop (I know un-intentional), but if he had landed it, maximum kudos!!!