LAKAWA

You are definitely in the right place for getting info on windsurfing gear. There are quite a few of us who still have some windsurfing gear sitting around since we started kiting. But I must caution you about getting super "CHEAP" gear. Older longboards that are plastic and heavy are not ...

I was just doing some Google "Earth" terrain scouting from the lower west side, and saw an aerial view of something strange on Waconia. Looks like the pole boarders were out there along with the tea baggers. You can see a few windsurfers out there too, but they are hard to find. On the bea...

Good luck! Your legs will burn. Your butt will be wet. And most likely, if you find some dirty wind, you may eat some snow. If renting, try your best to get a over sized twin-tip for your weight. This is especially helpful if you are in deep or soft snow. 12-15degrees duck stance is nice to request ...

Two words - Butt Pad I started using these back in '11. I have made them for most of the snowboarders here and anyone with one will never go without them. These are made out of some Walmart workout mat that you cut into a shape that just slides into your bibs. Though not shown, you need to reinforce...

Best ice freeskate/sledge video I have seen yet. A bit nauseating at first, but at 1:15 the camera angle changes and you get to see some foot work and some blasting through snow drifts. All shot on Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs, IA. - our home kiteboarding and windsurfing lake. Ed and Scott look lik...

I did forget the best part of skiing for me - Taking the ski boots off! It is like having a drink of water after walking 100 miles through the desert. Or like opening that first Christmas present when you were a kid. Or like finding a rest area along the road when you needed one 30miles back. For sn...

A few kiteskiers around here have tried to make the leap from skis to a snowboard. But none of them have really given up the skis for a snowboard. Though I am exclusively a kitesnowboarder, it is obvious that skis have almost every advantage over a snowboard. Speed and mobility are the top 2. I woul...

Bryce,

Did anyone try on the east side? It looks like there may be a spot to park and the terrain looks a bit steeper. It looks like epic wind lips would form on the lake just west of the quarry off of the road there.

General rule of thumb for terrain is that you will need some snow for it. The best terrain is always covered with some form of deep grass. Over grazed pasture will just blow off on the windward faces all the way down to the cowpies and bare dirt. With deep grass, you will need a good 6" snow to...

I think back then Bryce had to give me permission to add to the map. It seems that I do not have that anymore.

I have more to add to the map if you want some terrain locations out west (SD/MN border area). It has been 2 years since I posted the Spirit Lake, Windom, and Lake Benton areas. So I have kind of forgot how to put my stuff on the map.

Any hints?

Matt from Omaha, NE
mvolen@live.com

Snowkiters lottery pact:

If one of us wins the lottery, we either buy a run down golf course with good wind exposure or build one from scratch. I have a chainsaw and will volunteer my time if the former route comes to fruition.

Hey, dreamin if free! - or not much more than a dollar.

Here are some pics of Max out in Council Bluffs, IA at our trainer kiting, skatesailing, kiteskateboarding, and now kite Freebording spot. He is on a 7.5m Apex II on a wind direction that put him just downwind of the only tree line. Watch the kite hit a vortex coming off of the tree line and just co...

I am looking to pick up a 3rd pair of snowboard boots for snowkiting. I currently own 2 pairs of "Head" boots that I think were a cheap Chinese rip-offs. But I love them because they flex the most out of any boot I have ever used. Too bad they are at the end of their life. I also picked up...

I was watching a video of a revised winter long range forecast that said there is the potential for the Greenland blocking high to disappear just like 2011-2012. That would mean the cold & snow would stay up around Alexandria, MN. Everything south of that would be more along the lines of rain an...

So what you are saying is that, as usual, the weather man is wrong? I kind of agree with that too, though I wish a milder warmer winter with no snow south of the arctic circle would have been called for. I believe the climatatoligists and weatheroligists and voodoooligists all have a pact to use rev...

I have had my fill of the soft water and am looking forward to the white from horizon to horizon. Anybody have any insight other than below for what we are looking at for a winter long range forecast? Have any of the past forecasts for winter ever come true? (since 2008, every forecast has been wron...

I cannot get the crotch of my 5-4-3 suit with lots of smoothskin to stay intact. So I found a solution to that cold shock in the most sensitive of places for really cheap and only a 1 time hassle. Walmart sells a 2mm neoprene biker short that goes under my "holy" suit. I had to pull out th...

I got the 14m, 12m, and a 9m HQ "Ignitions" out of the first shipment 2 weeks ago. I have 3 days on the 14m on the stock setting (more depower) and 2 days on the 12m on both the stock setting and the leading edge "less depower" setting. I will not post my opinion on the kite unti...

If the wind forecast is a bit weak up north or east in Minnesota, take the time to head to the SW of the state. This area is known as the Buffalo Ridge Glacial Escarpment. It runs from Watertown, SD, to Worthington, MN, to Spirit Lake, IA. The wind there is nearly always on. Or at least twice as goo...