Stay connected in the wind. This forum is for anyone who rides the wind, winter or summer, on whatever board suits their fancy. Share the stoke, find out where people are going, ask any question, share your discoveries, and discuss any esoteric idea you may have related to the pursuit of wind. Please keep it positive.
Things on WBL were quite nice today. The wind was a bit puffy in the 10-15 knot range, but fun to play in.
The snow is the real interesting part - and should make things interesting for those heading to the Red Bull (I imagine the snow on Minnetonka is much the same as WBL). It's rough and windblown in spots, soft and coarse in others. It's mostly in the rough and windblown/windcrust category - making me wonder why anyone would want to ride a snowboard on the lakes right now (oh boy, I'm going to get flamed for that one), and there are even a few very random bare spots.
Overall, if you haven't been out much this year because of the conditions, like me, then now wouldn't be a bad time to hit the lakes. Sure, it's rough, but it's soft enough and it ain't kiting on skates.
Really, you should be pissed if you missed the conditions right after the snow fell within the last couple of weeks.
I was out on WBL on Saturday, and I concur that the snow conditions were challenging there, especially in gusty winds. The snow on Calhoun is much better. I was out there today. Fairly consistent with a crusty top.
interesting, cause I was on Calhoun yesterday before and during the blizzard and it was similar to what Coach discribed at WBL, with out the bare spots. Maybe since it is in a bit of a hole the blowing snow collected over the length of the blow.
Yesterdays ride was one of the more intense rides I've had. It was easily 5-40mph. The snow was blowing through in waves, creating total white out, then piercing sun. In the whiteouts I had no idea where I was, not able to see more than 30 ft in any direction. It was a bit surreal. When I started getting lofted and tea bagging far too often, I called it quits.
One lesson I learned the hard way. If you are ever flying in these conditions, and cruising along, you hit a lull, and you catch up to the kite, or the kite falls back in the window, BEWARE. The lull is usually the front side of a mega gust and the last place you want your kite in a mega gust is in the power zone. What I found worked in these situations is to head downwind fast as the gust hits ( not before or you'll drop the kite), then increase your edge and move the kite back to the front of the window. I got flung like a ragdoll once trying to edge through the impact of the mega gust.
The fact that I was able to cruise around at all yesterday is a testimony to the range of the new Slingshots. I was on a 9m which is more like a 10m and was amazed that it could handle those gusts.
