Weekend in MN

[g00mbs]

I'm a kiter from the SF Bay Area. I'm headed on a weekend with friends on Sept 11th - 14th to Spring Lake ( https://www.google.com/maps/place/1999+ ... 1f3857dcc2 ) I might even be at Prior Lake, don't know the exact address right now.

I'm trying to get an idea of if I should pack my kite gear or not. I have the following equipment:

17m BRM Cloud
14m North Evo
12m North Evo
9m North Evo
137cm TT
Surfboard

Do you think it will even be worth the effort? I won't be able to go searching for wind and will be staying at that lake with friends. It sounds like we have a boat, so I should be able to get out to the middle of the lake if needed (drift launch) or get picked up should the wind die.

Any thoughts and recommendations on whether or not to bring my gear would be great!

When I was registering for the forum Mike gave me some great feedback already, but I figured I would throw this out there to see if there is anyone that has kited Spring or Prior Lake.

[KitingKen]

I was hoping one of the more experienced kiters would reply, but here's my take. Now that we're closer to Sep 11, doesn't look like there's much wind coming the next few days except for a thunderstorm wind.

My two cents if you still decide to bring your kites...Spring and Prior Lakes are fairly small. You could probably catch a breeze if you can get dropped off by a boat in the middle, but you'd probably get dirty wind. In general, the Minnesota winds are all over the place so you have to pack larger kites to stay up during the dips. Not uncommon to have a 10mph swing in wind from minute to minute. Add in a small lake surrounded by trees and hills and its hard to find clean wind.

Lake Waconia is a decent size lake around Minneapolis that I go to often. Other folks go to White Bear lake on the other end of the cities. Check out this lakes page...

http://www.lakawa.com/lakes/lakes.html

Good Luck!

[MK]

Glad to see you chime in Ken. The news has a mystery body found on Lake Independance this morning and I know you've hit this lake before to kite and you simply entered my mind, along with Adam who I know is on another continent.

Jon, hope you have a good session. You mentioned you have boat support and if you are out of the woodwork on your learning curve you should be able to catch some wind and possibly even connect with a few other kiters on Prior Lake. Ken's right though with some additional ride options. Sounds like your time is vested mostly with the bachelor party so I'd stay course to be connected with them but know the winds here are fickle and change direction daily.

All the best. Mike

[KitingKen]

Well thankfully the body they found wasn't mine, Mike! I've only kited Lake independence in the winter so far. Though nice public park on the east side, gets deep fast and a fair amount of weeds. Andd need a wind with strong westerly component.

[g00mbs]

Thanks for the replies.

I have been keeping an eye on the forecast and it doesn't look promising. I totally understand the wind shadow of a small lake. Not that I have kited one, but know that it would be tricky.

Given the forecast, I'm going to leave my kites at home

If you guys ever hit the Bay Area. Drop me a line. My user name is the same on the bayareakiteboarding forums.

Thanks for all the help!