Snow Kiting in Skyline, Utah (Hardwear Sessions)

By Andrew McLean

The Skyline Snowkite Summit -- Skyline, Utah, Dec 7-9, 2007

The idea of getting towed on skis behind a kite has been around for many years, but in the last decade it has started to reach a critical mass. A big part of this has to do with advances in kite technology which make them easier to fly, cheaper to own and much safer to operate. The early days of kiting involved self-taught efforts, which in my case, often ended up with getting dragged through sagebrush or raked over barbed wire fences. It was also rare to see anyone else doing it as the equipment was hard to find and nobody really knew where to go for the best sessions.

Luckily, kite skiing survived its infancy and has a firm toe-hold towards becoming a legitimate sport as witnessed by the Skyline Snowkite Summit. This three day kick-off festival of the 07/08 season was held just outside of the small town of Fairview in central Utah and attracted about 75 participants. Although this event was mainly held for kiting retail-store owners, it had a mix of people, dogs, parties, kiting and clinics.

Skyline Drive is one of Utah’s top "Scenic Drives" and was discovered as a major kiting Mecca about five years ago. The main kiting area is right along a ridgeline which provides excellent cross-country kiting opportunities as well as great terrain for freestyle and freeride kiting. One of the biggest advantages of Skyline is that it is consistently windy, which is essential for a wind-powered sport.

Another important aspect of snow kiting is, well, snow. Utah is off to a slow start for the 07/08 season, so when it started dumping snow the day of the event, it was great for the long term outlook, but not so good for kiting that day. The next day made up for it with great winds and limited visibility, then the third day completed the trilogy with perfectly clear blue skies... and no wind. Still, everyone got their fix of kiting, which meant the event was a success.

One of the cool aspects about an emerging sport is that you get a chance to do it with some of the leaders and innovators of the industry. In the case of this festival, Matt Taggart and Robbie Whittall, two of the founders of Ozone Kitesports, were there to demo kites and shred some powder. For snowkiters, this is like a chance to go golfing with Tiger Woods, and although nobody could really keep up with them, just having people there who made it look so smooth and effortless was infinitely inspiring. Just getting towed is a rush, but seeing people going anywhere and everywhere they feel like with a flick of their wrists was truly inspiring.

Kiting festivals are held all over the world, with one of the bigger US events being the U.S. Open which is Feb 29 though March 2nd at Skyline, Utah. For more info checkout windzup.com or kiteutah.com