We’ve been kiting for quite some years now, but somehow we had never tried snowkiting. Don’t even know why not. But as this winter has been very generous with snow, decided to try it out.
Usually you start snowkiting with light winds because on snow there’s less hurdle and therefore easier to get moving. Yet, the day when Triin had a chance to go snowkiting, it was quite windy: 9-11m/s. As the weather forecast for the upcoming week was not so promising – only thaw – then, she decided that it might be the last chance before the snow starts to melt. Anne-Mai at the same time decided to cheer her on from the distance, as she is expecting another baby. Our girl power gang is growing! 😉
In Estonia there are usually two options for snowkiting – either on a plain field or on a frozen lake. Triin chose a plain field, because there was a chance that the wind is less gusty. She borrowed a 7m2 kite from a friend just in case and must say it was a right decision. Still there was lots of excitement and even a bit of anxiety when bumping the kite. The kite was pulling quite well even when completely depowered, but Triin still decided to try.
In the beginning it was really weird to hold balance. The field was quite icy with many ice chunks on the way, which were felt immediately and also influenced the balance. Nevertheless, after a couple of stripes Triin got used to it and felt more comfortable while gliding on the snow. Riding in general was easier than expected – you get moving very easily. No wonder they say that learning to kite on snow is so much easier. Yet when crashing on your belly and you need to turn yourself around or get back up, is much harder when your feet are stuck in the snowboard clips. At times it was really funny how Triin hustled in the snow just to get back sitting 🙂
Although kiting seemed easier, physically it was so much harder. Especially due to the gusty wind and holding balance. There were a couple of times when Triin just decided to sit in the snow for a couple of seconds, take her breath and continue. At the end of an one hour session she felt more tired than after a normal kiting session and, of course, frozen 🙂
Yet Triin is super happy that she decided to try snowkiting and will definitely do it again.This time, however, with better snow conditions – powder preferably! One day would even like to try jumping and other cool stuff on the snow, but that takes a bit more time to get used to snowkiting and a bit more snow so that crashing wouldn’t hurt so much (if it would happen). All in all – snowkiting is fun!
Takeaway from the first snowkiting session: Doing what you love in a chilly fresh air is all you need for a break from everyday routine.
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