1/19 Skyline 11 & 7 Waroos

[Jason Klein]

Pulled up to the lot with temps in the low 30's and wind low to mid teens. Wind was E to ESE. I haven't been to skyline a lot, but I think that is basically the reverse of the normal wind direction there. I was surprised to see only one other kiter there. Got out the 15m and lugged the rest of my gear out onto the snow. Before I even got the 15m out of the bag, had a gust to 25, so I went back to the car for the 11m. I could see a plume of snow blowing off the top of the ridge to the west (maybe NW) of the parking lot, so I headed up there, figuring the wind would probably be smoother. It was, but wind up there was upper 20's. Scared I might get lofted down to Fairview, I headed back down and swapped to the 7m. Once back up on the ridge, rode well powered on the 7m for about 2 hours. Away from the main lot, the snow wasn't too bad, but it was a pretty firm wind-blown surface. The more exposed areas were a little rough to ride on, kind of fluted.