12/23 Stawbs River, 13.5 Kahoona, 179 3B "SS"

[Don Losee]

Opener at Stawbs
Big turnout at the River launch. Snow is soft and fun, just a dusting of fresh. The sage can still get ya. Way fun... wind was punchy.
Capt. D

[ChrisPSherwin]

I got to the lot and had suggestions to rig my 11 and then my 14. So I went with the 14. It didn't feel super strong in the lot. So I set up and took off. Quickly, I realized that the 14 was more than just the wrong choice - the wind was getting downright sketchy. I looked for a few wind shadows because I didn't want to re-rig, but the gusts were less than fun with that much material in the air. On smoother snow I might have been OK, but not so much today. By 3 pm some of the lulls would make the kite drop and then power up pretty erratically. My ankle is getting better, but the sagebrush and wind-scalloped snow were freaking me out a bit.

So I rigged my 11 and had a much better time jumping sagebrush in the flats. The wind continued to get stronger during the gusts and I was a happy camper. I got picked up a few times on the 11 and was really happy to not have the 14 anymore. Everyone left at about four, and I thought I was the only one out there until about 5 when Jim H and I rolled up to the lot just before the light went away.

It was certainly a worthwhile trip. The snow in my opinion is marginal - maybe 6/10 - mostly due to the scalloping and snowsnake/sagebrush. But if its windy, I'll be there tomorrow!