who's riding this weekend????

[MikE mAy]

i've kind of been out of it with the holidays and such. i'm excited to kite this weekend. looks like there will be some post frontal winds and fresh powder if the front moves out quick enough. where is everybody planning on heading? i missed out last weekend with other sliding plans. i took a buddy up Superior and skied the frontside down into snowbird. it was amazing. i kept looking at cardiff and thought how much fun that would be with some wind. i also want to buzz by all the diehards on the skin track up someday with a kite. oddly enogh there are power lines there though.

if anybody is heading out, i'd like to know so i can show up and meet people there if my ol kite buddy billy has a change of plans.

later,

Mike

[Kenny]

Mike,

Strawberry is the call tommorrow. Should be excellent in the afternoon. On Saturday Skyline is the call, go early in the morning. The forecast was for a lot of snow at Skyline. It should be amazing.

I have been seeing a lot of Billy, but where have you been? Hasn't Billy told you that snowkiting is 10x more fun than kiting on the water? Prepare yourself for some of the best powder skiing you have ever experienced. Not just one run, but hours and hours of sweet pow.

Kenny

[MikE mAy]

i'll be at skyline saturday. i'll have to check the winds out and see what kites i should bring.

i've just been terribly busy with work and life for the past little bit. i got a promotion here at work that while it has been hell for the first little bit, should allow me more time and money to spend kiting soon. i went snowkiting once and it was a blast! in my few hours on snow, i learned more than a month on water. i made a huge step in learning jumps and got 20 plus jumps in that day. i really think this winter is going to be the key for me. i'm just saving up again to get a waroo, but for now i'm borrowing a friends. my older kites don't seem like they will work that well on snow, but i may give them a try. i've gotten in a few great days on snow up at the resorts and a few backcountry days that were awesome too.

i hope to see all of you saturday at skyline. i'll bring the fatties in hopes of lots of snow.

[Kenny]

Mike,

I just checked the forecast for Skyline tomorrow. NOAA has increased the amount of wind in the forecase dramatically (Northwest at 25 -35). Strawberry may actually be a better choice if the wind is that strong as that strong of wind will cause all of the new pow to become airborne.

Kenny

[bordy]

Mike,

We should be at straw this weekend. I think Jake and the Waroo hoodlums are going to stay the night at daniels. Call me. I am hoping to kite alL weekend!

rIGHT NOW i AM STUCK WAITING FOR A DRYER WHILE IT BLOWS 15 ALL AROUND MY HOUSE!!!!!!

AHHHH CURSE HOME DEPOT AND THEIR 6 HOUR DELEVERY WINDOWS..

[windzup]

Anyone know the snow coverage at Strawbs?? Seems like a lot of snow fell last night, but I am curious if there is enough of a snow base to ride the terrain.

Skyline will have the guaranteed pow....but Friday (today) it may be overcast.

Windzup,
Brian

[Kenny]

Brian,

When I was there last week Strawberry had good coverage in the flats, but the hills still had a lot of sagebrush poking through. May be better today. Skyline definitely has better coverage. Today may be the day to get it if it nukes as forecasted.

Kenny

[btjsfca]

Today was raging at Strawbs. Gusty, but good and strong. There's a decent amount of brush poking through at Strawberry river (or is it Coop Creek?), so maybe Chicken Creek is a better call. The winds aloft for tomorrow indicate a great day for Strawbs again, and for the morning at Skyline.

The afternoon at Skyline looks insane. As in, "Junkie, you gonna die" kind of insane. Looking at winds aloft is giving a suggested range of 36 to 42 miles per hour from the WNW. Maybe the Reserve will turn out a ride, but I think I'm going to have to wait to get my first fix of skyline lovin' of the new year until the winds seem a bit more tame. If anyone goes out to Skyline, maybe post a report, I'm curious to find out how accurate the winds aloft forecasts are.

Oh, and does anyone know what altitude Strawbs is at?

-J

[windzup]

Flew Skyline all day Friday...and the weather was odd... we were in a convergence of south and north winds all day.

Riding was still great, and the top of Boscos at Chastas gap was perfect all day. What was weird was the strong NW wind was only at the top of Boscos, and the base area was West SW.

The winds aloft are a great indicator for winds at that elevation, but we need to take into account that winds aloft are given for open air space....when the wind hits the hills and mtns it slows down due to ground friction, and then the shape of the hill seems to redirect the wind currents. Basically we have no real clue how to forecast.. like fishing just throw and go.

Snow was nice pow over a packed base...I think only 3-4 inches landed during the night on Thursday, but it all blew onto Boscos. Hopefully it didn'y blow off again last night!

The Windzup crew is heading to the higher elevations to play at Skyline today again...I'll post todays finds tonight

Windzup,
Brian Schenck

[windzup]

Just checked today (saturdays) forecast...looks like solid westerlys all day at Skyline in the 10-15 range. With a NW storm front threatening another inch of snow tonight. Seeing as how Skyline has its own weather pattern of SW flow...combined with the incoming North....should turn into another westerly day up there as forecasted.

I wonder, since Strawbs faces NW, if it will direct the westerly flow into a more usable North? Should be cool to cross reference tonight to see how the days went at each spot.

Windzup,
Brian Schenck

[lesvierra]

Brian,

How does the NOAA Point Forcast work. I assume they get their info off a weather model. Does this model only take into affect altitude, or is local geography thrown in? It would seem geography plays into it, because direction and speed seem to change drastically at times depending on where you click. A question for the experts?

[Kenny]

Brian,

Thank you for the post about Skyline. Strawberry only received about 4" of powder from Thursdays storm as well. It was one of those storms that nailed the valley, but did not produce any great snow depths at higher elevations.

Strawberry needs a big dump to cover the sagebrush on the hills. I got hung up a couple times and I bet my jacket smells of sage. Can't wait for some major coverage so that place will open up. The lake is frozen enough that you can ride out on it in the Chicken Creek area.

I am curious about the weather at Skyline today. I went to Brighton with my kids and it was strong NW flow all day, by the afternoon the gusts were hitting 60 mph on the ridgetops and we packed it in about 2 PM in the afternoon. Was Skyline SW all day or did you get the NW blast?

Kenny

[windzup]

Skyline was on all day in the 16-25mph range, feeling strong from the south.

No changes all day except for a bonus gust. The hill was basically off limits, the second one got near the slope it was intense verticle air. Threw out a 12 meter Frenzy at first, then down sized to a 10 for myself. Had students powered on everything from 4-8 meter Access kites. Rizzle threw up a 13m Instinct, the biggest kite of the day I believe.

Big jumps on the flats and shallow slopes and fun-ass powered carves everywhere. Had a few Slednecks come over interested in converting to Snowkiting even!

Windzup,
Brian Schenck

[windzup]

Did I mention blowing snow???

Half way thru the day all our gear was buried under its own snow drift. Luckily we dug up all the gear. It was a lot of wind and snow

Windzup,
Brian