Djoblin’s blog

Ok, so haven't blogged for a while better up date this little thought machine and get whats in my head down.

First off lets explain a little about snow kiting... it started around 2003 with the expansion of water kiting. Folks in America and Europe started to use their water kites on snow with skis and snowboards. there are now several major kite brands that make kites specifically for snow kiting. These are Ozone (Flyozone.com). HQ power kites (powerkites.de) North kiteboarding (north-snowkites.com) Peter lynn (peterlynnkites.com).

The image below is from the viva with Rodger B, Issac F, and Martin B

This is what snow kites look like close up, this model is the flagship model from Ozone for 2008

So we can see that there is a lot of money spent on snow kiting.

I want to explain the components that facilitate snow kiting in more detail.

The main component is the kite. This is sewn out of ripstop nylon with many strings to hold the shape of the kite the front edge (leading edge) of the kite is open to allow the wind to enter into the kite and seperate the two skins of the kite, this forms an airfoil and produces a lot of power from the kite. The front of a foil kite looks like the image below.

moving further down the kite we get to the bar and lines. This gives you control over the kite. pull left, and the kite keeps turning left until you pull right. Of course this is graduated so you can pull just a little left if you want, and the kite will turn slowly. These bars are made of carbon and the lines Beal line and spectra. with all stainless steel fittings.

 

The kite then must attach to the rider, via a harness, in the water these harnesses are represented by the following types, Seat harness, intergrated seat harness into a pair of shorts, and waist harness.

  For snow there are two specific kite harnesses. also some riders prefer to use their waist harnesses under their jackets. Ozone makes the harness in the vid below