Posts Tagged ‘winter sports’

They say that Snow Kiting is a lot easier to learn than kiteboarding on the water. This relatively new discipline is a combination between snowboarding and kiteboarding.

• It is easy to stand on snow, which makes the whole process easier.
• It also takes a lot less wind to drive a board across snow than it does across water.
• The whole learning experience is a lot less daunting as you need much less power and wind to get you moving.
• Finally, holding an edge in snow is much easier than in water making up-wind progress much easier to master.

Thanks to bada55ba55 for this video:

It strikes me that one of the best things about snowkiting is that you are not limited by access to mountains and lifts. Wherever there is snow covered terrain – you can kite. A major additional bonus is that, invariably, you will be kiting alone or with friends – but you are unlikely to be kiting with the masses. What better sport could there possibly be?

With the early snows across North America, Canada and Northern Europe, kiters have been out exploring. Check out the photo below – a group of friends from Colorado benefited from a couple of storms which hit the southwest corner of the state and gave them some great terrain on Red Mountain Pass between Ouray and Silverton:

You can snowkite anywhere where there’s a field, snow, wind, and space, and if you live in an area where the lakes freeze over and get powder – then that too makes for a good snowkite surface.

Caroline, a passionate snowkiter from Norway, has this to say of the sport:

“Snowkiting is the real deal. When you snowkite you use nature in a totally different way from snowboarding. When you snowkite you don’t use anything other than the wind and your kiting gear. The special thing about snowkiting is that you can ride into the mountains where nobody else has been before, and have fun messing about with your friends just doing what we love to do… When you snowkite, every day is unique, there is always something new, like the places you go, the weather conditions, new tricks, etc. The biggest difference from water-kiting (kitesurfing) must be that you can use your surroundings in a totally different way, like jumping down a cliff or riding in epic powder.”

Although a relatively new sport, snowkiting has already had 4 annual Snowkite Masters events and will be having its 5th in February/March 2009. Over 100 snowkiters from as far away as Tahiti took part in the 2008 event, held in Utah. The Kiter-Cross races gained the most popularity as participants and spectators were entertained by a fast and dynamic course. The terrain created unique challenges for competitors, with quick downwind-downhill runs and technical upwind-upslope reaches.

The 2009 event will be held on the weekend of 28th February, 2009, again at Skyline, Utah. The French Snowkite Masters will be held at Serre-Chevalier from the 10th – 17th Janaury. This event will match up the best French snowkite freestyle champions with the top British snowkite freestyle riders and a host of other snowkiters from around the globe.

Here’s another video, with thanks to mwiemarkus. Makes you want to leave all this rain behind, and rush up to northern Europe to find snow expanses like this. For you guys over there in America you must have vast areas where snowkiting can be done. Lucky things.

“Snowshoeing is more extreme than rockclimbing. I mean, it would take something pretty extreme to get me to go slog around in the snow like that.”— Karl Baba

jaffordi obviously does not agree with the above comment. Snowshoeing at Mt. Baldy, Washington Cascades, he makes it look both easy and fun.

And this Canadian couple showshoeing in 1907 don’t look like they’re having to slog do they?

They make it look rather elegant and very romantic – certainly not extreme.

However, as LilJohns (http://hubpages.com/hub/extreme_snowshoeing) says: “I thought snowshoeing might be lame, even though I really like snow. I felt it would be a lot like hiking. I hike quite often, I’m really not really a huge fan. Snowshoeing is not hiking! Hiking sucks, snowshoeing rules!” He continues with: “Moral of this hub’s story? Go extreme – go extreme snowshoeing.”

But here’s another less than excited comment about this sport:

“Snowshoeing is a perfect example of technology gone bad. Just imagine if those companies had applied all that energy and money into products that were fun to use.” — Malcolm.

So… it gets some bad press. But a lot of people do it, so it can’t be too bad. Check out these guys (fungisbug)- they look like they’re having a cool time.

… although it looks like you need to invest in some very warm and well waterproofed clothing!

This is how far snowshoes have come:

Enough people must do this sport for industry to have spent time and money on improving the equipment.

So what’s it all about?

As with all sports, snowshoeing can be as extreme as you want, whether you are sticking solely to snowshoeing on groomed trails or going backcountry or even using it to make your other winter activities more exciting – some skiers and snowboarders have adopted the use of snowshoes to give them the chance to reach backcountry powder bowls and other areas which are still banned from ski areas.

In the past snowshoes were essential tools for fur traders, trappers and anyone whose life or living depended on the ability to get around in areas of deep and frequent snowfall, but today they are mainly used for recreation, primarily by hikers and runners who like to continue their hobby in wintertime and they are still necessary equipment for forest rangers and others who must be able to get around areas inaccessible to motorized vehicles when the snow is deep.

Even though many enthusiasts prefer aluminum snowshoes there is still a large group of snowshoe enthusiasts that prefer wooden snowshoes. Wood snowshoes provide more than twice the flotation than metal snow shoes do while weighing the same. Plus the frames on wood snowshoes can’t freeze like their metal counterparts. They are also very quiet – an added bonus.

In the 1950’s the snowshoe underwent a radical redesign, but it was in 1972 that Gene and Bill Prater created the snowshoe that we know today. They used aluminium tubing and replaced the lace with neoprene and nylon decking, and to make them easier to use in mountaineering, they developed a hinged binding and added cleats to the bottom of the shoe.

As many winter sports enthusiasts rediscover snowshoeing, many more new models of snowshoe are becoming available.

These more athletic designs have helped the sport enjoy a renaissance in recent years. The number of snowshoers tripled during the 1990s, and now ski resorts with available land are beginning to offer snowshoe trails to visitors, and some popular hiking areas are almost as busy in the colder months as they are on warm summer weekends.

And for all you environmentalists out there who are clutching your heads in despair saying “oh no -more damage to the environment…” you will be glad to hear that this is not the case. It is less detrimental to the environment since the snow buffers the earth against the impact of so many hikers and campers, cutting back on trail erosion and other effects of heavy use.

Snowshoeing is a great exercise in the winter, and is quickly becoming recognised as such. In fact, in 2006, at least 500 American schools started offering snowshoe programs in their phys.ed. classes to help combat obesity. It has the added benefit of being gentler on the feet than walking or running since snow cushions the foot’s impact.

So, there’s no excuse – instead of sitting on the sofa this weekend – get out there and try some extreme snowshoeing instead. The beautiful thing about snowshoeing is that you can cut your own trail, you don’t have to stick to a much-used track – you can go anywhere as long as you have at least 8″ of snow underfoot…

It’s coming up to that time of year again… all you guys in the northern hemisphere will be blowing the dust off your snowboards and gazing hopefully at the clouds. I believe it snowed last night here in France… pearsonkid thanks for this video which certainly sets the mood…

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Where’s that? I hear you ask – the High Tatra is the new door being unlocked as eastern Europe’s hitherto unknown secrets begin to move centre stage for skiers, snowboarders and winter sports enthusiasts.

The High Tatras, with their 11 peaks over 2500 m are located in the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia which form part of the country’s northern border with Poland in central Europe. Slovakia with a population of over five million people and a land area of 49,000 sq,kms is landlocked and also shares borders with the Czech Republic, Austria, Ukraine and Hungary.

Slovakia itself became an independent country in 1993 as a result of the velvet divorce from the Czech republic and is now a member state of the European Union and NATO. Its capital and largest city is Bratislava.

With over 200 million euros of investment a network of 40 ski lifts has been developed and the first five star hotel in the High Tatra mountains will open this year, so heralding Slovakia as a destination for winter sports enthusiasts. Slovakia is now proving to be a country nipping at the heels of more established eastern European ski regions and an alternative venue to the crowded slopes of the Alps. Its fairytale resorts in spellbinding settings won’t remain secret for much longer.

The spectacular peaks of the Tatra Mountains cater for all levels of skier and snowboarder, with reliable snow from as early as November. The high Tatras are ideal for beginners and intermediates, while the low Tatras, which have recently linked ski lifts from Chopok North and Chopok South, offer fabulous freestyle and off piste skiing and snowboarding for those with more experience. The three main skiing areas are Strbske Pleso, Stary Smokovec and Tatranska Lomnica where the investment has developed a network of over 40 lifts.

But skiing and snowboarding are not the Tatras’ only attractions: winter sports fans can try sledging, night skiing, ice skating, snow tubing and snow scooters. Visitors can also take in the Demanova ice caves or plunge into the hot springs found all along the valley. And wildlife enthusiasts may even catch a glimpse of the bears, lynx and wolves still found in the region.

All levels of experience are catered for, and skiing and snowboarding tuition with English speaking instructors can be arranged. Accommodation comprises a range of villas, chalets, luxury apartments and hotels, with the first five star hotel in the High Tatras, the Kempinski, opening in October 2008, ready for the winter season.

Budget ski packages start from just £325, including return flights from the UK, return transfers and seven nights’ accommodation with breakfast and ski pass. Luxury four star packages start from £499. Flights are now available from Luton and Manchester direct to Poprad and Kosice from where you can take a bus to the three main ski resorts.
So why am I writing about winter sports in May – well this kind of offer is extreme good vale and it won’t hang around forever – get organised for next winter!