I don't understand if one flys or the other neither is gonna haul you back in any easier if it won't launch. I've seen the walk of shame with both whilst a foil or lei is still flying. Experience again takes over.



I can agree with you of the beauty of snowkiting. At minus 20-25 with a windchill unless your bundled up like a polar bear where is the fun in kiting. I've flown both kites in farts of wind with success and neither kite keeps me on the sideline and I get more then my fair share of riding however if you can be comfortable in minus 20-25 then more power to you to cold for me and I live in montana where it can get to -60 with wind chill. NOT FUN.
Foils aren't gonna open me up to anything I haven't already experienced as i fly them both and know what works for me.



You do know there is a actual battery powered compressor that doesn't weigh much that brings kites to the proper pressure right?
If you wanna explore carry a sled stay on the ground and go for a month long trip sure a foil sounds good. I can't see a foil going any further then a lei on a day trip.

Sounds like your friend has some more learning to do maybe pump up more then one kite and have the other one ready to go so your not waiting on him.

I never once said lei's are the dominate for the snow however many like to think the foils are which isn't true. I don't care what anyone rides as thats a personal choice but to say one is better then the other is just ridiculous and completely false.

I like ferraris and 4x4's what do they have ta do with kiting? I'd challenge to ask any kiteboarder with the exception of mister branson HAVE YOU ACTUALLY DRIVEN A FERRRAI . Kites aren't built like cars they are fragile peices of fabric that if anything comes in the way will rip them to shreads.

Its clear what you like and fly doesn't work for everyone and doesn't mean your NOT a snowkiter if you don't fly a foil. Thats a good one tho

My kite is still better then yours!

I love how everyone on this website thinks their masters of everything knowledgeable. Sometimes you just dont know.

Yup sometimes you just don't know.
Its silly and its a pissing contest of what snobdr has said. My kite is better then yours. Sometimes you just don't know.

There is NO such thing as a snowkite and all kites fly well on the snow its up to you the pilot to find out which one that is.

Thanks Guys;

We sure did get a lot of info on the AIRUSH SNOWKITE

It would have been fun if someone out there had tried the Airush crest and had given his toughts on the kite. You know ... how it flies, how it compares to a frenzy, an outlaw, a manta etc...

This has by far been the most entertaining thread for me yet! Thanks to everyone for sharing your information! I am new, and getting ideas for my first kite. I should also mention that I live in the mountains in New York, which means I have great snow kiting right outside my door, and good wind and water about an hour away. I am on a budget(like most) and plan on taking a lesson or two and purchase a proper kite that would be good for both. I may be the only one(unless their are other lurkers) but the rants are really helpful for this newbie!

Cheers!

Shoe

I had no idea that Airush did foilkites. All I know is that Gege is quite clearly one of the best glider/mountaineer kiters I have seen, based on those short clips posted. Being afraid of heights, I wonder how anyone dares such feats. That Chasta+Gege gliding one is my alltime favorite youtube clip, and these Lauteret Pass people are the pioneers who got me interested, without them I would not be kiting. I would be very interested. It's unbelievable how quickly Ozone/Chasta have advanced the performance level of foilkites, and I would hope these new Airush kites will be comparable. Where can we demo/compare them in the Rockies?

I think Crazee should sell the Airush foils and operate a still, Wreknball should sell the Ozones and make competing moonshine, Montucky would become the modern day Appalachia. (Insert "Deuling Banjoes" theme here.) I will play the fence and test kites in exchange for jugs of XXX. I'm not goin' back up there without granpappy's ol' muzzle loader though.

All valid and interesting points, and "Harden the Funk Up" has my abdominals aching. Dont miss that one. Thank you! I fly both Manta foils and Inflatos but I am primarily in the ocean riding waves, and it is easier and cheaper for me to ride my inflatos in everything. I do fly my old foils a lot on snow, I love them in light steady thermal wind, and I do enjoy the sometimes minimal set-up time, (somehow my LEI buddy always beats me getting out there so it's not that big a deal). I also dont like to risk damaging my wave kites on barbedwire fences. Unlike the Alps, all of The US Rockies locations are bordered in barbed wire, you deal with that or horrific steel snow fences all the time. My 1st session at Skyline I put a nice big aspen tree right thru my brand new Manta. It's a lot easier to sew up a foil kite and they ride the same after any repair.

But there is one other thing to consider about foils: if you fly when it's snowing and warmer, they get heavy with melting snow and saturate badly. They become useless when its like that, though it's more of a spring thing, or lower elevation. If it happened in light wind miles from your car, you would be walking/skinning/postholing.

If I had the money I would be happy to enjoy the latest advances in foil technology on snow every season, be it Airush or whatever. I have had great experience with the Ozone people hooking me up with replacement bits, and Brian jumps in there and teaches you when you are new, helps search when you get lost, and free beer upon recovery is also a factor if you ever weather a storm in dry-ass Utah. That is what I call support! The kites themselves have never failed in any way. But now you got me curious, I want to see what Gege flys, and how is the latest Frenzy! It's a great time for kiting, seeing the gear improving in such leaps and bounds. Stoked! More technology! Living in Denver, you gotta hike up to the goods and the elevation is drier, and hopefully you can ride out if your on ski's or a split if theres a problem. A 10m modern foil would be a great one kite option for that.

But I'll bet you would have a lot of fun on that original small C kite too, for sure.

Glad to entertain you windrupted. Yeah, you have to have the ability to laugh at yourself sometimes on this forum, but leave your muzzleloader and your banjo at home and just bring your kite gear if you come to Montana. We have it pretty good up here. As far as the moonshine goes, we have great breweries everywhere! There's no need to make our own moonshine.

And keep that negative perception of Montana going! I would be bummed to see it turn into the size Colorado.

(I'm kidding of course.)

Seriously, Montana has a great community of kiters. just ask anyone that's spent some time up here. As a group we've extended our hand to anyone who travels here to kite and always will. I hope it never changes.

I hope to see someone bring the new Airush foils up here this winter and see how they compare. The last time I saw one was 2 years ago and it looks like they have come a long way since then. The 2011' Frenzy is sweet. I just unpacked my new 13m yesterday!

Joel B

I was just joking because you and Crazee go at it online like the Hatfeilds and the McCoys. (That was a feud between rival familys during the prohibition era, somewhere in the hills). I guess you know the paragraph was intended to be silly. Always a pleasure to ride up your way.