One phone call and all it took were the words: “…it doesn’t get any better than this…” and I was packing my gear for a trip to the Great Falls area kite spots. My skepticism of the amount of snow was quickly transformed into excitement as I drove over the Belt Mountains. I was shocked at the amount of fresh snow piled up along the road, draping the timber, and blanketing the kite spot.

Rock steady wind and 16 degree powder the first day made for a superb sunset session on my 13m. It was so light and fluffy and not wind effected. Best of all the spot was loaded with features – gullies, wind lips, steep drops and lots of terrain choices. I kited well past sunset and let the moon take over in guiding me back to the launch.

Day two was stronger wind, 11m conditions, and I was fortunate to be able to reach the top of the local butte straight away. All morning and well into the afternoon I boosted and ripped this butte to shreds. Down below 1000 vertical feet I could see the local crew – Gary, Chris, Sarah, Dave - struggle to get their kites into the air and join me on top. For them it was not to be as the wind was just too light at the bottom of the butte. They eventually gave up and moved on to another kite spot leaving me to shred solo for the remainder of my session.

My end of the second day was capped off with a stop at the Spa Motel in White Sulpher Springs. The $5 soak in the hot mineral springs was a much needed ending to the past week of kiting and driving.

Thanks for reading and see ya out there,

Noah

Thanks your for sharing!
so niiiiice

Anyone in the area get in touch if you need a guide. We're always up for a session and hot spring detour.

Did you find many sharks hiding up there? I sure did when we went over to the other launch. Sneaky bastards too. So many good stretches it didn't matter. No worries - Warm up the p-tex gun & go again. Lots of options from the backside to explore now. E. wind up there would be interesting.

I like the picture of the sunset session. Mike says he kited the midnite session Saturday 8PM to 11PM after everyone was gone. Total full moon clear sky.

Here's a few photos of our last session on Rattlesnake Butte from Saturday, 10 Dec 2011. They are of Chris Archer demo-ing the 2012 Ozone Frenzy 9m. To be brief: He loved the kite!

The north side of the Belt Mtns has such amazing terrain. It's well worth the drive to session it after a storm. There is so much kitable terrain to explore in these hills.

Here's Noah coming into a landing on the same day

Do you think 5 to 10 inches of fresh and 20 to 25 mph on Friday could bring some of the magic back?