hello, I am trying to get a little info before i start up some snowkiting... i already snowboard and i was wonderingg...
1. is it possible to snowkite up a 45 degree incline without smacking your kite on the side of the hill? If so, what factors make this more possible, any equipement that improves this, any areas?
2. How easy is it to turn your board, how much 'give' does your line give you, movement laterally, while you are being pulled by kite, how far can you arc back and forth across terrain while being pulled downhill say.
3. is it perhaps the case that amateur snowkiters go on level ground, while experienced snowkiters can learn to go over steep up and down terrain?
4. what areas in the U.S. would provide constant strong wind against the side of a mountain/some hills, where one could snowkite up hills consistently?
5. perhaps a ski area that has a lot of fairly steep * Tunnel * or ravine shaped runs that catch the wind and channel it up or down would give enough constant wind to allow people consistently kite uphill at an angle? I know snowkiting is fairly new so there is probably not a dedicated field like this but perhaps someone knows some area like this? < a trench about 15 foot deep and 30 or 45 feet wide that is positioned so as to channel wind caught travelling thru a mountain pass,trench cut shaped like a hemi-spere/half circle, would be ideal, because your kite would not usually catch the side of the trench or the mountain, it is too low, and you could cross back and forth inside of the trench from side to side, rough terrain can be placed in the trench. if the trench focuses wind then an uphill ride would be easier... sure no place exists like this but could anybody mention something similar they know of?>
6. how fast in general can you get going while snowkiting, does your speed match windspeed, is it say 1/2 of the wind speed on your kite?
7. suppose you smash into ground... what systems can keep you from being dragged over rough terrain? perhaps something that can fold the kite up causing it to land and or retract the kite reel it in?
my favorite part of snowboarding is going downhill over very rough terrain and moguls and navigating like this. I hear lots of snowkiting is done on level ground (providing strong, constant wind speeds to pull you) this just sounds boring.
even if you are being pulled, being pulled across flat ground sounds like taking a ride in my car. So I am trying to find out how hard it is to do it over the terrain i would normally select, and if possible to try some uphill.