Mt. Washington snowkiting

Nice!!

And I thought it's only water kiting from now onwards.

Mt Washington itself does have a certain allure to it tho. I think Zeb might have kited it... maybe Sump too. But it seems unpredictable and a bit scary - very rapid weather changes etc.

I was up there Sat. Good coverage up on the Bigelow Lawn above Tucks but it was rock hard, 40 mph with gusts to 60.

I may try to go up Thursday if anyone is interested and the wind forecast is suitable. 13 inches of heavy snow yesterday, so coverage should still be great, and it should be warm later in the week to address the rock hard issue.

Friday is looking better:

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, then becoming cloudy toward daybreak, with a low around 20. North wind around 10 mph.

Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. Southwest wind between 11 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Crabnebula is right, there are some key skills you need to have to avoid getting hurt up there. I'm assuming anyone who would consider going already has experience BC skiing including Tuckermans, knows how to use an ice axe/crampons, and knows that it can be really windy/gusty up there and that many days you will wind up never getting the kite out and just skiing. It would suck to get lofted out over the ravines.

Zeb, you're a beast.

Keep up the extreme snowkiting, show us the way.

WASHINGTON to the summit AGAIN!

March 19 2010..

hit the summit again and spent more time exploring all over....WSW winds low were around 13mph up high around 16-34 mph with Strong gusts,..

Logged in MORE miles than a marathon runner can speak for...

cAPE cod GUY:
WILDTHINGS SNOWKITE jacket and pant (bibs) are specially made for kiting...I had normal synthetic layers underneath and a tricked out FULL CLIMBING Strength OZONE ACCESS harness UNDER the jacket....to stay DRY!

Now you can see why the gear that WILDTHINGS makes is really meant for MOUNTAIN kiting! Not simply your back yard...however it does work there as well.

I wanted to fill you guys in on my experience up there on Saturday - especially as it ended in a very close call.

I made it up to the top of Tuckerman's around 2pm via the left gully. Hiked up to the snow fields (total trip took about 4 exhausting hours) Winds were light and steady on my 10m. I quickly realized I wasn't going to be able to summit with the wind direction and light winds so I eventually went around towards the south side where I found better wind and a better slope to work with. Things were going super smoothly - having a lot of fun trekking around in between rocks, looping the kite to shoot up hill etc etc. I felt comfortable and very in control.

After about an hour or so I went for a glide on a slope that was fairly steep and probably found a bit of an updraft - after takeoff I was instantly out of my comfort zone. I was trying to keep in control by slowly swooping the kite across 12 o'clock but every time it just shot me higher and higher relative to the ground below. After 4 or 5 sweeps I had to do something as I was way too high and only going higher with steeper terrain approaching - so I looped the kite, which brought me down real quick, and luckily ended up landing on some soft snow. The kite was powered up on landing and broke my harness. After packing up, and 1.5 hours of hiking later, I made it to the top of Tuckerman's. I found myself at the top of Tuckerman's around 5pm, exhausted out of water and with a heavy pack (water kite, pump, harness etc). Luckily I was able to get down safely, but that in its self was not a good situation.

I've been working on glides this year and have had some great ones out in Utah and at Tugg Hill - I felt very in control with the ability to come down whenever I wanted. This weekend was a completely different situation, I knew I was in big trouble as soon as I went up and the ground started disappearing quickly below me but I didn't have the experience to handle the situation.

I was very lucky that I didn't find any rocks on my landing. I had spotted my glide area before take off, but I planned on gliding down the mountain only so far, and ended up almost twice as far as planned.

It was a very humbling experience. The winds and weather couldn't have been any more forgiving and I still ended up in big trouble. As we all know the wind and weather is almost never forgiving up on Mt. Washington.

I hope we all can learn from my experience and not just take away "don't glide up there". Please understand it could be any maneuver we're all comfortable doing on the lakes and small hills that puts us in a very, very bad situation very far from your car or any help.

HI guys..
Mount Washington and Skyline is not even in the same ball park in terms of gliding safety as well as terrain.

TERRAIN: Key word here.....when you are up high on the summit etc, the ground DROPS below you until you are at tree line,...not so at Skyline the landings at SKYLINE area almost all flat! F L A T !

Landings from glides that I have done Mount Washington are super complicated and there is only a few places that you can practice here in NH and even only a few out west that really set you up for the terrain here in NH..

If you want to be snowkiting up on Mount Washington I would strongly recommend that you try to simply just go kiting...no jumps or glides for a few trips to get a feel for the winds and their differences up high then close to sea level etc (look up iso-pressure gradient lines.

I am happy to really help anyone out with kiting jumping gliding on Mount Washington as this is what I do for a living and having over 7 great trips up there and more to come...I would be very very open and glad to share the REAL deal NO HYPE skill set that you may want to consider.

For example, here are a few questions YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF!
-What is in your pack for kite mountaineering that is different then that of normal CLIMBING?
-Do you have a compass and map (G.P.S. and Plotting card?? with extra batteries) with the TOTAL UNDERSTANDING to use them?
-what is your flight plan? Are you just going up there to GO kiting....well...based on the terrain that is a good way to spontaneously get you in some serious terrain REALLY fast! This can put you into REACTIVE mode...(not a great thing up there)
-TIME management?!?!?!
when are you leaving the car, when and where are you kiting to (flight plan!) and at what point to do turn around? put the kite away and start heading down? You MUST have a TURN AROUND TIME!
-Foil over Inflatable in the mountains? It is not a brand issue, it is not a "blimp vs. foil" issue it is WEIGHT! TIME! ENERGY! I can carry TWO kites one bar and an extra set of lines weighing in at a bit more than ONE LEI!
-crampons for boots or (AT style?) snowshoes (for those snowboarders)and an Ice Axe (and what kind?) what do they do? and NOT do? that can save your life!??!!
-Also think about what we as snowkiters represent! Most people that see me up there are picking up there jaws with the speed (34mph + heading up to the summit of Monroe, Adams, Washington, Nelson Crag, Ball crag,.. etc...we are whether we like it or not showing what kites CAN do for others and why they have merit in the mountains here in NH but also around the world!! We need to create a GREAT!! (not good or OK)reputation.
-Lastly, and seriously....in the 11 years that I have lived in Mount Washington Valley...Ive been the only one up on the mountain really putting in miles, jumps glides above tree line....I started to ask myself WHY is this?
I have realized that most people in New England are interested in Freestyle snow or water a little KGB, speed, fame and fortune, sponsors, and really NONE of that matters in places like the Presidential's. There is NO room for ego. Take your best day anywhere and like Elliot found with the Softer conditions of the week, that it is HARD to kite on Mount Washington no matter where you are!

I care deeply about kiting on the water snow and land, in ZERO winds (yup, I'm a geek that has indoor kites)and NASTY winds...I really would like that people seek out the proper training and knowledge to truly get out and kite safely!

I DO as you all know offer the only KITE MOUNTAINEERING program around, and I would be happy to take anyone up there and teach what things I have learned over the last 11 years of kiting up there but if you insist on simply learn by doing, please hit me up and we can at LEAST get coffee and I can show and tell via MAPS where the terrain is good for gliding and jumping up there and where it is definitely not!!

CALL me or Email me I will call you back I will email you back!

Mount Washington and other peaks I believe are the KEY for getting REAL kite mountaineering skills dialed and therefore can be taken around the world! Climbers for years have done this with training for Denali, Everest, Baker, Hood, Elbrus, you name it!

Take care all out there and get in touch!

The season for kiting is still good up there!

!! Zebulon !!
!! CrabNebula !!

and yes, the harness I have for gliding is CUSTOM! made by me. Full strength climbing harness built in kite harness!

Mount Washington has 12 new inches of snow....will be up there soon again! hope you aer having fun in the water~!

SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW

12-14 inches expected on washington and DOWN low in the higher areas of northern NH..

Anyone looking to kite on snow COME ON UP!!!

I will be driving around and finding the spots!

GET ON IT!

Next week will be awesome on Mount Washington if anyone is looking to get up there in some great fresh snow!

COME UP MORE SNOW~!