Location Assessment

Last Updated on Saturday, 17 March 2012 08:23 Written by Jon McCabe Sunday, 01 January 2012 21:44

This article will provide a guide to assessing new locations all over the world by giving information about forecasting. Remember weather knowledge is crucial with snowkiting new locations and I will link to the forecasts I use before riding. Good clean wind is what we are looking for and it always makes for a more enjoyable session. The more independent you are with set up, pack down, risk evaluation, and weather forecasting the more comfortable you will be in the backcountry.

As you should know already, Mountains are very windy places, that distort the flow of wind, bursting in some locations and blocking it in others depending on where your kite is. The size of some mountains directly affects the wind and creates localised wind and weather. Turbulent wind with rotors is common in backcountry locations when snowkiting and you must know your abilitites given the situation you are presented. Wind that shifts a lot will drive you crazy sometimes, and if your in a bad wind zone in the wrong conditions then you need to know your safety system very well and don't hesitate if things are going bad. Also never kite alone and don't go to an area you can't get out of should your kite fail. The kite is merely a backcountry tool and we cannot rely solely on it to get us out of bad situations. Because of this I always try to kite uphill from where I started and take skins in the event I might need them.

Weather Sites

This is my go to for almost everywhere to start out and I use the point forecast to narrow in on snowkite spots and wind at different elevations
http://www.weather.gov/