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FW: [KitesinCNYSkies] Digest Number 597
Jan. 11th, 2005 09:38 amInspiration... this really belongs in the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
skairtae journal.
Must find snow and wind and KITE! (and time and daylight *sigh*)
From: KitesinCNYSkies@yahoogroups.com
To: KitesinCNYSkies@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [KitesinCNYSkies] Digest Number 597
Date: 11 Jan 2005 13:40:12 -0000
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 14:48:36 -0500
From: "brian vanderslice"
Subject: 1st Ice session
Hi gang,
With all due respect to those who missed it, Mike Adams and I had a very premium sesh on Sunday, starting about noon. SE winds meant it was worth checking out Constantia as a possible launch, though we had no report to go on. Sylvan Beach had been found to have an excellent swath from the shore out on Friday, but E to SE winds would suck there.
So we checked out Constantia and got lucky!! The ice was nicely set-up with a dreamy 5-7 inch slathering of tasty snow. Temps around 30 or so, Wind was silky SE or ESE between 5 & 10 - closer to ten most of the time I'd guess... Had my nice instruments with me (Gekko; Wind meter) just no time to mess with them - Hey! there's Ice plus Snow plus Wind plus Kites plus Skis plus ME!! Gotta git it!! Mike was already launching when I got there! I busted a move to get geared and get out there and got to pumping up my new 16m Cabrinha. Mike was kind enuff to land his foil and give me a hand with set-up and launch and then I clicked my new boots into my new Solomon 150's and took off into a nearly-non-stop 4+ hour session. Mike had been out a ways and saw more and more slushy spots so we kind of set a limit and worked one good-sized area close to the base at Mill Street. It was killing us not go out to the shoals for some nice ramp action, but that'll have to wait. Discretion kept us in a pretty defined area, which I am pleased to say we shredded ruthlessly!
The slushy spots we kept skiing thru were no big deal - no effect on speed and once the surface underneath was revealed, the ice was good. Still, the darkness and slushy-wet look made them "a little spooky" as Mike said. There were some we avoided altogether. Basically the whole day was about the JUMPS!! OH, man!... that 16m CO2 is the joint!! Just the practice I need for Kites on Ice. And the new PowerLock Bar! - Nice!
I had new boots, new skis, new gloves, new jacket, new kite, new bar and line set... and umm... oh yeah - new socks! Sweet! I can't believe I didn't try my new GPS! But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have broken my top speed from buggying this fall - but then again we were getting our speed on - Stupid! Shoulda tossed it in my pocket. But once I was out there, I never went back to the car - not even for water, which would've been nice. See, that's the thing with LEI's - you hate to put them down cuz it's such a pain to get launched again. Of course, meantime I must've dropped the kite a dozen times or more and only needed Mike's help once. I found it surprisingly easy to roll the kite onto it's back on the snow. Actually, it just had that tendency naturally as it moved on the snow - in fact, it was hard to get it NOT to do it when I was trying to finally land and stake. Once it's on it's back you just go out to the side of the window and roll it into flying position and just fly. So I had lots of practice with that. Now if I can just learn to fly out of a jump without dropping it in the first place!
Mike started on skis today, then switched to snowboard for a while and then eventually back to skis. The snow was good for snowboard, but he apparently wiped out those muscles Saturday on a field and was still feelin' it. Mike called it quits about 3:30 but I just had to keep going with such good conditions and having waited so long for my first sesh. But by 4:30 I was about crippled and it was falling off, so I bagged it. Besides, there was a thermos of hot toddy waiting for me in the car. I'm still hobbling.
skairtae journal.Must find snow and wind and KITE! (and time and daylight *sigh*)
From: KitesinCNYSkies@yahoogroups.com
To: KitesinCNYSkies@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [KitesinCNYSkies] Digest Number 597
Date: 11 Jan 2005 13:40:12 -0000
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 14:48:36 -0500
From: "brian vanderslice"
Subject: 1st Ice session
Hi gang,
With all due respect to those who missed it, Mike Adams and I had a very premium sesh on Sunday, starting about noon. SE winds meant it was worth checking out Constantia as a possible launch, though we had no report to go on. Sylvan Beach had been found to have an excellent swath from the shore out on Friday, but E to SE winds would suck there.
So we checked out Constantia and got lucky!! The ice was nicely set-up with a dreamy 5-7 inch slathering of tasty snow. Temps around 30 or so, Wind was silky SE or ESE between 5 & 10 - closer to ten most of the time I'd guess... Had my nice instruments with me (Gekko; Wind meter) just no time to mess with them - Hey! there's Ice plus Snow plus Wind plus Kites plus Skis plus ME!! Gotta git it!! Mike was already launching when I got there! I busted a move to get geared and get out there and got to pumping up my new 16m Cabrinha. Mike was kind enuff to land his foil and give me a hand with set-up and launch and then I clicked my new boots into my new Solomon 150's and took off into a nearly-non-stop 4+ hour session. Mike had been out a ways and saw more and more slushy spots so we kind of set a limit and worked one good-sized area close to the base at Mill Street. It was killing us not go out to the shoals for some nice ramp action, but that'll have to wait. Discretion kept us in a pretty defined area, which I am pleased to say we shredded ruthlessly!
The slushy spots we kept skiing thru were no big deal - no effect on speed and once the surface underneath was revealed, the ice was good. Still, the darkness and slushy-wet look made them "a little spooky" as Mike said. There were some we avoided altogether. Basically the whole day was about the JUMPS!! OH, man!... that 16m CO2 is the joint!! Just the practice I need for Kites on Ice. And the new PowerLock Bar! - Nice!
I had new boots, new skis, new gloves, new jacket, new kite, new bar and line set... and umm... oh yeah - new socks! Sweet! I can't believe I didn't try my new GPS! But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have broken my top speed from buggying this fall - but then again we were getting our speed on - Stupid! Shoulda tossed it in my pocket. But once I was out there, I never went back to the car - not even for water, which would've been nice. See, that's the thing with LEI's - you hate to put them down cuz it's such a pain to get launched again. Of course, meantime I must've dropped the kite a dozen times or more and only needed Mike's help once. I found it surprisingly easy to roll the kite onto it's back on the snow. Actually, it just had that tendency naturally as it moved on the snow - in fact, it was hard to get it NOT to do it when I was trying to finally land and stake. Once it's on it's back you just go out to the side of the window and roll it into flying position and just fly. So I had lots of practice with that. Now if I can just learn to fly out of a jump without dropping it in the first place!
Mike started on skis today, then switched to snowboard for a while and then eventually back to skis. The snow was good for snowboard, but he apparently wiped out those muscles Saturday on a field and was still feelin' it. Mike called it quits about 3:30 but I just had to keep going with such good conditions and having waited so long for my first sesh. But by 4:30 I was about crippled and it was falling off, so I bagged it. Besides, there was a thermos of hot toddy waiting for me in the car. I'm still hobbling.
