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Montana Kitesports News
Submitted by JoelB on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 11:26pm
The Montana Snowkite Rodeo is once again taking place on President's Day Weekend this year, February 18-20, 2012 at Jackson Hot Springs in the Big Hole Valley.
Every year we've been exploring more snowkiting locations in this expansive area and making more connections with the local residents in the valley.
Bad Monkey Kite Store
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Call for Details
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$40.00
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$850.00
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Call for Details
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$750.00
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$750.00
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$650.00
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$159.00
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$119.00
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$500.00
Video of the Week
Snowkite Masters 2012 The Movie
Jan 27, 2012
Submitted by JoelB on Fri, 01/20/2012 - 11:18pm
Yeah, Haggin got plastered. It's got so much snow we'll be kiting there into May.
Get some, and see ya out there,
Noah |
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Submitted by JoelB on Mon, 01/16/2012 - 10:42am
Young Girl, Big Air! by flykitesports
(To follow the kiting adventures of the Cronin family, go to their blog: flykitesports.wordpress.com)
I think there comes a day, in most parents lives, when the inevitable happens, their child does something so amazing it both scares and thrills them beyond belief. This was yesterday at Mount Haggin, MT for Packy and me. The day started with the kids amped to kite, they got out of bed early and packed their own gear, it was amazing. We rolled down US I-90, toward Butte, enjoying a friendly discussion on ethics, morality and politic, yes we are a bit geeky and after Rocker Packy declared we could only talk about kiting until we pulled into Haggin so the conversation went kitey, it was fun.
When we arrived, the pit crew, known as Mom and Dad to our kids, went to work while the kids dressed and put on their harnesses. We launched Frances first and then Garrett. As we prepared our kite we watched Frances catching some baby air. Packy waved her in and gave her some tips, a bit on a lark not knowing what was going to happen next. Frances said: “Cool, let me see what I can do.” and kited off.
After a few boosts Frances started to get creative and was doing some old school daffies
  Well we found out she sure can “do”, she instantly started going BIG, not baby big, big boy BIG. Quickly the whole group of folks pumping up or grabbing a snack were owing and ahing at Frances’ jumps and boosts. With every jump there was the sound effects created by the collective voice, it was awesome.
Our rock star, Frances.
It was so cool and so scary.
-Mel.
Submitted by JoelB on Tue, 11/15/2011 - 8:23pm
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If you have flown last year’s Ozone Frenzy you may have learned this kite was a dramatic improvement from Ozone’s past flagship kites. It was fast, powerful, precise and (best of all) super-stable. The 2011 Frenzy’s stability was a direct result of the addition of the “link line” which unified the wind’s shape. I found the kite to be so rock solid that I was pulling freestyle tricks that I would have never attempted in the past. I could whip this kite from one side of the window to the other without a hint of instability. The downside of the link line was when one needed to land the kite in nuking winds. In these high wind situations the kite was reluctant to flag out and held its shape too well! A tradeoff I suppose. Now, however, that is all in the past.
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For 2012, the Frenzy has retained all the great flight characteristics I like plus the addition of numerous SAFETY features. Number one is the addition of a fifth line flag out system that totally kills the power of the kite in high wind situations. Last week in the Big Horns Mountains of Wyoming I had three days of 7 and 9m conditions that allowed me to test the 5th line in strong winds. It performed flawlessly. Whether I purposefully unhooked and deployed the 5th line or released the Megatron chicken loop under extremely heavy load, the 5th line instantly flagged the kite, immediately eliminating any pull from the kite. “Safe, safe, safe” is what I kept thinking. Reloading the bar after releasing to the 5th line was usually as simple as walking up to the bar and hooking in again. Only once, releasing to the 5th line during a severe 40mph+ gust with the 9m, was the bridle snarled and needed to be straightened out back at the lodge.
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Of course, in less nuclear winds, I find the brake handle safety to be my primary means of landing my Frenzy. Having two independent safety systems to use, depending upon skill level and conditions is ideal. It’s my choice: I can clip my leash to the suicide ring on the Megatron or clip into the 5th line flag out safety.
Looping the kite (or spinning underneath it) with the leash attached to the 5th line was surprisingly tangle free. The Megatron usually cleared the 5th line wraps in a few moments and it was never an issue. Obviously, if you clip into the suicide ring there are no wraps from spinning and looping. |
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Another safe and sound improvement was the elimination of the top hat front line release. With the addition of the 5th line, the top hat was unnecessary. So, no more inadvertent top hat releases! Safe!
For riders with short arms, smaller women, and children they will all benefit from the fact that the front line adjustment cleat is directly above the bar. It is more easily accessible than ever before. Safe again.
Most pilots would never notice but I detected some very subtle differences from last year’s Frenzy in my 3 days in the Big Horns. In the sky, the kite appears to be more precisely trimmed. Very small differences in the trailing edge creases were noticed over the 2011 Frenzy. The 2012 Frenzy appeared a notch more finely tuned. When sheeting in, the trailing edge crease was more crisp and precise. This refinement was apparent across all the kites I flew: the 7, 9 and my couple sessions on the 11m. |
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There is a wonderful feeling that comes from unrolling a new kite and launching it skyward. One expects a new kite to fly perfectly right out of the bag. The Frenzy does that. It should be safe, stable, and fun to fly. With the 2012 Frenzy I knew that would be the case and it was. For riders who want to progress and push their skills to the next level (and beyond) the Frenzy will deliver. Best of all it will do so safely and with loads of potential.
Thanks for reading and see ya out there,
Noah
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Submitted by JoelB on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 10:04pm
(As a new resident to Montana, kiter Jason Forrest writes about his experiences on his blog The Adventure's of Jason and Abbey Forrest)
Home from work and it's absolutely beautiful outside. We've been going pretty hard the last few weeks and it's been non-stop around the house. I'm nesting, Abby's nesting and feeling pretty tired. In the last couple weeks I've completely refurbished two dressers that we found on Craigslist for 40 bucks and have been organizing a carload of baby stuff we got from some friends. Life is non-stop in Montana and every day there is something more to do. 
So sitting inside on a beautiful day, cold beer in my favorite coozie right next to me. Abby on the couch reading a book and Gauge panting on the floor.
Life could be worse.
Montana is number 5 in the United States for Wind Energy Potential according to the Wind Energy Association. We hold our spot right behind South Dakota, Kansas, Texas and North Dakota. I'm willing to bet if you google any of these spots in relation to kiteboarding potential they would be pretty low on the ranking behind North Carolina, Oregon, California and Florida... and that's not even going international. Now I'll admit that Wind Energy Potential is much different then "epic kite spot". Wind Energy Potential takes into account terrain, topography, availability of energy transmission, etc...while kiteboarding is looking for something just a bit different. The key ingredients of which are water, wind and access.
Wind sports are nothing new in the state and in fact windsurfing was quite big here years back...when windsurfing was quite big.
Now enter one of the worlds fastest growing sports. Kiteboarding.
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