Hey Everyone,
I know everyone's already started pumping up their inflatables or has dusted off their ground-boards for summer riding (Noah you may be the exception). I thought I'd give an update on the To Cross The Moon Snowkite Project.
To recap, 2XtM was a snowkite expedition that attempted to cross the US state of North Dakota in January of 2007 in order to spread the word; "This state is windy. Us it." (Meaning build more wind-turbines and try snowkiting). We introduced the sport of snowkiting to over 1,000 locals with hands-on experience and videos like Entropy and 20/10. Having crossed over 300 miles of the state, our athletic team couldn't complete the journey due to lack of snow. Bummer. On the positive side, 2XtM was featured in over 45 newspapers, radio-programs, and television... even a segment on national MSNBC.
Anyways, the real measure of our success is whether or not we were able to change a few minds with regard to how locals value the wind. This is not an easy task when average winter temps are around -8 F, making the ever-present wind-chill intensely hated. Anyways, I know we got some folks stoked on snowkiting (Entropy came in handy on no-wind days). The wind-turbine front is almost more amazing; just last month the ND legislative body passed a plan to errect a $250 Million dollar wind farm near Grand Forks (
http://www.kxmb.com/t/cavalier-county-nd/128426.asp )... this creates many jobs for locals (Grand Forks is home to LM Glassfiber, a turbine-blade manufacturer) and lots of clean energy. The jobs are a god-send to a state that has a reputation for losing its population. Although we can't take credit, 2XtM used snowkiting to re-brand North Dakota's wind as something exciting and fresh.
But the story isn't over. Sam Salwei is planning to re-attempt the crossing in 2008. Follow the story here on snowkiting.com or . The MSNBC report on snowkiting/2xtm is on the front page as of June 11th.
See you on the snow next year,
Eric B
http://www.snowkiting.com
