Planning on snowkiting Lake Sakakawea around Links Golf Course and wanted to see if anyone has insight on it?

Well, it really depends on how much snow ND gets. Last year I kited Lake Sakakawea at the Four Bears Bridge, near New Town. With about five inches of snow over the ice, I was able to edge pretty well... but the landings were hard.

One of the coolest experiences was kiting underneath the bridge. With 30 meter lines and a 12 M Frenzy, the kite rode about 8 ft below the bridge at zenith... I could actually ride back and forth under the bridge w/out trouble. The bridge is pretty sleak and minimalist, so there wasn't a ton of air turbulance created (but there was some). Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of snow under the bridge, so it was pretty rough edging on the bare ice. Another peice of advice while near the bridge; don't boost.

There's good access if you drive past the Casino and park by the liquor store... walk down to the lake and snowkite!

Here's a googlemap of the site:
[googlemap]http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=47.976823,-102.565613&spn=0.026718,0.058622&z=14[/googlemap]

Also, FYI: There will be kite clinics held in New Town on Firday, Feb. 15th and Saturday, Feb. 16th... If you want a snow/wind report, just call Jason Schaefer, the 2XtM Educational Coordinator -- (701)-741-0709

So after Williston got hit with some snow I hit up a couple of farmers fields until my bases got worked by some rocks and then decided to go to the lake.

Coming from CO - Dillon Reservoir, i now know what you mean by hard landings but it was still fun to be the only one out there.

I was able to drive right up to the lake and if I wanted to I could of driven out on it. First went to one spot on the west part of the lake and found snow covered jagged ice and very little riding area then accessed at Lunds Landing Recreation area where it was nice and smooth with some ice spots here and there but a fun powder ride if you stay with the snow. There seem to be better snow the further out I went, and had no problem keeping an edge the whole day. I was hesitant to boost high due to the solid ice I could of landed on but I had a super fast ride and a great time, can't wait to hit this spot up in the summer.

Yeah, the better place to kite in North Dakota is near Devil's Lake, on the eastern side... they get more snow and very, very good winds. If it wasn't for the sparse population, I think ND would be a more popular kite location.

Blatently Stolen From the 2XtM Website Blog ( ):

Yesterday at 21.44 by: Kathryn Joyce

New Town
We arrived in New Town this morning and headed for the Ft. Berthold Community College, where we were met by Kerry Hartman. He arranged for us to present to a classroom and opened it up to the public. I have to say it was one of the best crowds that we have had so far, they made us lunch and participated in a good discussion session after we had finished. We didn't have enough to wind to get the kties up in the air again today, but tomorrow's forecast looks promising.

The athletes didn't call tonight, but I've been in contact with Jim Grijalva who has gone out to kite with them for a couple days. He tells me that they are camping near the Missouri river just off of HWY 1804. They should be coming through New Town tomorrow and we hope to see them during our clinic. The weather has improved and the sun is shining, as long as the snow doesn't melt we are in good shape. Tonight the education crew is staying in the wrestling room at New Town High School and Middle School. We had dinner with some locals at a pizza place which was nice, but I think that we are all pretty tired out from a series of very long days. I'm excited at the prospect of seeing the athletes tomorrow, but I will be sorry to leave New Town as they have been very friendly in welcoming us to their community. I hope to see tons of people out to snowkite down by the marina by Four Bears Casino tomorrow!

--- Looks like they'll be doing a kite clinic at the Four Bears Bridge tomorrow. The winds are predicted to be 13-17 mph... not too shabby.

Snowkite Clinic @ The Four Bears Bridge