Hey all.

I'm totally new to snow sports (unless ice climbing and winter mountaineering count) but a friend has convinced me to go to Norway and try some cross country skiing.

I have loads of kite gear and regularly landboard and surf so the kites aren't a problem but I have no idea on the ski's.

My friend knows nothing about kite sports so isn't much help.

I'm not looking for kite specific ski's (will use a board if i get into this) I'm looking for touring skis that will work for cruising along with a kite if conditions allow. Any recommendations??

Hey bud saw your post on pkf as well. My sn there is flyboy15.

My buddy uses a pair of parabolics or alpine skis if you will, but some people actually prefer straight skis due to less turning tendancies and more edge holding. Cross country skis are a no no from what I've heard. I don't know a whole lot, but thats what I've seen/heard.

I board myself but I have been thinking about getting into it as well. Let me know what you decide and how it works out!!

Matt

Hi

Thanks. Yeah I'm scouring the internet for advice!

A couple of people have said use alpine (downhill) ski's because they are wider and a couple of people have said get old ones because they have straight edges. That makes sense from an edging against the kite point of view.

The problem is I'm going to be doing a lot more walking on the ski's than kiting so full bindings aren't an option - otherwise a pair of twin-tip freestyle ski's would probs be awesome.

I think i'm just going to have to go to a shop and buy what looks like it will work! your average ski shop seems to know very little about kites!

Yea I know what you mean there!

Our local ski and bike shop just became ozone dealers last year..........and they still don't know much about them haha

Good luck with the gear! let me know what work's out for ya.

(I might suggest going to a thrift store, some carry sporting goods. Our financial guy in the club got a pair of alpines w/ bindings for $40! )

Good call!

I live on an offshore island so I doubt I will find anything locally (theres lots of wind water and beaches but not much else!) but there are a couple of places I visit regularly that have stores I could try.

If I can get some cheap gear I can do some experimenting.

Stay Lit!

Update

Currently enjoying the best winter conditions in Scotland for 20 years so I have managed to get quite a bit done over the holidays

Ist of all I had a couple of days snowboarding and that was amazing fun. I crossed over from my other board sports pretty easily and was getting in some shaky carving turns by the end of my first day. Definately something i'm going to keep doing and I can't wait to hook up to a kite

I now have my XC skiiing gear aswell and 3 days practice for the norway trip. Its pretty cool getting about on ski's! I also practiced falling over quite a lot.

I decided just to get the gear I needed for ski touring and not think about kites too much but I did hook in to my 3.5m and have a little cruise down the edge of a frozen lake with a few inches of snow on it. Got on ok going in a straight line and edging on one ski! That was about it though!

I think I might abandon the idea to be honest. The snowboard has far more potential for kiting I reckon.

Good to hear your gettin out!!

We just got dumped on too here in North Dakota US so we are all very excited for the conditions we get.

If you have one set of gear or the other, start with what you got and get some kiting in on that. Once you feel like you need a new horizon then would be a good time to switch.

Thats just my opinion, but in that way you can save some money while you move up in the sport. Bottom line, do what your gut tells ya, if your leaning one way over another, there is nothing wrong with that, either mode of kiting works perfectly.

I board myself, and I've gotten the skiing bug recently. I would like to try someone's skis if they had boots big enough (14 US mens haha). Till then, I'll keep the pop going on the snowboard

Good luck with the rest of your learning!!!!!!!

I'm sure they can work together. Personally, I kite only on telemark skis which can fit skins for climbing. I use both my left and right skis to edge against the kite regardless of the direction I'm going, and I edge in the telemark stance.

There's a wide assortment of boot, binding, and ski varying from alpine to nordic, but there exists a lot of equipment in between. Standard, thin, no-wax, egde-less XC skis with NNN bindings and skate boots probably wouldn't work well for kite touring.

Instead, look for a lightweight no-wax back-country touring ski with 3/4 or full metal edges such as the Karhu XCD 10th Mountain Ski or Karhu XCD Guide Ski. Pair that with 3-pin telemark bindings (with or without a cable) like those made by Voile, and light back-country telemark boots like the Rossignol BC X11 Boots or Crispi Antartic Boots, and you should have enough power to edge against the kite -- especially if you learn the telemark turn. Then, when there's no wind, you can pack up the kite and have a good touring package too. Oh, don't forget a pair of expandable poles that you can strap to your pack.

Ivan Guidobaldi, the kiter who made might be a good reference. Good luck!

Thanks for that guys.

My ski's are Fischer backcountry touring ski's with full metal edges (waxless). They are basically a wide Nordic ski. I got NNN bindings and Alpina backcountry touring boots.

This stuff will be perfect for my touring trip. Its really lightweight, The boots are comfortable for walking in and its simple kit if you are a beginner like me!

I can definately see the potential with the kite - and you can actually edge quite hard with the NNN bindings - I wasn't getting dragged downwind much. but I didn't have much control or maneuverability either!

I'm getting a loan of some alpine ski's and boots at the weekend - apparently the bindings let you have your heel free for walking and you can clip in for downhill. I'm going to try them with the kite aswell - I can imagine they will be a lot better.