SNOWKITING
A WIND-POWERED WAY TO BLEND BIG AIR AND FRESH POWDER
With the rise of kiteboarding in the 1990s, it was only a matter of time before skiers and snowboarders began bringing kites onto snow. Today, snowkiting is a niche but growing sport from Truckee to France. Red Bull puts on an endurance snowkite race across the icy plains of Norway, and New Zealand has hosted a freeride snowkite festival. Kites aid in modern polar exploration, too: In 2007, two kite-powered adventurers spent two months becoming the first people to reach Antarctica’s so-called Pole of Inaccessibility without motorized transportation, setting three world records along the way.
A former ski racer from Tahoe named Tyler Brown started California’s first and still only snowkite outfitter, the Sierra Snowkite Center, in 2012. Brown learned to kitesurf in Fiji, and when he returned home to Truckee, taught himself to use wind and kites to propel himself up and down snow-covered slopes on skis. Now he offers lessons and tours all over California and beyond, teaching first-time kiters on flat, snowy meadows and taking more experienced snowkiters down steeper slopes throughout the Sierra.
The best part? If it hasn’t snowed in weeks and the ski resorts are tracked out, the snowkiting is just getting good. “When the east wind hits and turns the ski resorts to ice, that’s the perfect time to try snowkiting,” Brown says.
You’ll need to be at least an intermediate skier or snowboarder to give this sport a try, but no kite experience is necessary. Just bring your ski or snowboard gear; the kiting equipment will be provided. “I recommend taking a lesson because we can teach you a lot in an hour and a half that you’d spend a whole season trying to learn,” Brown says. Lessons start at $75. Call for updates: (530) 816-0484. www.sierrasnowkite.com