Warmest day of the year nearly 60 degrees

 

 

 

Sunday 3-30-2014 - Crystal Mt. Snowboarding
Warmest day of the year nearly 60 degrees, mostly sunny, spring conditions.
41 degrees at the 9:00 AM start time and by 1:00 it was 59 degrees.
Total of 35 runs from 9:10 to 12:35.
Schooled at 180 backside from the toe side.

 

Crystal Lake Snow Kite with video

Wednesday 3-26-14, Crystal Lake Snow Kite

Tuesday's fresh powder was untracked on the lake. Wind has scoured some powder off
but still almost as good as it can get.
Rigged the 9 meter with south, gusty conditions with snow devils  spinning around occasionally.
Overpowered at times used full depowered mode when needed.
Fun session with some ripping toe side turns and 180 ollies.
Sunny, south winds 10-25 MPH.





Ripping a toe side turn with an added hand slide.

Crystal Mt - Day after powder day

Crystal Mt 3-26-14

Kind of a let down after yesterdays powder day, that's expected.
Generally soft pack with some groomed hard pack areas.
Every run down I did a least one 180 backside over a natural terrain bump.
Sunny 12-18 degrees with south winds picking up.
Big spring break crowds with a lot of lift delays.

 

POWDER DAY! At Crystal Mt.

Tuesday 3-25-2014, Powder Day at Crystal Mt

4-6 inches of fluffy powder, partly cloudy, snow showers, 15-20 degrees.
It's amazing how a small place like Crystal Mt still has small stashes of powder left at noon.
Large Colorado resorts would be skied out in an hour.
Riding in the glades, catching the steeps before skied out, finding stashes on the blue runs past noon. Nothing beats a powder day!
Photo courtesy of Crystal Marketing Dept.
Image of my figure 8s at noon on the north side slopes.

 

 

 

 

Crystal Lake Kite session 29.4 MPH

3/24/14  Monday,  Crystal Lake Kite session

Good snow fresh 1-2 inches with a soft base underneath.
9 meter kite, winds WNW to 25 mph, bluebird day. Had depower at 100%
Best speed run this year for snow kite - 29.4
Long tack of 1.2 miles across the lake

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Bright and sunny Crystal Mt. morning session 47.1 MPH

3/24/2014 Monday Crystal Mt

Bright and sunny 15-27 degrees, hard pack to soft pack

Best top speed of the year
Maximum Speed 47.1 MPH

Distance 9.5 mi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unexpected Snow Kite Day (video)

3/23/2014 Sunday Crystal Lake snow kiting


Was going to go to Crystal Mt. for some snowboarding but as I drove to the mountain I noticed 1-2 inches of fresh snow on the road. So I thought it might be a good idea to check out the frozen Crystal Lake. Sure enough it was kitable. Looked to be lite to medium winds but it felt like enough.
Rigged the 11 meter with the Burton board. Launched and enjoyed the next 2 hours with non-stop action.
Surface conditions were not bad about an inch of fresh powder with soft pack underneath.
Mostly sunny day with temperatures 19-22.
Seemed like light winds on the ground maybe medium winds up where the kite flies.
It is amazing how lite the wind can be for snow kiting - estimated wind speeds from 8-20 mph from the WNW.
Data:
Maximum Speed 25.8 MPH
Distance 16.0 mi
Duration 01:49:19