Bons plans matos école / 2nd hand kites
Déstockage imminent sur les voiles école 2012! HQ Montana7 (9 et 12m²), ApexIII (5, 7.5 et 10m²), et voiles initiations à partir de 2.5m²… Egalement Montana5 et 6 (12m²). Faites votre choix jusqu’à -50%! Prix par email ou tel: 06 29 48 02 18
Special deals are coming! We will soon be selling all our 2012 school kites : HQ Montana7 (9 & 12m²), ApexIII (5, 7.5 & 10m²), & trainer kites from 2.5m². As well as Montana5 & 6 (12m²). Sales up to 50% OFF! Price inquiries via email or phone: +33 6 29 48 02 18
Snowkite’n Kebab
Après la cordilière des Andes et la Scandinavie, nous sommes allés chercher de la neige et du vent en Turquie. Des volcans enneigés, des montagnes splendides.. à suivre très bientôt sur F-Mountains le film de cette belle expérience au pays du Kebab 😉 (A suivre sur notre page Facebook)
After Los Andes and Scandinavia, we went to Turkey to experience some great snowkiting sessions between wide mountains and tasty Kebabs…. stay tuned for the coming movie ! (Follow on Facebook)
H2Open Kite United 2012 – 20-21-22 Jan 2012
Avec déjà plus de 3m de neige sur le spot début janvier, la saison est lancée !
Nous organisons une étape des Ch de France de Snowkite Opendistance dans le cadre du H2Open kite United, les 20, 21 et 22 Janvier prochain. Toutes les infos sur le Blog de l’évènement !
Over 3m of snow on the spot beginning of January… season is on!
We are organizing the French National opendistance Snowkiting Ch. on the 20, 21 et 22 January. All infos on the H2Open Kite United blog !
Snow snow SNOW !
Elle s’est faite attendre… mais la voilà ENFIN!
Avec déjà 1m sur le spot, les nouvelles voiles 2012 sur le point d’être livrées… nous voici prêts pour la saison ! RDV le 18/12 pour l’ouverture de l’école.
We’ve been waiting… and waiting… but snow is finally HERE!
With already 1m of fresh on the spot, new kites being delivered this week… we are fully ready to welcome you this season ! See you on the spot Decemebr 18th
Les promos d’automne!
Les ch’tits n’enfants ont repris le chemin de l’école, les matins sont plus frais, les arbres commencent à « rougeaunir »…. ce serait-il pas déjà l’automne ma foi ?! 😉
Alors si vous profitez des dernières sessions sur l’eau en shorty, sachez qu’il est déjà temps de penser à la neige! Ne ratez pas nos offres d’avant saison sur le matériel d’occasion 2010/2011 . Nous avons de bonnes affaires en HQ Montana & Apex, North Solid, en stock.
ATTENTION QUANTITES LIMITES ! (LISTE DU MATERIEL DISPONIBLE)
De plus, réservez entre le 1er septembre et le 1er Novembre pour bénéficier d’une réduction de 10% sur tous vos cours de SNOWKITE !
Rendez vous le 17 Décembre pour l’ouverture de notre école sur le Col du Petit St Bernard !
EN : Snowkiting expedition in Sweden (Helags)
After a winter spent searching for snow in the Northern Alps … the need of white and wide landscapes began to arise … but since nature does things well, all the snow we did not receive at home, felt on the Scandinavian countries.
I then decide to join my friend Ivan (Freeairadventures.com), who offers Snowkiting camps in Sweden. For some time he had been telling me about a small expedition that he wanted to achieve over the mountains of the Härjedalen region, more specifically to the mythical Helags (1800m of altitude, with its glacier, the first one South of the Polar Circle). The deal with nordic mountains is not about altitude…but mostly about their access, as weather there is often extreme and highly changeable.
Ivan has planned a journey of 130km (straight lines…), during 4 days minimum, based on optimistic weather forecasts. But we already know that we will have to adapt to numerous changes ….
We start on April 1st around midday from Ramundberget ski resort. In order to get the kites up, we first need to walk up a 400m hill through the forest and reach the plateau. But our 40kg of equipment (per person) spread over two sleds, will remind us the harsh reality of gravity. … After a good sweat on touring skis, trees start to clear up. Excellent visibility, clear blue sky …. but gusts up to 1m / s … We try nevertheless to progress with the kites (9,5m²), but with such little wind it is too difficult to move forward. After 3-4km mostly walking, we decide to prepare our camp for the night, as a storm is announced with gusts of 20m / s.At nightfall, temperature drops quickly around -10 ° C. The tent is securely stowed, and we built a snow wall toward south east from which direction the bad weather is due to come. Wrapped in our warm down jackets, we enjoy a meal under the stars before reaching our sleeping bags.
In the middle of the night, we are woken up by the wind shaking the tent. It seems that heavy snow or rain is mingled with bursts. But nothing strong to worry about, so we get back to sleep.
Saturday, April 2nd: the tent is surrounded by a thick fog. The wind can still be felt behind our snow wall. The answer to our question : yes, it has rained last night, which is not the most pleasant thing in the morning. Indeed, when camping in winter, it’s better to have some dry and cold than a damp atmosphere, whether for clothing or equipment (tent, sleeping bags, etc. ..)
All our stuff are quickly packed on the sleds. Despite poor visibility, we decide to move forward. Anyway, we have marked the points on our GPS in order not to get losts. For safety reasons, we choose not to distance ourselves from the only snowmobiles « road ». Although we don’t see that many people here, in case of an accident, we would be easier to spot.
Wind speed exceeds 10m / s. On a pretty hard snow, we are moving cautiously in its direction, which does not make things easier. Ivan uses his MontanaVI 7m while I opt for ApexIII 7.5 m². We would have preferred to move sideways, but let’s not be too difficult: at least it works! On top of a hill, visibility seems to be improving toward North … allowing us to see the next 20 km … A good thing? Not really. In the distance, the Helags mountains, whose head is caught in the clouds, appear in front of us. Between Helags and us, a vast plain visibly ravaged by numerous winter storms, leaving innumerable black spots of earth and rock. I confess I have to pause my kite for a bit, just the time to realize where we are going. It feels like being thrown into the lion’s den with no real possibility of return (against the wind), and without knowing how the weather will evolve in the coming hours … But Ivan feels the same stress, which reassures me: only the unconscious ones are not afraid! 😉 This ground commands respect, for sure. Anyway, if the weather deteriorates, we will shelter under the tent with a cup of tea!
As we move forward on the plateau between hills and canyons, the wind is really unstable, sometimes falling to zero for several seconds before rising even stronger. It even turns around 180° … without explanation. Aerology is definitely a very complex science … Anyway, we go on through kite sessions, waiting periods and walking.
After 20km, the first decision requires a change of plan: The wind does not allow us to keep going toward our original destination (Sylarna mountains), at least not safely. So we decide to go around the mountain to the East of Helags, rather than to the West, and join the Fjälstation (shelter) at the foot of its northern face. The day was long and tiring, I begin to feel the cold … it is gray and the weather forecast posted at the shelter is contradictory. Motivation is not at the top … so it’s time to get our secret weapon out: the Chilean wine pack, carefully stored at the bottom of the sled! Between a French and an Italian, it’s the least we can do ….
The next night, we will not sleep much… Although the tent is strongly anchored to the ground, it slaps, shakes, crashes over our heads with every gust … The refuge’s anemometer recorded gusts over 100km / h. One only thing to do: dive your head into the sleeping bag … and wait.
The next morning, we are woken up by sunlight through the tent. A quick glance through the unzipped door confirms the good news : clear blue sky ! The northern cliff of Helags is standing in front of us, dark, frozen, massive. At the top, torn clouds indicate that winds are still very tempetuous. But down here so far, everything’s quiet. Breakfast swalowed, we are quickly packing up our gears for the day. No heavy sleds ! We will try to hike up the north face with our touring skis, as high as possible. Our goal is to reach the bottom of the summit ridge, and see from there how conditions are.
Skinning up is quite easy. The slope isn’t too steep, but snow is very icy and many rocks are sticking out. Looking north, the landscape is breathtaking : this area is definitely big and wild. We have brought each a snowkite and a speedflying wing, which makes our bags quite heavy. We can now see the glacier entirely at the bottom of the massive cliff. It does look and feel like being at 4000m in the Alps, even though we are below 2000… One again, altitude is nothing here…
Just before reaching the lower part of the summit ridge, we are caught into some clouds coming from the South. Wind is still strong (10m/s) so we decide not to go higher, but rather south to see if we can take of from there. Indeed, Ivan really wants to fly : taking of from Helags with his Bobcat 18m is one of his dreams… We find a small area where snow seems « cleaner » (no rocks or ice bits sticking out) and properly orientated facing the wind. So Ivan decides to go for it… His take of ends up being tricky with skis, as the wind is pulling him backward. I have to push him with all my strenght in order to throw him into the slope, before he can get speed and lift up in the air. A few seconds later…. he’s gone ! 🙂
I am now alone up there. So after a quick look around, I decide to keep my speedwing in the bag for safety. The south face looks quite clean with enough snow, so I decide to launch myself on skis. It quickly becomes even better than expected, as the snow has softened on the surface, letting me draw some nice curves at full speed. 🙂 The view is amazing now that all clouds have gone away, especially looking West toward the pic of Predikstolen. I am enjoying this moment so much : skiing down this mountain on my own is giving me such a feeling of freedom !
At the bottom, it’s another world. No wind at all. Wet snow and heavy sunshine. There must be a difference of 20°C with the top of the mountain. Ivan is standing there wearing only a T-shirt, packing his speedwing, with a large smile on his face. He looks as happy as me after his descent, even though we did not play with the same « toys » 🙂
With a true motivation, we are starting to skin up again on the South face, hoping to get some wind and our kites out. After 300m of hard hiking in the sun, the brise comes back to our hears… Our HQ MontanasVI 9,5m are starting to jiggle in the bags, asking to get out and pull us toward the summit. Again, we are so amazed by the power of our kites which gently help us ski up the hill. Over the fact that it is probably a « première » on this remote mountains, having such a wide open landscape below makes us feel like kiting into the sky.
Within a few minutes, we are back at the bottom of the summit ridge. The wind has dropped, temperature is fine, so we enjoy the views one last time before skiing back down to the Fjälstation, this time on the north face.
What a day ! What an experience ! From ski touring, to speedflying, snowkiting and skiing… with 2 ascents of Helags within a few hours… It is still hard for us to realize what we have just done, but above all, how lucky we were with the weather. Thank you Helags !
We could stop there, tired and happy… but NO ! Down at the refuge, the wind is blowing strong enough for us to start our journey back. This is a chance we cannot miss… as pulling 40kg of sleds along 30km isn’t a great perspective. It is 5pm and here we are, on the road again. During 2 hours, we are tacking up wind toward the South. But soon before sunset, Eole decides that it is time for us to set up our camp, and stops the blowing machine. Good thing, as we are exhausted.
A quiet and cold night (-15°C) seems to be ahead of us. But we are so happy after today, than we don’t feel the cold and stay out for a while, celebrating our experience with pasta carbonara (dried of course) and a few glasses of our Chilean wine. Stars are shinning above us, it’s just perfect.
When I wake up around 7am, the tent is still, covered with a thin layer of ice. Not a good sign… But after only a few minutes, a light brise starts coming from South West. So we are starting our long journey upwind toward Ramundberget, sometimes walking uphill as the wind isn’t strong enough. Slowly, it seems to rise, until it gets to a moderate strenght. In the distance, we can already see a large band of dark clouds coming in our direction. After 4 days in the wild, the thought of spending another night in the storm under our tent isn’t really pleasant… We are then pushing harder on the skis in order to tack even more efficiently, looking for the best route up wind, in the middle of the rocks. We really want to reach the car before nightfall.
We reach our camp of the first night in the middle of the afternoon. We are more or less 3 kilometers from Ramundberget. Stress is behind us. So we decide to drop the sleds for a little while, and celebrate this last day with a little « freestyle » sessions and a few jumps in the air. The last descent through the forest with the sleds is quite acrobatic, but we manage to reach the carpark before 4pm. Our GPS indicates that we have been kiting over 80km since this morning… it was definitely not easy to tack upwind between the rocks ! In total, we have kited over a distance of 130km minimum, after 4 days on the plateaus.
We stop at a Pub in Funäsdalen and enjoy a well deserved local beer. I can see on Ivan’s face how tired he is, but I know I’m not better ! We are talking loads about this experience : pleasure, emotions, sharing, stress and even fear sometimes… but what comes out first for both of us is the respect for this environment, where even trees don’t grow…
Helags welcomed us and was rather lenient with us … Thanks.
So what’s next ? I do not know. Improvised trips are often most appreciated. But I admit I glanced over my shoulder towards the mountains of Sylarna, which seem to be a fantastic playground …
A big thanks to our sponsors: HQ powerkite – Bergans of Norway – Julbo – Volkl skis and Olympic sports
and Ivan who worked the route of this expedition, and welcomed me with his family at his house.
And a big thought for my friend Morgan who had to stay home because of a broken knee…
Video edit by Ivan :
Rando-snowkite en Beaufortain
Bien qu’au col du Petit St Bernard nous n’ayons jamais manqué de neige cet hiver (comme d’hab! Merci Bernard ;), celle-ci s’est faite rare en général sur les Alpes du Nord. Pourtant, avec une grosse envie et un coup de peaux (de phoques), nous avons eu quelques belles occasions de sortie les kites. L’une des plus mémorables était tout récemment dans le massif du Beaufortain, au dessus d’Hauteluce.
Les caméras étaient forcément de la partie… voici donc le résumé de notre journée en images :
**EN** Even though we had snow all winter at the Petit St Bernard pass (as always… ), it has been a poor winter in the northern Alps. Nevertheless, with a strong motivation and a pair of ski touring, we had some nice opportunities to go snowkiting. One of the nicest was in February, up in the Beaufortain area, above the village of Hauteluce. Cameras were of course with us.. so here is a short resume of our journey.
Atacamag !
« Passionnément volcans » continue sont bonhomme de chemin…. Une diffusion du film est prévue le 24/02 au festival de Cranves-Sales en 74, et le magazine Atacamag nous met à l’honneur pour sa nouvelle version…
Néanmoins, il serait grand temps de penser à la suite… 🙂
Font d’Urles Pow-Pow session ! :)
Hier, 5 décembre, le vent n’était pas vraiment annoncé sur les Alpes… mais c’était sans la perspicacité de mes amis Yannick et Philou, grands gourous de la météo, qui décidèrent de donner sa chance à Font d’Urles, au sud du Vercors. Et bien leur en a pris (et de m’en parler ! ) Une session de rêve pour ce début de saison : 40cm de poudreuse bien froide, un grand ciel bleu, et 15 noeuds de Nord régulier…. du bonheur en barre ! L’occasion parfaite de tester la Montana6 nouvellement reçue (Rapport complet à venir très bientôt)
**EN** Yesterday, december 5th, the wind wasn’t really forecasted over the Alps… but my friends Yannick and Philou, wind-forecast-gurus decided to give its chance to Font d’Urles, at the South of Vercors (near Grenoble). And this was a GREAT decision (especially since their shared it with me) A magical session for the start of the season : 40cm of fresh powder, blue sky, and 15knts of Northerly winds… what ELSE ?! This was also the perfect opportunity to try out the brand new HQ Montana 6 (The full report coming soon)
1st Hq Montana6 Video !
La première vidéo de la Montana6.. sur herbe. Ça risque d’envoyer fort sur le Blanc ! 😉
**EN** The first released video of the new Montana6… on grass. This gives an idea of the potential on Snow !
X-Greenland 2010… 1820km de Snowkite !
Nos amis de l’équipe X-Greenland 2010, rencontrés lors de la VAKE Race en Norvège au mois d’Avril, se sont payés la traversée du Groenland en kite : 1820km en 19 jours…. Respect !
**EN** Our Friends from the X-Greenland 2010 team met while competing the VAKE in Norway, crossed the Greenland Ice Cap last May : 1820km a…nd 19 days… Respect!
New HQ Powerkite 2011 !
Les HQ 2011 arrivent ! La Montana6 promet d’envoyer du lourd comme c’était déjà le cas avec les 2 dernières versions…. mais c’est l’Apex3 cette année qui risque d’être une belle surprise…. (On a pu déjà tester un proto qui en disait long sur les qualités du bébé! L’Oncle Tom a bien travaillé 😉 >> PLUS d’INFOS ICI
*** The NEW HQ Powerkites 2011 are coming ! The Montana6 is bringing some new power to the snowkiting word after the success of the last 2 versions… but the 2011 winter’s outsider seems to be the new APEX3 !! We’ve already in the position to test a prototype this summer… which was quite promising ! Uncle Tom once again did a good job 😉 >> MORE INFOS HERE
Buy 1 – Get 1 ! Un kite acheté = Un stage OFFERT !
Avec le PACK « STAGE + MATOS », repartez avec la voile que vous avez utilisée pendant votre stage !
1 Voile achetée = 1 stage initiation 3H OFFERT !
With our « Lesson + Kite » Pack, go home with the kite you’ve been learning snowkiting during your course.
BUY 1 Kite = Get 1 starter Course FOR FREE !
NEW Website
Le site web de l’école a été refait à neuf en vue de la prochaine saison 2010/2011. Plus d’infos, navigation simplifiée, notre but est de le rendre plus agréable. N’hésitez pas à envoyer vos commentaires sur ce qui vous plait, ou pas ! Merci ! www.ecole-snowkite.fr (Une version italienne est en preparation)
The school website has been rebuilted from scratch for the coming season. More infos, easier navigation, our goal is to make this site better. So do not hesitate to give us your feed back, positive or negative ! Thanks ! www.snowkiting-school.com (An italian version is on its way)
VAKE 2010 : Varanger Arctic Kite Enduro
Sébastien a participé ce printemps 2010 à la course / expédition de Snowkite VAKE 2010 au fin fond de la Norvège, au delà du cercle polaire arctique.
Toutes les infos, textes, photos et vidéos sur le blog de l’équipe
Last Spring 2010, Sebastien has joined Ivan in the VAKE Race, told as the « longest and hardest snowkiting race in the World »
Balise Météo / Onsite windmeter !
Après de loooongs efforts communs, la balise météo est ENFIN en place sur le site du Petit St Bernard. Merci à nos sponsors !
After many month of preparation, our automatic windmeter is finally onsite. Thanks to our sponsors !
Pour les relevés EN DIRECT / For LIVE conditions :
1- WEB: Cliquer ICI / Click HERE
2- Telephone : 0456386080 (0,15€ /min)
3- Radio FFVL : 143,9875 Mhz en VHF FM
Un merci tout particulier à Sylvain et JS qui m’ont aidé à monter la bête !
« Passionnément Volcans » au Rencontres du Cinéma de Montagne de Grenoble et Gap
Nous étions cette semaine invités à partager notre film et expérience avec les 3000 spectateurs du Summum de Grenoble, à l’occasion des Rencontres du Cinéma de Montagne. Un accueil chaleureux et et incroyable expérience pour nous!
Le vendredi suivant, nous remettions cela devant les 1000 spectateurs du Quattro à Gap.
Merci aux organisateurs pour nous avoir offert une telle opportunité de partager nos passions !
5 Juin 09 : dernière session à 2400m
Ce WE devait avoir lieu la Conviviale Snowkite annuelle au Petit St Bernard, organisée par l’association Aérodynamic avec la participation de l’école FlyMountains. Mais les grosses chaleurs de Mai ont eu raison du manteau neigeux sur la zone du col, et la mauvaise météo annoncée a poussé les organisateurs à annuler.
Néanmoins, 3 irréductibles (Morgan, Popo et Seb) tenaient à leur dernière session sur la neige… alors profitant d’un gros coup de Nord-Ouest avant la perturbation le jeudi après-midi, ils sont montés jusqu’au pied de Bellecombe, à 2400m. A cet endroit, la neige n’avait pas encore disparu… et une belle rando s’est offerte à eux sous le ciel bleu, au pied du Mt Valaisan.
Un peu de neige, du vent et des potes… que demander de plus ?! 😉
Bon été à tous !