23--Lake Creek 11M

11m was to small,
I had to work the kite almost all the time.
Still fun cause of the good snow conditions.
I just kept making laps around the bottom wave,
to the top draws, to the pine trees, and back again.

What Jon said..

Hot Damn, My first on my own sled in kiting. Kiting was OK on 10M Manta. Bigger would have been better. Great area to kite at top of Lake Creek. The real fun started once we went up Strawberry river to Lake Creek. Coming up small side hill, I fell off and sled went on autopilot into the aspens. Needed to cut down 1/2 dozen small dia trees and Marty was able to drive it out. Next I got on the wrong trail coming back and almost ended up at Coop creek, again Marty to the rescue.

13--Daniels Loop

What Jon Said..

Hot Damn, My first on my own sled. Marty was my mentor/baby sitter and did he ever have to work at it. First, I fell off on Daniels Trail, no help needed there. Almost got stuck in the powder but pulled it off. Nice to have knowledgeable and helpfuul friends around. Getting better at sledding, still afraid of the throttle. But starting to bet braver. Got passed by a dad and son on the trail, or well, ages added up, I was older than both of them. GREAT FUN, shoulda got one sooner. Wait till next year

22--Skyline 13M

Rob emailed and said "we better get together soon, he's leaving town Tues"
I didn't really want to do the long drive,
but very glad I did,
Best day by far for Skyline, in a couple of years.
Super soft creamy snow on top of 99% of the area.
Hardly any wind crust to be found.
Rode Bosco first, then later went to West ridge
Excelent day. Tons of fun to kite with Rob and Alisha.

12 Sled Mill Creek Road

Virgin ride for Jon
on his new sled.
trail riding from Noblets,
to top of Lake Creek.

21-- Rush 9M

Here is what Jon said:
"Yahoo, first day on the water. Normally a very happy occasion, but today was different. Wind was usual Rush gust fest 15-25-35 mph. BAD NEWS was that at the usual kite launch spot the water is only 3-6 inches deep. Moved down the shore line to the North for a second session, launched near where the dirt road comes down from the main road, a little deeper here maybe 6-8 inches. Rode the 9M Sport+ in winds 18-30+ mph. First day was OK but Rush is bordering on being unsafe to kite. May not go back. Hate to lose this spot for our spring kiting. South winds at Rush are usually the best of all our sites. Will need to explore other locations. Figured UL and Willard still had ice. Shared the joy with Marty, Vern, and Jason. Nice warm day, but Rush is too shallow to be much fun, boo hoo."

20-- PM 13M

Heather and a few others were nice enough,
to sound like they really wanted me to go to the Superfly event.
How could I pass that up.
I arrived late to good winds and racing in progress.
I was gonna race, I thought the races were Sunday?
Glad I didn't pay up front...

I wanted to kite from the parking lot,
but would have possibly been in racers way.
packed it up and rode the cat down.
Rigged up and rode the suprisingly soft snow.
I kinda had the place to myself because they were calling for
a racers meeting for big air, must have been a long wait for the meeting,
I stayed out for quite awhile, and still made it to the racers meeting.
Looking around, it was hard to find anyone I knew, all out of towners.

They asked me to help judge the big air comp. Fun to do.
Lots of kiters were tired after that so not many kiters out for my second sesh,
but the snow was cut up pretty bad.
I went over the hill to the secret pow stach and had fresh snow to myself.
Good angle for some mini glides and soft landings for tricks.
When I came back, to end my session, the line for the cat was huge.
I just got my bag and kited to the parking lot.
Rushed home to eat and shower,
then back for a fun night friends and Herradura.
Passed on the snow conditions Sunday, I'm sure the wind was OK.

19--Top Strawberry River 13M

Our main plan for the day was to hit up the new Powder up high, on our sleds.
Glad we took our kite gear. It was blowing SW at 10'000 '
We rode up Lake Creek trail to the top of Strawberry River.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=40.4075,-111.2021&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

We set up thinking we were gonna kite in one spot, but the wind changed a little,
and we rode around the corner to a draw that had 6-8 inches if Utah's finest pow.
Mat and I cut it up for hours, then still had time for a couple hour sled ride in over the hood powder in the trees.
Another top day...

18--Monte 11M

Doug got to try out his new 09 Edge.
The 2 inches of new on top of the hardpack.
was only so so
But the strong wind let us go almost anywhere we wanted to go.

11--Moffit Basin Sled

Mostly family time at the Parkins cabin.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=40.9406,-110.7997&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

First time on sleds for Annie and Cassie.
They both did really good, Crete loves the sleds.
After the ride to the warming hut with girls,

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=40.8582,-110.9266&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Terry, Ryan and I went on search for kitespots, and powder staches.
Didn't see any very good kitespots, but killer sledding spots.

17--Lake Creek 11M

Since the road was closed to Strawbs,
Matt and I hurried to get our sleds.
Great call, clearing skys, 6" fresh pow, good wind.
Kinda have to decide on kite in the parking lot,
or take 2, I chose the middle, and would have liked the 13M more.
New direction for us, WSW opened up new unchartered territory.
One of the top days of the year, great snow conditions.
Remember to click on photos to enlarge...

Riggn area with Heber Mtn to the left.


Matt happy about the Powder.


9000 ft wave


Uintas in background

16--Skyline 13M

Race day at the Snowkitemasters.
Wind was light, but came up enough to race.
Jason set me up and coached me to a killer start.
Kite in great position, diving up and down to miss the others,
felt like I got across the line first, heading for the first mark,
But I forgot about having a board on my feet,
thinking to much about the kite,
I lost my edge, and the wind.
By then most of the pack was gone.
zoomed past the finish line,
and headed straight for the west ridge for a good session.
Matt and I were out with Alex watching his flights.
Fun weekend. Windzup puts it on right...