The weather forecast says that there is no wind.

The remote weather meter says that there is 12 knots of wind as the diesel can (one of the spots called because of a diesel can there).

We go out to fly. When we get there the weather is beautiful. Blue skies, bucket loads of powder and the wind blowing nicely. Various kites of different shapes and sizes where taken out. I opted for my favourite kite the 8m sonic.

I wanted to fly this because I could practice kite loops. It was good fun and I managed to land a few (the kite got round before I hit the deck), but I also gave me the chance to discover that I had a kite loop face:

The wind didn’t stick around for long and decided to leave us after about 45-50 minutes in total. Later in the day the shenanigans provided conversation about tackle slap, the best biscuit and the construction of a huge snow cock.

There are pictures from the day here.

Snow. Lots of snow.

The day started out great, the wind felt stronger and there was excitement in the air. The main issue faced was the vast quantity of snow also in the air. Not to be perturbed, people got their kites out and they got wet in the snow. The extra wind wasn’t quite enough with the wet kites. They were slow and heavy and meant that most people got a fast down winder, or a slow cross winder at best. Emma did much better than her previous day attempt of 40m and managed to fly for a good 15-20 minutes (which is impressive considering how much everyone struggled and she hadn’t flown for months!). She was absolutely buzzing and even having to do a walk of shame, she went out again for even longer. Big smiles.

Later on in the day though the wind picked up a lot. It got bumpy. It got lumpy. It got fun. I took the 11m sonic out and had a good bash about for a while. I did some jumps, I screamed along and generally managed to get some adrenaline and blood pumping around my body. It was also a learning experience. When you jump on the kite you go through two main phases, sending the kite across the sky and up to get the jump, then redirect to make your landing soft and smooth. With the visibility as it was, the sending went fine but the redirect was always too late. I realised that being able to see the ground (which with white sky, low light and snow on the ground was damn near impossible) was key to getting the redirect in. I flew for a while until my legs couldn’t take it any more and brought the kite down. The main difference between snow/ice and water is how much of a hammering your legs take, after a while you really get muscle burn in your thighs.

Whilst this was going on Matt and Tall Paul had started making an igloo in the car park. They had managed to find a source of high grade construction oriented snow and taken a saw to it. Having said for weeks, months even, before the trip that I really wanted to make one myself, I dived in and helped. It was hard work but an interesting experience. We made a few mistakes though and as such were unable to put the roof on top: it was too big and was not round enough. However, we were very much impressed with the results:

As a frame of reference, I could just about touch the top with my arms reached up and remaining flat footed. We did try to put a roof on by building a centre column and putting lintels up, this unfortunately took a side wall out. I t was unanimously concluded that our construction would break health and safety regulations on all new builds and even if it didn’t, having not go planning permissions, it had to go. So it did.

You can see more photos from the day here.

Not much wind today.

Had a cheeky fly of the 11m sonic which was nice but there wasn’t really enough wind to even get the juices flowing. With no wind comes boredom. With boredom comes messing about. With messing about and snow, there comes snow fights. Snow balls and snow darts:

And Adam managed to capture the cheesiest photo of Emma and myself:

Yesterday was both a great day and a frustrating day.

We headed out to the Yellow House spot and there seemed to be a bit of a breeze. Various people decided to try and fly including myself and it was a good giggle.

For myself, the 16 venom wasn’t fast enough to really get any fun out of it, but the 8m sonic did its business. It was fast, I could loop it nicely and I could get some jumps. I even managed to land my first kite loop!

The only issue, and hence frustration, was the light wind made re-launch impossible. I ended up doing two walk of shames in total of the day and winning the walk-of-shame medal. I took my 11m sonic out and ended up having a better session, getting some nice jumps in. The most curious thing about the snow kiting is the way the power changes, how much your legs have to take. Boarding down a hill to increase apparent wind across the sail is sick, especially when sending the kite and jumping, was great fun.

We stayed out all day until about 6.30 when we headed back; Emma (who stayed behind during the day) had prepared an awesome curry which was excellent and hit the spot. In the evening we had some beers and watched Touching the void.

There are photos from the day here. And the last final one of myself cruising:

Having not slept all that great, we went to Geilo again today.

I sucked and felt like I had lost my mojo. The waffles however, had theirs!

This is what I look like on the slope:

This is diving into some snow:

Photos can be found here from the day!.

Today we went to the Geilo ski/snowboard resort to save our legs.

The post is going to be relatively short and sweet. It was really good fun. Adam, Sariah and Emma spent the day leading me down various runs. My favourite was the red run which I did about 6-7 times. It was fast, turning was really good fun and I got some good speed under my belt. I managed to hit a nice 24mph. For me, that was good. But only slightly shadowed by Emma going 28mph. It is completely shadowed however with Lucas (one of the guys running the trip) hitting 63mph. Un-frikken-believable. I think I managed one run without stacking it, but with this being real snow, it didn’t rip my knees to pieces like the snow dome did.

I think we are going to go back tomorrow. Wind looks like it could be arriving later this week which will be nice.

Photos from the day can be found here.

The last two days have been amazing. I am going to split the posts into two different days.

Yesterday we went and looked at various spots that could be used for kiting. I use the word could have used for kiting because there is no wind at the moment. The sky is blue, the snow is white and everywhere. I am still just in awe at the landscape. Having looked at various locations, we went back to the first one and parked up. Behind the vehicles was a moderate slope and a load of us hiked to the top with our boards.

The hike up was insane. The sun was so hot, there was no breeze for most of it, and the kit didn’t help. Even with the fitness work through swimming didn’t seem to be helping all that much. By the time I reached the top I was ready to explode, my head thumping, fortunately with the snow I was able to cool off nice and quick. After checking out the view on the other side of the hill (incidentally quite nice), it was time to go down. I’ve been to the snow dome. I’ve been down the slope. Hell, I’ve been over the ramps. Slid along the rails. I can do this. I was crapping myself. This was it, this was what the lessons, time at the snow dome, the swimming was all for.

Now, I think it is important to note at this point in time that I spent a good ten minutes thinking about the next sentence. rewriting it to try and encompass the emotion, the feeling that I had. I decided to keep it nice and simple:

Coming down was completely amazing.

The powder was so smooth and the ability to do massive great big carves was unbelievable. The difference between real snow and the snow dome is shocking enough, but to be treated to the infamous powder that borders seek was excellent. It really did feel amazing, I even managed a cheeky bit of scooping the snow. You know. Like the pros.

Having reached the bottom, I took in some soup, some chocolate but I was still hungry. My first time on real snow had left me hungry for more. I grabbed my board and decided to walk to the top again. It was hard work. I was tired from the first time, with Emma and I previously spotting a mound on the right of the mountain with a nice steep start, I was determined. I climbed the small peak, only going up to my waist in snow once whilst hopping from rock to rock. I sat and took in the view and cooled down. I clicked up my bindings and looked at the start, it was the steepest slope I’ve looked at with snow on. Adrenaline pumping, the right tune playing in my ear, I pushed myself over the edge and picked up speed. The carves where even bigger, I shot across the hill side and went far out into the parts of the snow others had missed. I was the adventurer. I was out finding my own parts and trying to spray the powder. It was excellent. By the time I came to a stop at the bottom I was shaking with glee. I felt I could call myself a snowboarder (ok, a level 1 [noob], but a snowboarder all the same) and was caught; hook, line and sinker.

I’d barely managed to catch my breath but was being persuaded to go up another hill. This one being bigger, steeper and much more room to play. The hike up was getting even harder and by this point my right knee was starting to play up. I was in pain but the lure of powder and screaming down the side of a hill was too much. I had to go. By the time I had reached the top, I was crashing and my back was starting to ice up. After getting my breath back, I headed off with the others in front. I took a different path and loved every moment of it with the only surprise being the snow disappearing underneath me near a rock. Face plant was experienced, almost enjoyed and I continued on down. The run was brilliant. At the bottom I trekked back and was now suffering major grief with my right knee and rapidly running out of energy. Fortunately Emma came and took my board and supplied me with water and food. We soon packed up and headed back to the accommodation reflecting in the day we just experienced. For the more seasoned snowboarders, it was not on par with previous experience, for myself, it was an awesome way to experience snow for the first time.

Me snowboarding off the hill with Sarah, Emma and Sarah watching

More photos of the 21st here.

Two of the best buffet meals anyone could hope for.

The longest road trips known to man through the North of the UK, North of Norway.

A quick deployment to Tescos.

A short sleep.

I was very lucky to wake up with this outside my window:

Photos of the 19th April here.

Photos of the 20th April here.

The journey is going to hopefully be epic.

I still remember heading into the Turbulence shop with £100 in my hand as a deposit for the trip. Emma and I decided there and then, when in North Wales that we were going to go. The trip so far has been interesting. I’ve learnt to snowboard to the point where I can go of ramps, grind rails and go over tables. I’ve acquired more kit in 6 months for one single trip than I’d ever imagine I would. I’ve got myself fit and healthy through swimming. I’ve broken my coccyx and still feeling the pain on a daily basis. Hell, I’ve even got engaged to one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.

Has it been worth it? Hell yes.

I’m looking forward to having two+ weeks off work. I am looking forward to seeing all that snow. I am looking forward to hitting a real slope. I am looking forward to tearing up some powder on my sonics. To give you an idea of where I am going here are a couple of pictures taken by the people who went on the first trip:

It looks awesome.

I did this design a while back, but now it is live. It should be more visually appealing