UpSki and Kites, Traction Kiting


Big Red on Loveland Cornice
•Jon Harrington and Kabus on Loveland Pass
       
 
Kiting Vs Upski

Kite boarding and Kite skiing are becoming the hot sport and now that this sport is are much better known than UpSkiing the question might be: "how is UpSkiing different?"

Both sports are a form of traction kiting since that definition covers everything that is moved by personal sails, kites, canopies etc. Kites operate at about 30 meters away from the skier/boarder/surfer. The UpSki canopy is only about 4 meters away from the Skier/Boarder. The snow kites are usually ram-air wings that vary in size from 4 - 9 square meters in size. The UpSki is over 600 sq feet of round canopy.

By operating at nearly a hundred feet above the surface, kites are exposed to stronger winds and their wing shapes give a much stronger lift per area than the conventional parachute shape of the UpSki.

So the Kite is a better traction product, right? Depends. The UpSki was purpose designed and built to operate in the rapid changing winds of high Alpine environments. Between valley floor and alpine ridgeline the wind speed can easily triple or quadruple. Kites are restricted to wind ranges. In a rapid ascent from valley floor to ridgeline, a kite boarder might need to change kite sizes twice!

The UpSki is a "skiing" and "riding" activity in that the progress is forward and simulates the power of gravity (replaced by wind). The UpSki can quickly be deflated (de-powered in Kite terms) where a kite can be very difficult to control when it is near its upper wind speed range. "Difficult to control" is always a concern at 13,000 feet on a cornice with a 2000 foot drop on the other side!

In the future we expect to see our more popular traction kite brothers and sisters zooming around in the mountains with us, but for most wind conditions, we will be out there alone..

Phil Huff & John Stanford , http://www.upski.com

 
     
   
       
 

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