Pyrenean Kiting Adventure

Ever since getting into Kiting I have had the unstoppable urge to use kites to drag me around on skis. I’ve achieved this to a lesser extent here in England but the desire to do it on proper snow has been overwhelming. This has led me to optimistically carry my kites around for the last couple of years on several skiing trips. Needless to say I never had any luck due to either lack of wind or wrong location. So this year my cravings for foreign snow kiting demanded that I looked into it more seriously.

So after lots of research on the internet and chats with mates we settled on Pas de la Casa in the Pyrenees as our destination. The main reasons for choosing Pas was the variety of good snow kiting spots nearby and it has a reasonably big skiing area for the no wind days and the half of our party who weren’t intending to snow kite. Looking at the map and locations of the kiting spots it became apparent that a hire car would be very helpful and keep our options open for various wind directions.

So once all that was settled it was time to think about the important stuff. Which kites to take J well the definites were V16 and LD 3m for higher winds and 4.9 B3 or 7.1 Offroad for lower winds. Due to space restrictions and advise from Iain at kite frenzy I went for my 4.9 (Didn’t regret that decision at all J ) and John went for his 3m Buster and 9.5 Sabre.

The week preceding the trip I was buzzing and couldn’t concentrate on much at work or at home other than kiting (What’s new there?) Finally the morning of departure arrived and I felt like a kid on Christmas morning .

Arriving in Toulouse we were greeted with a nice shiny Renault Scenic that was plenty big enough for us and all of our tackle. The drive up to Pas de la casa was a doddle especially for me as I had forgotten my driving licence. (Sorry John) Unfortunately arriving late on Sunday afternoon meant we would miss the snow kiting event at the Col de Puymorens but we hoped there may still be a few stragglers during the following week.

Monday morning finally arrived and we’d decided that the first day should be used to find our feet with skiing and boarding and to make this decision easier there was very little wind. Bezzing about round Pas de la Casa and the linked resorts for the morning was amazing but I had already spied one of the kiting spots the Col de Envalira and the desire was growing to make use of it. By late afternoon I had succumbed and was trying desperately to get my 4.9 to fly.

1^st lesson to be learned - powder snow with a broken crust eats bridles for breakfast and despite there being just enough wind to fly there was not enough to get it free from the crust’s icy grasp. I finally found that if I walked my kite out onto unbroken snow then everything was fine. However I got a tad hot and sweaty before I discovered this. Anyway, kite finally flying and a big slope in front of me and up I went. Looping the kite round and round. What a feeling, up hill skiing with out a lift. Potential - Massive.

Got back to the digs and relayed my tails to John and we decided to check out the Col de Puymorens in the morning. (Tip No.1 use a harness, my arms were screaming from flying without a harness)

Tuesday morning and no wind in resort. History seemed to be repeating itself but we went off to the Col regardless. As we passed the Andorran-French border and rounded a corner we were greeted by the site of snow blowing across the road followed by glimpses of the Col de Puymorens J J Wow what a site.

The Col de Puymorens is an immense spot that can look deceptively small especially in photos. I had been under this illusion whilst looking at some shots on the internet. It looks like there are a lot of rocks and trees on one of the slopes, but when you see that same slope with a snowkiter on it you soon realise the scale of it.

Whilst getting tackled up for our first proper session a van pulled up - Eole Buissonnierre kite school. Three friendly Locals came to have a chat and explained the potential hazards (Electricity lines down the road and a bit of a drop to the North.) and gave us the info for the cost of their kite school. We watched them set up and launch a couple of 6m access and a big frenzy. They proceeded to kite all over the Col, over the frozen river and up the mountain. At this point the adrenaline pumping through my system was unparalleled. I was about to realise my biggest kiting ambition.

I went down onto the Col first to find a shiny crusty snow to ski on and a South Easterly of around 15mph blowing down the main slope and across the mountainside (Roughly right to left in above picture). Perfick J .

I tentatively set up my 4.9 thinking it may be a tad gusty with the ominous mountain terrain upwind. But no the wind was as it would be at Cleethorpes in a North Easterly (I still don‘t really understand how it could be so clean. Any explanations would be welcome.)

…I was off. Harnessed in, I soon got used to the speed at which my blade would drag me around the Col. Turning was well powered and aggressive, there was bags of lift available too. As a result of this, I found it easier to downturn the kite at the end of a run and power off in the other direction than swing the kite over head (Wuss - Will leave the 30 Second flights to Chasta and the like). The surface was super fast and enabled a lot of power to be held on my ski edges. I was soon off across the river and up the mountain at the other side. Each time I ascended it I went I higher and higher until the kite school banner and people were little dots in the distance. From up there I saw John launching his Sabre and cruising across the Col. What a site, seeing kites on long lines far below my position. It again made me realise that the potential for freeride in the mountains that kites allow is huge. My ears were in danger of splitting in two I was grinning so much.

Whilst watching John cruising about below I started taking a few snaps and a bit of video footage, I saw him coming towards the river and drop down into it. I thought he was going to make it out the other side but all of a sudden his progress stopped. Video stopped, I had a look to see what was happening, then the kite looped through the power zone, followed by instant deflation. Safety pulled…. I thought. Then the kite blew away at a rate of knots across the Col. I buzzed down to see if everything was ok and yeah John was fine but looking perplexed as to why his kite had disappeared. I sped off to see if I could find the lost kite, but all I found was a steep drop that was unexplorable under kite power. John spent the next hour or so retrieving his kite from said steep slope. Question raised by this. Why did the secondary release go as only the primary was pulled? Gutting but not as bad as it might have been if the kite had gone much further.

My Blade was excellent but as ever you have really got to keep your wits about you with it. I had a couple of mega wipe-outs with the blade whilst travelling downhill crosswind at high speed. I was leaning right over edging as hard as I could when a small gust just lifted me a foot or so up, I floated for a second or two and landed on my side travelling at breakneck speed. Killers deployed I finally slid to a stop. I have to recommend full safety gear on hard shiny windblown snow.

After flying about for ages I swapped the blade for John’s Sabre and had a more relaxing time of doing more of the same. A lot less arm stress and easier to concentrate on the skiing side of things. With both of these kites, I was amazed at the angle upwind and up slope it was possible to ski. Probably due to the low friction surface. It really is possible to go wherever you want using the combination of wind and gravity to power you. The whole of the Col and beyond is a potential playground.

To put it mildly I didn’t really want to stop but as we had told John’s brother, Jim-Bob an expected return time and our location we had to stick to this plan to prevent him notifying the authorities of our soon to be, missing status.

Wednesday saw lighter winds and we decided to stay in resort and play locally, until we spotted kites appearing over the Col de Envalira.

Kites over Col D’Envalira

Off I went to get my kites but by the time I had skied up there the wind had died and everyone was packing up. Still, seeing a dozen or more kites floating around a peak from a chairlift is quite impressive. A little disappointed I skied back down into the resort to find a strangely smooth down valley breeze. I set up the blade to the left of the main runs and played on the hill overlooking Pas. Not as exhilarating as the previous day but still excellent fun.

Thursday saw once again no wind in resort, but www.meteo.fr promised a steady North Westerly at the Col. So off we went. On arrival there was still no wind and I started to panic as we had brought Jim-Bob a non-kiter to show him what we’d been up to. I thought there might be a suggestion of going back but I got my blade out and luckily it just flew. I let Jim-Bob take advantage of the light winds and introduced him to the blade which he thoroughly enjoyed. Then it happened, the wind slowly started to build. Out came 16m of Purple and yellow Venom. Launch was sweet and it handled the gustier NW/W winds really well. It wasn’t long before I was flying round the same places as on Tuesday. I played all morning until the wind died a little and returned to find that the camera had run out batteries after only a couple of photos. Gutted.

My Venom and I cruising the Col

I Went back out to find more wind again and played till it got far to much for me or anyone else out there to hold onto the big kites. (10m Frenzy 06’s) Pulled the safety and was impressed with how well the Venom behaved. V safely stowed in its bag and out came the 3m to take me downwind back to base. Wow the speed available from that tiny kite is awesome. I soon forgot about packing up and went exploring up and over the hill. I found a huge flat area at the entrance to the valley up there with superb wind, on which I played for ages. On my return, way back down the hill I found John flying about with his 3m Buster.

During the day the number of kiters grew and we saw some spectacular small flights by a couple of the frenzy boarders and one guy with a sabre disappeared up the mountain and practically out of sight. All I can say is wow.

Matthieu from EBKite and his pupil.

That night it snowed, and it snowed and it snowed and there ended the Snowkiting. With knee deep untracked powder proving to be too much of a pull J . Anyway I doubt we could have got to the Col if we had tried, even with Snow Chains. The car was slightly buried.

Oh yeah it snowed some more and some more and didn’t stop. In fact it snowed so much we nearly got stuck in Andorra. The French border was closed due to avalanches so we went the long way round using the Spanish border. Then back up through France until we found access to Toulouse was closed. Fortunately we managed to get in touch with Neilson to find our flight had been diverted to Barcelona and was due in 2 hours. We were approximately 2hrs from Barcelona. Gumball Style race to Barca ensued and like all stories there was a happy ending - we made the plane.

Unfortunately we didn’t meet up with Iain from www.Kitefrenzy.com but his advise was invaluable. Maybe next time we will hook up. If you’re thinking of going out to this part of the world for a snow kiting trip drop him a line. (Or me, I want to go back)

Equipment used was same as kiteboarding except the skis/boards and the addition of whistle, compass, GPS, radio, mobile phone, extra layers and a small kite to get you back to base if the wind starts howling. Also be aware that you are not in a ski resort and the safety and back up associated with that kind of environment will not be available. Be very aware of the weather conditions and avalanche risks. It would always be preferable to be in a known spot with kiters or a school that know the location and its hazards. Also let people know where you are going and when you will be back. Training is a good idea and it looked like the school that was there was very efficient and offer tuition up to a number of different skill levels.

I was impressed to see how quickly the school’s pupils progress through the day. They were obviously competent boarders and skiers but total novice fliers. They started on ozone imps and by lunch time were flying 5m access on a harness without skis. Then by mid afternoon they were powering around the Col very nicely. The school used radios as a way of telling the pupils what to do with the kite from a distance which seemed to work exceptionally well. Prices were reasonable but they didn’t speak much English. However much as with skiing and boarding actions speak louder than words and a quick demo points you in the right direction.

Despite the language barrier I managed to have a decent chat with them and they are geared up with the latest kit, they also explained that Fabio Ingrosso had been using the mountain as a launch pad the weekend before and achieving breathtaking flights. Matthieu told me that he’d been using the Col for 6 years and had never performed such a huge flight but Fabio Ingrosso did it on his first ever visit. Poutain was the word of exclamation used to sum this up.

I discovered the locations of the spots from several sources -

Iain Hannay - www.kitefrenzy.com

C-Kite at http://www.ckite.com/

Eole Buisonerre www.ebkite.com

The sites we used were -

Col de Puymorens.

Col de Envalira

And the hill to the left of Pas De La Casa.

Other spots that are in the area are listed on the above sites.

Its 25mb and 7 mins long.

Right Click Here and Save As..