Ski New Zealand
Ski New Zealand
Flying high as a kite
By Anika Forsman 12 Jul 2007
'ADRENALINE junkies have yet another sport to get high on this winter – snowkiting is taking snowboarding and skiing to new heights, literally.
Daniel Joblin and Amanda Weldy have set up Queenstown Kite School and want to make snowkiting the new craze. It combines the pull of a specially designed snow-kite with skiing and snowboarding. “This sports suits anyone who’s into air sports like paragliding or who likes hiking into the backcountry [to ski or snowboard],” Joblin says. “This lets people be the first to get to the real powder.”
Snowkiting has been around since 2004 and stemmed from the summer version of kitesurfing. Queenstown Kite School isn’t the first to set up a kite school in town – in 2005 a British company, Kite Addicts, tried unsuccessfully to establish a school at the Snow Farm in Cardrona. Poor conditions and lack of snow caused their demise after one season. Is Joblin concerned his business could have the same fate? No. “The kites have changed a lot over the last few years,” he says. “People started off using ones made for water – the specially designed snowkites mean that as long as there’s some wind, we can get people up. “We’ve come to Queenstown because it gives us access to backcountry areas that the North Island doesn’t have. “I know as soon as spring hits, then it’s over, but as long as we get just a handful of people doing it then it’ll be viable for us to come back next winter.
“When people start seeing the kites up in action, it will generate more interest.” Instructor Amanda Weldy has moved to Queenstown to teach novices how to snowkite safely and to sell kites. Getting set up with a kite costs about the same as a season ski pass – about $1000 – and requires a couple of lessons before people are let loose on the mountains. Joblin says Queenstown has a number of locations suitable for snowkiting that can be accessed without ski passes. For those with passes at The Remarkables skifield, riders can take the Alta chair and then it’s only a short hike before the landscape opens up to ideal conditions, he says. Snowkites can reach up to 100kmh and can allow experienced users to fly through the air for huge distances, says Joblin. “It opens up a whole new area of possibilities,” he says. “The paragliders think we’re crazy – some of the stuff they do I think is crazy.” Queenstown Kite School is holding a demonstration day this Saturday at the Frankton Reserve from 10am–4pm. ';
Flying high as a kite
By Anika Forsman 12 Jul 2007
'ADRENALINE junkies have yet another sport to get high on this winter – snowkiting is taking snowboarding and skiing to new heights, literally.
Daniel Joblin and Amanda Weldy have set up Queenstown Kite School and want to make snowkiting the new craze. It combines the pull of a specially designed snow-kite with skiing and snowboarding. “This sports suits anyone who’s into air sports like paragliding or who likes hiking into the backcountry [to ski or snowboard],” Joblin says. “This lets people be the first to get to the real powder.”
Snowkiting has been around since 2004 and stemmed from the summer version of kitesurfing. Queenstown Kite School isn’t the first to set up a kite school in town – in 2005 a British company, Kite Addicts, tried unsuccessfully to establish a school at the Snow Farm in Cardrona. Poor conditions and lack of snow caused their demise after one season. Is Joblin concerned his business could have the same fate? No. “The kites have changed a lot over the last few years,” he says. “People started off using ones made for water – the specially designed snowkites mean that as long as there’s some wind, we can get people up. “We’ve come to Queenstown because it gives us access to backcountry areas that the North Island doesn’t have. “I know as soon as spring hits, then it’s over, but as long as we get just a handful of people doing it then it’ll be viable for us to come back next winter.
“When people start seeing the kites up in action, it will generate more interest.” Instructor Amanda Weldy has moved to Queenstown to teach novices how to snowkite safely and to sell kites. Getting set up with a kite costs about the same as a season ski pass – about $1000 – and requires a couple of lessons before people are let loose on the mountains. Joblin says Queenstown has a number of locations suitable for snowkiting that can be accessed without ski passes. For those with passes at The Remarkables skifield, riders can take the Alta chair and then it’s only a short hike before the landscape opens up to ideal conditions, he says. Snowkites can reach up to 100kmh and can allow experienced users to fly through the air for huge distances, says Joblin. “It opens up a whole new area of possibilities,” he says. “The paragliders think we’re crazy – some of the stuff they do I think is crazy.” Queenstown Kite School is holding a demonstration day this Saturday at the Frankton Reserve from 10am–4pm. ';
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