Snowkite to the Summit
We caught up with ZEAL Advocate Aaron Sales to see how he is using the power of wind to reach new heights. Explore More below_!** **_
Looking down on Craters of the Moon National Preserve.
Words and images by Aaron Sales and Brad Gordon
I knew it was ‘one of those days’ when we opened the door to the Toyota Tacoma, stepped into several inches of fresh Idaho snow and felt the wind pushing us around, As a snowkiter, this is everything you could hope for. Wind blowing straight up the mountain, a fresh blanket of snow and good visibility all the way to the top of Tom Cat Summit on the border of Craters of the Moon National Monument, ninety minutes southeast of Sun Valley, Idaho.
Hiking this ridge takes hours. Snowkiting to the summit takes only minutes.
I was traveling with Brad Gordon, North America’s top kite skier, from Hood River, Oregon to the longest ongoing kiteboarding event in America, The 14 Annual Montana Snowkite Rodeo as we passed the base of Tom Cat Summit. Most seasons, this mountain can be bare and boney, but with Idaho’s record breaking snowfall this winter, the coverage was more than ample.
As we assessed the wind to determine what size kites we would use for the day, we decided on rigging our large 12 meter kites on 80 foot lines. This means lots of power, which is what is needed to climb 2100 vertical feet to the summit. It also meant taking an extra five minutes to rig my kite as I had a case of the “nervous pee’s.” You know, the feeling you get when you are about to push yourself to the limit and taking a whiz a few extra times beforehand seems to be on the checklist.
Dropping in to Tom Cat bowl where the only tracks are your own.
We launched our kites and warmed up on the lowest ridge right next to the road, looking for any signs not to climb the mountain but the avalanche conditions were stable, the wind felt consistent and the visibility to the top was only getting better. Brad cruised by and shouted “ready to climb?”, I gave a thumbs up and we powered our kites up the first five hundred foot face. We swung our kites in a series of figures 8’s, powering me on my snowboard and Brad on his skis to the top of the first ridge.
Ahead of us was a series of four more ridges we would need to navigate up and across that were like giant steps each offering their own obstacles. Snowkiting is a 3-dimensional sport. We use the power of wind to ride up, but also take advantage of utilizing gravity on our skis and boards when traversing across or down the mountain to connect the next terrain feature or wind zone.
Aaron Sales finds a stash of Idaho pow using his snowboard and 12 meter snowkite.
As we continued to climb, the wind was perfect for looping our kites in a full circle to climb straight up the face and as we neared the knife-edge ridge, we became more cautious, slowed our speed down and worked our way across the rim safely to the next ridge.
The summit was now in sight with only Tom Cat bowl in between us and the summit. Brad took the high line above a long cornice ledge and I decided to jump over the cornice and into the powder filled bowl. As a lifelong skier and snowboarder, it still blows me away getting fresh tracks while going uphill. Few feelings compare! I carved the deep bowl all the way to the top and met Brad at the summit as we overlooked the unique landscape of Craters of the Moon. 2100 vertical feet in 20 minutes was a record for me. This was the most vertical I have ever climbed in that amount of time with some technical features that justified my “nervous pee’s.”
On this final pitch to the Summit, Aaron Sales powers up the ridge at over 20 mph.
We had the option of landing our kites and skiing down with them in our backpacks, and that is a great option to have; but, with today’s advanced kites, the depower system allows us to still ride down and get fresh tracks then power back up for unlimited runs. Brad was boosting off the cornice, catching huge airs and carving up the South Face while I rode the underside of the cornice line like a giant Maui wave.
After 45 minutes of tracking up Tom Cat summit bowl, we dropped in one last time and retraced our route down. The clouds began to sock in behind us and as we landed our kites safely next to the Tacoma, the summit was no longer visible. It was like the mountain invited us in for a magical ninety minutes of snowkite adventure riding then sent us off with good vibes to the Montana Snowkite Rodeo.
Kite Ski pioneer, Brad Gordon tours the summit of Tom Cat summit on his skis.
About the Author: Aaron Sales is the former editor or Kiteboarding Magazine. Follow @airnsails attempt this spring to snowkite to the summit of Mt. St. Helens at www.snowkitesthelens.com