A password will be e-mailed to you.
Taggart

Wayne Phillips lays tracks in the Togwotee backcountry near Angle Mountain, Wyoming. Photo: Will Taggart

This story first appeared in The Kiteboarder Magazine’s Winter 2014 Issue: Volume 11, No. 4 

The heart of snowkiting is in the backcountry, but before you get there, park and ride is the safe haven for getting started. Park and ride is the field 50 feet from your car where you get your first ride, learn basic kite handling skills and develop some technical tricks. While park and ride may be your first practical step into the realm of snowkiting, backcountry riding offers the promise of epic tales of struggle and survival. It’s that multi-dimensional experience that the backcountry snowkiter is all about.

Technically speaking, the line that distinguishes backcountry from your typical park and ride snowkiting is the need for specialized gear such as a splitboard or skis with touring bindings. You will also need a shovel, probe and beacon as well as food, water, and a basic kit with a headlamp, lighter, packable down coat, zip ties and duct tape. I assure you, the backcountry experience will demand one of these things when you least expect it. I’m loyal to Ozone so my judgment may be clouded here, but their extra light foils weigh less than half of your typical tube kite while outperforming many of them in snow and don’t need a pump. The final distinguishing factor between park and ride and backcountry is knowledge of snow science. Whether it’s the thickness of the ice on a lake or the 8-foot wind slab ready to slide on steeper slopes, there’s a sea of technical knowledge needed to assess changing conditions in order to stay safe in the backcountry.

There are a lot of amazing snowkite places around the world that require an approach or a skinning leg before you can access the kite terrain. Skinning is simply when the splitboarder or skier transitions into “walk” mode. Touring skins are placed on the bottom of the skis for forward movement and the bindings are set to hinge for walking. This touring setup can cover large distances in deep snow with comfortable strides as you glide along.

The most classic backcountry day trip we have in Jackson, Wyoming, is called Sublet Peak. It consists of an hour skin from the car up to a technical launch. Backcountry skiers often break trail and make the first part easy, but kiters turn off the normal track and make their own way to an amazing bowl feature that has some of the best terrain features for advanced mountain kiting in North America. Sometimes we’ll stay in the bowl until the wind dies and the sun is setting, leaving us with a few miles to travel as it gets dark.

It’s these moments far from the road and high in the mountains that help create some of the most epic experiences I’ve ever had. The beautiful sunsets and twilight skins through the woods deeply embed memories in your soul. Multi-day self-support trips amplify your backcountry experience and you’ll realize that the struggle has rewards that deepen the bonds of friendship and adventure while discovering amazing terrain that few ever get the opportunity to experience.

SIGNATURE-WILL-TAGGERT                                                                                   — Will Taggart

Read about Will Taggart’s latest adventure in the Alaskan backcountry in the Fall 2015 Issue of The Kiteboarder.