Superfly Open Wrapup
All photo provided by Adam Koch Photography
The last, big snowkite in the Western US, the Superfly Open wrapped up March 13-15 at Powder Mountain and was a significant and exceptional end to the season. With a great turnout at a spectacular location and perfect wind conditions, the Superfly Open show the enormous potential for the sport and is ushering in a new era in snowkiting.
Friday’s start of the event had just two of the elements necessary for a good event; people and snow. Under blue skies and a scorching sun, the hopeful attendees made the best of the no-wind situation in t-shirts and lots of sunscreen. The Best Girls lounged around on the Liquid Force party couch and watched as some of the competitors sessioned the rail. Well practiced from earlier no-wind events this season, the tribe shifted smoothly into a party day that carried on into the evening at the finals for the Best Girls Model contest in Ogden. In a packed bar, the lovely ladies danced and strutted on stage wearing a mashup of beach appropriate bikini tops and snowpants.
Saturday dawned with wind in Ogden valley and an electric energy as we climbed the insanely steep hill, our engines roaring with the effort to the top of Powder Mountain and to wind. The parking lot was hopping with people rushing to pull together skis and boards, helmets and jackets, and the kites that had stayed in their bags the day before. With wind blowing in the 15-20 mph range, it was hard to think about anything else and we rushed to get to the snowkite area. With two ways to get to the kite site, by the Red Bull snowcat or via a quick cat track to a poma lift, I opted to slide and skipped the packed ride in the snowcat. A long line at the bottom of the poma lift gave me my first glimpse of the success of this event as most people skiing at Powder Mountain we excited to come and watch the kites and learn about this swiftly growing sport. The ride to the kite site was a nice pause before the fun that awaited me at the top.
Two contests were held on Saturday and after a little confusion early, the experience I and a couple others had gained conducting races at previous events made sure that we had some excellent contests. The first was the Winduro Race on a very challenging course that test participants ability to go fast, to climb, to navigate low wind sections, and to compete in a race with more than a dozen other contestants. Skiers started off the racing including the National Champion Patrick Nedele and 3rd Place winner at the Snowkite Masters, Tom Reynolds. Patrick held a good lead until a kite collision on the last leg allowed Tom Reynolds to make a pass and win. Patrick had crashed the leading edge of his 15m Manta II into the lines of a kiter who relaunched right as Patrick was kiting by, Patrick’s kite crumpled, but his skiing speed almost instantly reinflated his kite. The short pause was enough for Tom to make the pass and hold off Patrick.
The snowboarders had an even larger field of contestants and the start of the race looked like a waterfall of kites pouring down the mountain as they raced toward the first mark that was located near a big pine tree well down the main face of the kite site. The first turn was congested and several kiters ran into trouble and missed the first gate. The course zigged and zagged up and down the face of the snowkite area at Powder Mountain and the difficulty of the course was quickly revealed as snowboarders dropped from the race quickly. The Winduro course required not only good kiting and racing skills, but also backcountry kite skills. The light wind down low trapped a lot of people, but not Heather Schenck. Despite the fact that she was on one of the smaller kites, Heather showed her experience and skill in variable wind conditions and why she is the National Champion for the 3rd year in a row beating all, but the top two guys.
The flags on the top of the parking lot Sunday morning were blowing as nicely as they did Saturday and we were treated to another exceptional day of snowkiting. Jim Bison rolled in for the last day of the event looking tan and relaxed from a winter in Ventana Mexico, but he raced like he had been training on snow for months. The Kiter-X races lead off Sunday with six skiers lining up above the downhill start line and the fast course. The Kiter-X course consisted of three turns and two big jumps that had to be negotiated at top speed. I timed my start perfectly, but Patrick passed me at the first turn, my 9m Frenzy was no match for the speed and power of the much larger kites both Patrick and Jim were flying. They lead me over the first jump and around the 2nd and 3rd turns with Jim passing Patrick on the last leg. I held onto 3rd in a photo finish on the last jump as the skier Kiter-X was over in just under two minutes.
The snowboarders took the course in two heats next with some good racing and some tactical errors that lead to some DQs and some lost races. The finals pitted two Best, two Cabrinha and two Liquid force riders in a great, action-packed race. In the end, Best’s Jacob Buzianis showed his skill and experience equalling his 1st place finish at the national championships.
Despite tired competitors who had been racing for two days and partying for two nights, the top freestylers put on a show for the Freestyle Expression Session. The 15 minute Expression Session lasted for more than an hour and had the competitors showing their skills on the rail, small kickers, big jumps and the flat ground. The photographers and judges were treated to a display of some of the most technical tricks in the book and some of the most impressive charging attitude at an event. After the powder settled, Petter Johnsen and Patrick Nedele stood on top in the snowboarder and skier categories respectively.
The Superfly Open treated the over 100 participants and more than 80 new kiters to nearly perfect conditions at a great event venue. Most of the Liquid Force team was at the event including Petter Johnsen from Norway and it was great to see their crew killing it in the snow. The Best riders lead by Jacob were there showing off not only their skills, but also their new Kahoona kite. Ozone had a ton of kites in the air (this is Utah) and Flysurfer had their Outlaws up and ripping around. Together these companies and all the participants showed the potential of snowkiting and gave us a glimpse of what the future will look like.
More snowkiting goodness...
- Superfly Open – Powder Mountain, Utah, USA
- 5th Annual U.S. Open Snowkite Masters – Skyline, Utah
- Dictionary
- US Open Snowkite Masters Results
- Superfly Open Results
