Where Have we Been Again 3: The Georgetown Lake Open (GTO)

This weekend Frances and I traveled just 2 hours down Interstate 90 to the GTO.  Cole Russell put on a wonderful event with course racing, speed and distance trials and a freestyle competition.

There are experiences or events that I experience where the sum is truly greater than the parts and this weekend was one of those happy and great take aways.  On Saturday morning I got out of bed and started organizing for the weekend at 5:00 AM.  I was hoping that Frances and I could have a 6:30 departure for Georgetown Lake and the Georgetown Open, affectingly called the GTO.  This was the final snowkite event for this season, put together by Cole Russell.  Cole has worked hard to put this event on for the past six years as he has diligently built his snowkite business, Underground Kitesports, in Phillipsburg, Montana.

Where Have We Been Again?

This past week Frances and I headed south to the Superfly Open.  This year, because of snow conditions at Strawberry Reservoir, the event was moved to Skyline.  I loaded Frances and all of our gear into the vee-dub-you-a Wednesday after school and motored south from Montana thru Idaho to Utah.  We arrived in Fairview, UT after midnight where we hunkered down in a museum parking lot and slept till past 9:30 the next morning.  Jen was finally able to roust us from our deep sleep and gave us the wind report. 

Strawberry Superfly Open Event Changes to Skyline

Jen M. and Jake B. contacted me yesterday afternoon to confirm that the Superfly Open, scheduled for this week, (February 14- 20) will not be held at Strawberry reservoir but at Skyline further south.  Due to difficult snow and ice conditions Strawberry is not suited for the competition this weekend.  Skyline has received new snow this week with more in the forecast.  Skyline also has a favorable wind forecast for the coming days.  For more information please visit the North American Snowkite Tour  I will post more contact info as soon as I get it so please check back.

For more info on the Skyline location Kite Utah has a great write-up.

I have done some investigation on lodging and this is what I found:

Kite Soldiers Event Change

This is just in from Trisha and Monty-

“KITE SOLDIERS 2012 UPDATE…
After deliberations and work with the town of Fairfield, unfortunately due to timing and logistics, we will not be holding Kite Soldiers 2012 in a formal way.
We will be in Idaho snowkiting during the weekend of February 25th and/or the weekend of March 3rd depending on conditions, so come kite with us.
We are very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. If you’ve made plans, we encourage you to keep them. Idaho snowkiting is epic! You don’t want to miss it!
LOOK FOR US IN 2013 BECAUSE WE ASSURE YOU WE WILL BE BACK AND WILL CONTINUE TO FLY THE SOLDIER FLAG!! -“

Upcoming Snowkite Events

This is a reminder of some upcoming events in the snowkite community in the Northwestern US.

•  2012 Dillon SnowKite Open, February 9th – 12th 201, Lake Dillon, Co
• Superfly Open, Feb. 17- 19, 2012, location to be announced.
• 9th Annual Montana Snowkite Rodeo, February 16-18, 2012, Jackson Hot Springs, MT
• Kite Soldiers, February 23-26, 2012, Fairfield, ID
• 5th Annual Georgetown Lake Open (GTO V), Thursday, March 1 to4, 2012, Georgetown Lake, MT

Congratulations to Luke and Frances!

Ken (Ninjafly) just posted the following on the NAST page naming Luke Orton and Frances Cronin the riders of the week, voted by the majority of pro riders in Jackson:

“After a really great week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; 2 individuals have been awarded prizes from the BigMt SnowKite FreeRide. They have been offered their pick of great prizes from Pistil hats, CW-X tights, Superfeet insoles, Kleen Kanteen water bottles, and Dakine. The 2 individuals are: Frances Cronin and Luke Orton.

Frances displayed a huge amount of composure during difficult snowkite conditions. This young athlete showed many of the older snowkiters how to keep it together when the going gets tough. Luke displayed an incredible amount of progression with his snowkiting skills.

Where Have we Been?

It has been a little bit since my last post but Frances and I packed up and headed for Jackson Hole, the first stop on the North American Snow Kite Tour.  The following was posted by Stuart Penny (look for the shout outs for Frances and Adrenajen) of Black Owl Media:

North American Snowkite Tour takes to the air!

The wind gave the NAST snowkiters  a taste of  the Jackson Hole powder  on Wednesday keeping the stoke high as the next storm rolls in to clean up the tracks and set the stage for what looks to be a possible sickbird day on Friday.

The first stop on the North American Snowkite Tour in Jackson Hole, Wyoming has provided a great spring-board for what hopes to be a rocking season of snowkiting and exploration in the back country.   Pro riders continued to roll in day by day from all over the country, reconnecting with their friends and sharing the stoke of the sessions and season to come.

North American Snow Kite Tour (NAST) Announces Dates for 2012 Events

The organizers of NAST have announced the dates for four Events this coming season:

Jackson Hole, WY, January 27-29, 2012.  A new event brought to us by the ever exciting and interesting crew of Jackson Hole Kiters this should be a blast!

US Open Snowkite Masters, Skyline, UT, February 2-5, 2012.  This event is the granddaddy of kite events in the western US.  Heather and Brian Schank of Windzup in Utah have been hosting this event for 10 years and it gets better every year.

Dillon, CO, February 10-12, 2012.  In it’s second year this event has all the elements of a fun weekend for everyone.

Superfly Open, Park City, February 17-19, 2012.  Last year’s event held at Strawberry Reservoir outside of Park City was an amazing event.  Riders shredded thigh deep powder in the morning and competed in the afternoon.

There are two more events that participated in the tour last year but are not posted on the NAST site, and have not been set out in emails from NAST:

Kite Soldiers, Fairfield, ID, February 23-26, 2012.  Monty and Trisha, the organizers of this event always do a great job making sure fun is had by all.  Each year features a poker run with routes for all skill levels and amazing prizes.  Last year they also featured competitive course racing and freestyle events.

Georgetown Lake Open, Georgetown Lake, MT, January 7-10, 2012.  Cole Russell of Underground Kite Sports has hosted this event for 5 years and it has helped the sport of kiting grow in Montana.  Cole puts on a smooth event with activities for all skill levels; it should be tons of fun again this year.

Each event will be unique and if last year was any indication a great place to connect with some amazing people.  Hope to see you there!  For more information visit The North American Snowkite Tour.

Last year was the inaugural year for the tour and all things went very well for this unique set of events with crowns awarded to the following individuals:

Tyler Brown (Men’s Ski)

Jacob Buzianis (Men’s Snowboard)

Melissa Cronin (Women’s Ski)

Lisa Kay (Women’s Snowboard)

Special mention goes to these youngsters:

Frances Cronin (2^nd Women’s Ski at 13)

Luke Orton (5^th Men’s Ski at 16)