Mt Bachelor 1/10 & Kiteboarding in Baja

schubwa

schubwa

New member
I arrived back in town Tuesday around noon due to a Horizon Airlines (Alaska) mechanical-forced overnighter in Seattle. We had an outstanding trip to Mexico, which I will expand on later.

Today was 3" new over 3" yesterday and I think we got a little shorted on this storm. It had been forecasted to drop 8" yesterday, but the quality is so good it's hard to complain. But the proof lies in the pudding, and we too had a "Colorado powder day" as you could feel the hard pack underneath, at least on my first run down Outback. Then up to NWX and my run down Backbone was pretty good with nice faceshots in the deepening snowfall. The trees were way better than the piste, no doubt due to less holiday traffic. Another run down near Backbone and it's getting deeper! You had to be careful because there are these frozen ankle-snapper chunks hiding here and there under the fluff. After a few more my last run in the bowls was freaking tasty as there were large fields of pow and I wasn't feeling any pain...

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Took this shot by mistake in the Dog Park after riding. Different.

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I try to take Pancho out and throw the ball as there is this nice area at the back of the lot at West Village (Check it out Snowave)

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View out of the window of our beach house we rented in South Beach, La Ventana, BCS. Mercifully we had a few no wind days to rest and read. The downwinders from the Hot Springs are like what you do as a past time up in heaven.

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The view to the north towards Baja Joe's, La Ventana, Playa Central and El Sargento. We rode mostly 10m kites on this trip and I am riding a 5'3" Quad Tuna surfboard strapless.

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There was this nice little bodega for the gear and you can launch about 50m from the main house. There was a respectable swell running down the bahia on this day.

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After kiting 5 out of seven in busy La Ventana we left for our private spot to the south. Spenny drove down my 1991 Legacy wagon (the "Schu-Baja-Ru") I fixed up for Baja beach and dirt road action last October. I keep it stored at the airport in San Jose del Cabo. That is not my poodle!

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Paul Van Camp getting ready to toss a North Rebel for Johane at Secrets.

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Another great day of kiting in BCS. I'm coming back down in March. Can't wait!
 
jasoncapecod":hjudj62y said:
More of windsurfing man, tried kiting ,got my ass kicked..still looks awesome
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I dabbled in windsurfing (2-3 days a year) in the late 80's and 90's, never got past the low intermediate stage (never learned waterstarting for example). Allegedly the learning curve is not so tough with kites, and kites are better for low wind locations like here in SoCal. Has kiting taken over from windsurfing as much as those pics imply?
 
Tony Crocker":2zijbl38 said:
Has kiting taken over from windsurfing as much as those pics imply?
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Yep.

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i was on Maui this past April..I would say it's 50/50.. This summer I am going to put some time into kiting..all the gear fits nicely into a duffel bag
 
When I was on Maui, I could imagine myself never skiing again. Just windsurfing and learning how to kite. Kanaha was that good...
 
Tony":3n9w2ry8 said:
Allegedly the learning curve is not so tough with kites, and kites are better for low wind locations like here in SoCal. Has kiting taken over from windsurfing as much as those pics imply?
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One of the original reasons I moved to Bend (besides being 20 minutes from dependable snow) was to windsurf in the Gorge. And therein lies the problem, the better you got at sailing, the more you craved higher wind locations. For most people, that meant moving to Maui or the Gorge, long weekends to Punta San Carlos, etc. There were some El Nino summers even in the Gorge where it didn't blow hard enough to sail much. But you could kite!

When I first tried kiting a while back it was pretty scary. The kites were either ON or they were ON. My ex-wife famously said "sure, go for it, but I'm not going to push you around in a wheelchair". So back to windsurfing, but then my buddies started dropping away and were only kiting. So I jumped back in four years ago. The kites have vastly improved and are much easier to depower and relaunch. I spent about $2500 on lessons and I highly recommend you do too. Even if you have decades of board riding experience you will get thrashed and tea-bagged like everyone else! It's all about the kite, so once you learn to fly it you can go ride.

Snowave":3n9w2ry8 said:
Ok, so maybe instead of Bachelor next weekend, we should head to Baja.
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That would be an outstanding idea. January is the windiest month for the Sea of Cortez, especially when there is a huge high centered over the Four Corners = "El Norte". It's blowing north at 20 as I write this reply.

Tony":3n9w2ry8 said:
Yes, hard to argue against north shore Maui being the LCC of wind sports.
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I agree totally. But Baja is like the Selkirks!
 
The people I spoke with on Maui, said it blows all year. During the winter there is a swell and summer is predominantly flat water.
Sailing in warm water is pure nirvana. Sailing in a drysuit or 4mm wetsuits is a drag..
Thinking of heading to Cape Hatteras this spring for a kiting clinic.
 
I'm a long time lurker on this site who frequently skis in utah. So, I appreciate the reports on the sking there. I have lived in Maui since 1985 and was an avid windsurfer for many years. I always thought it would be a tough sport for people to really get into at most places on the mainland as it does require a fair amount of wind to really have fun. In maui, that's not much of a problem. While it does blow all year, it's definitely more dependable in the summer. Although I haven't yet taken it up, almost all the old windsurfers I know have switched to Kiteboarding. I think it's partly a function of having done a sport for many years and wanting to try something different. However, they all swear that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and most say they think it's more fun than windsurfing. Also, the learning curve is much shorter. Although there are still a fair amount of people windsurfing at Kanaha, they are mostly geezers like myself. I'm not too optimistic for the sport. kitesurfing requires less wind, so it's better for many places on the mainland and the learning curve is much shorter. Hard to see how it won't take over. If anyone is ever visiting Maui and wants some local knowledge, feel free to let me know. Steve
 
Tony":3co1ga4n said:
Isn't Baja's wind season short, while it blows nearly year round on Maui?
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Yes and no, from my experience. The East Cape (La Ventana or Los Barriles) wind season stretches from Nov-April, not unlike a North American ski area. But Punta San Carlos in northern Baja (surf spot) blows from April-October. So it could be argued that it blows year-round in Baja. Old time surfer Mike Doyle and Jeff King have been known to kitesurf in the summer at Distillideros in SW winds, not far from San Jose del Cabo. They have easy access to the El Norte spots from there as well.

There is no doubt Maui is the world's premier location for wind. It doesn't blow all the time, but I check every few days and it's brutally consistant especially in the summer. I have had non-stop trades over Thanksgiving week in very large surf. All my summer trips (late May or June) have been ragers. Only last October did I get "skunked", it was a Kona wind time with some voggy days, but we still kited for four days in great early north swell surf. The only real drawback is it's expensive and you never have enough time on the island, it seems. I love the laidback and super healthy lifestyle on Maui's North Shore.

ste43nou":3co1ga4n said:
almost all the old windsurfers I know have switched to Kiteboarding.
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Yep
 
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