A mix of regulars and newcomers gathered together for the first ever snow-kiting event at Morningside during the weekend before MLK Jr. Day. We were met with challenging conditions right of off the bat: there was next to no wind and it was 8 degrees. We warmed up Saturday morning with some sledding, snowboarding, skiing and hot coffee as we waited for the weather to improve. There’s likely never been a group of people so ecstatic about a 5 mph breeze. A few impressive snow-kiting runs were had before the guys from Kitewing arrived to demonstrate the use of what we couldn’t help but deem “miniature hang-gliders.” As the sun began to set we huddled around a bonfire and blabbed the night away warmly.
Sunday’s weather wasn’t any better, but we expected that. The kiters arrived early to do some shredding prior to the freezing rainfall forecasted for the remainder of the day. The last run was made by Zeb Jakub of Kiteboard New England. He had a wet ride from the top of the hill to the bottom, where he was met with applause from what was left of the crowd. We spent the rest of Snow Daze indoors for some informative HQ kite clinics put on by Kitty Hawk Kites‘ kiteboarding guru, the notorious Christopher Nygard.
All in all, this inaugural set of Snow Daze was a huge success. Higher winds would have lead to higher jumps, but having snow sports happen on a hill that has forever been a summer hang-out was a more than sufficient spectacle. Thank you again to everyone who took the time to come play on such a cold couple of days. We intend to make a tradition out of this event, so stay in touch with us to find out how you can take part in the next one!
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