A pretty disappointing Alaskan winter is drawing to a close. All over the state lower than normal snowfall, colder than normal temps, and higher than normal winds have made kiting more of a challenge this winter. The passes in southeast are pretty thin, featuring bullet-proof snow and sastrugi conditions. Down at sea level the flats are covered with barely any snow.
In Haines, we're down to one little patch of about 1 square mile of barely usable snow. Many of the normal spots are either showing bare ground, ice sheets, or ice chunks. The one patch of usable snow is getting pretty tracked out now, too, as anyone still trying to wrest something out of this rapidly waning season is working the same area. One kiter stopped after a few minutes expressing concern for her skis. On my board I was hitting gravel bars any time I leaned hard into turns.
The forecast calls for some snow in the next couple of days, but also some major warming which will further diminish the possibilities on the river due to melting. We can only hope that we get some good dumping up on the pass so that we can do a little spring snow kiting.
The bright side the past few days was that it was beautifully sunny and good to be out there, period. A few more weeks and we'll be in the water...
Kiters in Haines have been using the Kite Alerts for several years now with great success. Add your name to your region and get notified when your buddies are going kiting!
Alaska Kiting Locations
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