From Kitesurfing to Snowkiting: How to Make the Switch

You already ride on water and the snow is starting to look tempting? Good news: going from kitesurfing to snowkiting is probably the fastest transition in any board or ski sport. Kite control, the wind window, power management, you already know all of it. All that is left is adapting to the terrain.

What you already know how to do

Kitesurfing and snowkiting share the same core: a kite, a bar, wind. If you fly a kite cleanly on water, you can fly it on snow. The wind window works exactly the same way, so do the bar inputs, and your safety reflexes carry over untouched.

That is why an experienced kitesurfer usually becomes autonomous on snow very quickly. A walkthrough of the gear, which is slightly different up there, is often all it takes before riding.

What actually changes

• The kite. On water you probably ride an inflatable. On snow, riders use open cell foil kites built for land and snow: lighter, packed down into a backpack, and relaunched off the snow without any effort.
• Noticeably smaller sizes. Count on roughly 3 m less than at sea in the same wind. The reference to remember: your 12 m on water becomes a 9 m on snow. Foils are far more efficient, and snow creates much less drag than water, so you need less surface for the same pull.
• No waterstart. You start standing, skis on. The most frustrating stage of kitesurfing simply does not exist.
• Edging replaces the fins. Speed and heading are controlled by your edge, exactly like skiing. If you already ski, everything clicks.
• The terrain. Mountains have their own aerology: the wind is less laminar than at sea and the relief creates turbulence. So you pick wide open spaces, plateaus, gentle hills and frozen lakes.
• The cold. Ski kit, gloves you can actually fly in, and goggles. Your wetsuit stays home.

The 5th line is where it all changes

This is the detail nobody talks about, and it is the one that makes the biggest difference with water: snowkites have a fifth line.

On water you usually depend on someone. Someone to hold your kite on launch, someone to catch it on landing. On snow, the 5th line empties the kite of its air and drops it instantly. You launch alone, you land alone, you relaunch alone, and you kill the kite with one hand if the wind picks up.

It also puts an end to the myth that follows the sport around. Snowkiting has a reputation for being reckless, the kind of thing where the first gust takes you away. The truth is the exact opposite: when you can kill your kite power at any moment, with one hand, in a second, that one gust too many stops being a problem. The 5th line is the off switch, and it is what makes the sport far safer than its reputation.

That is the real shift: you become completely independent. You park, you walk up, you ride, you go home, without ever needing anyone on the beach or on the plateau. No kitesurfer comes back from a first snow session without mentioning it.

Skis or snowboard?

The question comes up every single time, and the honest answer is: do it on skis.

A snowboard works, but it makes everything harder. Restarts are laborious, working upwind through the light patches turns into a chore, and you constantly have to manage where your upper body faces relative to the kite. Some instructors will not even take snowboarders for snowkite lessons, and that is no accident.

On skis you stay facing your line, your edge works independently from your upper body, and you set off again the second you stop. And to be blunt: the feeling is simply better. If you can ski, even average, that is the right call.

How long until you are autonomous?

For a kitesurfer who skis decently, count on one supervised session to pick up the terrain and the gear cues. Complete kite beginners can become autonomous in a few hours; an experienced kitesurfer goes faster still.

That supervised session is not a luxury though: mountain aerology and choosing where to ride are not things you improvise, and that is exactly what a local instructor hands you in a few hours.

What gear do you need to start?

Your usual skis do the job perfectly, along with your helmet and your harness if you have one. That leaves the kite: to work out which model suits your weight and your spots, our snowkite gear buying guide covers everything, and you will find Ozone and Flysurfer kites in our shop.

One reflex worth building when you choose: think in snow sizes, not sea sizes. A 9 and 12 quiver on water becomes a 6 and 9 quiver on snow.

Where should you ride first?

The Col du Lautaret is the ideal playground for the switch: a huge open plateau at 2058 m, steady wind, and one of the oldest snowkite schools in the world. From December to April, it is the perfect place to turn your kitesurfing background into real autonomy on snow.

And if you want to understand the whole discipline before you commit, our complete guide to snowkiting answers every question you have before starting.

The wind is the same as at sea. The terrain is infinite.

Further reading

If you want more information about the gear you can bring over from the water, you can read our article Can You Use Kitesurf Gear for Snowkiting?

If you want more information about choosing between skis and a snowboard, you can read our article Skis or Snowboard for Snowkiting?

If you want more information about the fifth line and what it does, you can read our article The Snowkite 5th Line.