Dakhla Kitetrip, the teaser...

I'm taking my time editing the full movie of our trip in April, so here's a little teaser of things to come...

Back in Beauduc - Kitesurf Sessions 82 to 84

I can't believe I hadn't been in Beauduc since October 2010... It was great arriving Sunday afternoon, when everybody was going home to prepare the beginning of another work week. The wind was blowing and the sun was shinning, so this endless spot seemed as beautiful as I remembered. The sunset session was great, thanks to Olive for doing a couple of nice photos!

These three days I had the opportunity to fly all my kites, trying for the first time my new 5,5m Nomad and the 12m Switchblade. I'm really happy with my new toys!
It was nice to see Popol and Anais again, and a big up for Telma, really progressing on the water, after a successful winter season!

We had all conditions, from light winds to almost 40 knots, so it definitely wasn't monotonous... Thanks to Fred, I could try for the first time a strapless surf and it only made me want even more to find the right one to get into wave riding! Just a couple of days before his birthday, Fred offered us a nice lightwind freestyle show with his 19m purple Flysurfer.

Dakhla, the revenge!

One and a half year ago, I went to Dakhla for the first time with some friends... Although I had a fun time, we had light to no wind all week and that was a bit frustrating. So this April I decided to go for the second time and it definitely paid off!

We stayed again at the Auberges Des Nomades, a roots style kite camp with the basics at a low price, great food and good ambiance. Again, I thank all the team there for the wonderful welcome and constant smiles!

I'll get back to the trip in more detail in the next post, but for the time being I just want to thank Olive for all the great photos of this trip!

A great day at the 3 Évêchés - Video

Finally finished editing the video! Yup, it's 7m30s long, but if you love snowkiting and you've climbed the 3 Évêchés in the french Alps, you know why... And even if you don't, you just have to love snow, the mountains or riding free in general to appreciate... I hope it gives you a taste of the feeling of that amazing climb...

Climbing the 3 Évêchés! - Snowkite Session 33

The forecast for last tuesday was: 20cm of fresh powder, sunny and a perfect southeast wind at the Lautaret Pass... We couldn't ask for better conditions to climb up to the "Trois Évêches" (the 3 bishops, a group of mountain peaks to the left of the "White Peak" of the Galibier), a mythical spot and a "meca" for all snowkiters of the French Alps!
It was a first for me, but not for Damien and Cyril, the first one to reach the top after leaving us behind and speeding like a rocket on his 6m kite!

 

With the wind a bit too strong for our 8m kites, me and Damien decided to wait a bit before the climb, since the beginning of the ascension is particularly steep and quite impressive, especially for "first timers (you can actually see the wind blowing the snow hard over the right side of the hill on the photo below, which is where we needed to pass to start the climb).

After waiting for about an hour, taking that time to draw lines everywhere on the Lautaret Pass, we finally could go up (check Damien's GPS track)! What an amazing experience! I had never climbed such steep slopes snowkiting, so I was exhilarated but at the same time felt really small in this impressive mountains. It was definitely one of the best kite sessions I ever had and one that I (and the rest of the group) will remember for a long time! If you have any doubts, just take a look at the happy faces below...

 

I finish of with a panoramic view of the top (if you want to see it larger than the blogger viewer option, just click here), but I'll have a surprise soon... I filmed all the way up with a GoPro and, after taking the first look at the rushes, I guess I'll be able to edit a nice video for you!

Beal - Snowkite Session 32

Sun and strong wind for a super day! Despite all the snow melting away with the unusually warm temperatures, there was still plenty of space to fool around. Great freeride session with a super fun jump session as the sun was going down. Big up for Telma, doing her first good runs up and downwind, with Fred looking proudly at his girlfriend's exploits!

Lelex - Snowkite Session 31

With the wind forecast saying that it would blow only in the afternoon, we decided to arrive at 13h30/14h. As soon as we got our kites from the bags, the breeze started to come and transform into a gentle, regular wind... That must have given the other 3/4 kiters on the spot (waiting for 2 hours already) reason to badmouth us a little bit!

(click on the panoramic to enlarge)

We did about 4h30 of ride, going all over the spot (even if the domes lacked snow, we could pass everywhere and there was even fresh powder in some zones) and it was the first time I had a 180 degrees change in wind in the same afternoon (north at arrival, then turning to west during most of the day and finally south as we where returning to the point of departure). I must have accidentally turned off my GPS at some point and it was only about 2h later that I noticed, so there's a big part of the track missing...

This really is one of my favorite spots... The terrain is a real playground, allowing for freeride along a big distance, flying off from the domes (of all different shapes and sizes) and a lot more, between the giant natural halfpipes, quarterpipes and natural kickers!