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Well I could not be more stoked about ending a 5 year kiting hiatus today…
I packed up my skis this morning to run some downhill laps and ended up throwing the kiting gear in the car as well. Something about the recent cold weather and windy morning caught my attention and made me forget that I had not touched a kite in 5 years and probably didn’t remember how to do it.
During a break in the downhill skiing I scoped out this here rochesterwindsports website for some tips on snow kite locations and Hundred Acre Ponds caught my eye as it would be on my way home. At around 1pm I pulled into Mendon Ponds still thinking it was a long shot that I end up kiting. The wind at the parking lot was uninspiring but I walked out to the pond to find some very strong winds. Game on.
Back at the car I gathered my gear and watched a few youtube videos to make sure I knew how to setup everything and launch correctly. At this moment something great happened. A man pulled up next to me and started rigging up a windsurf. His name was John and my day would not have gone nearly as well without him. We chatted wind sports for a while and then both headed out on the pond. He offered to help me launch. I gladly accepted. He patiently waited while I very slowly hooked everything up (skipping the skis for now) and mentally prepared.
I would be lying if I said that the first 2 minutes after launch were anything other than chaos. Having been whipped around by a kite before (admittedly I’ve only ever been thrown around like this on water) I was relatively calm about it but I have no doubt that John was legit worried. Fortunately, after 2 big face plants that dragged me uncomfortably close to the trees it all came back to me and soon I was sitting working on my figure 8s and feeling out the wind. I spent a good 30 min or more like this happy to have a kite in the air.
John took this opportunity to cruise around on his cool homemade windskate setup.
With John distracted I was free to convince myself that I was ready to slap on the skis and send it across the pond. This went considerably better than the initial launch and I had a very enjoyable 30 min cruise. Wind was gusty but manageably. The fond memories returned of my last snowkite sessions out in Montana in 2013/14. Damn good to be back.
Cheers to you John!
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Great write up Max! Your stoke is palpable. It’s easy to get bogged down this time of year and lose a little motivation, this stoked my fire. I have been curious as to how Mendon Ponds would be. It typically gets less snow than the lake shore sites. Canandaigua had some really good looking ice the other day when I headed to Keuka with Scott Rowe.
I’m totally curious as to who this windsurfer John was. Was his sail connected to his skis via a bar in the middle? I copied a windski once, it was created by Guy Trudeau up in Quebec. Only sailed it once and then found Kitewing.
I’m really glad that this website helped out in some way and that you added to the community by your post. Don’t be a stranger.
See you out there!
Doug W. aka windydoug -
Mendon Ponds wind was quite gusty but rarely died entirely so was able to keep the kite in the air much of the time. The surface was icy with patches of snow so not ideal but skis were able to hold an edge pretty well. I imagine a snowboard would have been much more difficult. The edges of the pond had some slushy spots that felt a little sketchy but all around didn’t feel in danger at all regarding ice quality.
John had a home made skate set up that was connected to the windsurf. So looked like a normal windsurf setup (not wind skate) except a homemade skate that looked a little like an old style kids sled. He isn’t a kiter but has been out on Canandaigua wind surfing for decades.
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Looks like another convert to the winter scene. The ponds can get gusty but is a fun spot to sail. Haven’t been there in a while. I was thinking it might be John Cimbalo but he usually sails a trike with a windsurf sail on it. Almost sounds like old school skate setup like back in the 80’s. I made one and still have it. Welcome to group! Lots of good information on this site.
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