And now for a Public Service Announcement. Switch Kites is moving away from the current system of having Team Riders to a new Rewards-based system under which ALL Switch customers can benefit! I hope I get some of these details correct for the new system that is imminent and due to be unleashed: SWITCH REWARDS!
The old Team Rider system has its good points and its flaws. I can't say I'm completely sold on a Rewards-based system that I have yet to participate in, but I give huge points to Switch just for the amount of thought and hard work that has gone into this new approach. It looks complex, to say the least, and it must have a massive IT architecture behind it, to be able to track all the reward points that would be accruing to each and every Switch customer account.
Rewards points can be accumulated through purchases, referrals, submitting online reviews, creating video reviews, having been born, and for various social media activities such as Liking, Tweeting, Pinning, or Instagramming. If I wish to personally participate fully, I have a huge learning curve ahead of me (BTW, I am now known as @stevennorrie). Figuring out what a hashtag is will come at a later date...
In the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, I will still be advertising locally through old-school Kijiji, equipment Demos "on demand." I have found a lot of joy in showing off Switch's various products and letting them out to the community to "give a go" on.
So go ahead and check out the full details on the coming Switch Rewards system at: switchkites.com/rewards_welcome
So it's approaching mid-July and this past weekend myself and about a dozen other kiters hung out at our local beach waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the wind to pick up. This has been a regular occurrence this season. Getting skunked. It's a terrible feeling, made only worse by the wind sitting at the cusp of ridable - about 11-12 knots.
Another 1 or 2 knots or so and I would have jumped into action with my 15m Element.
In my afternoon on the beach soaking up the rays, I watched three kiters launch, veer downwind, and get rescued by the local authorities. I'm glad I held back or I could have been one of those statistics and the source of many laughs and lamentations back on the beach. I've never had the experience of being rescued, and I don't wish to add that to my repertoire.
And life goes on, and the worst year of wind I've experienced in the last five years rolls on, and as I keep busy at my martial arts school, I think about the windy days of past and those to come.
I had the opportunity to catch some sufficient winds at Wasaga Beach 5 on Saturday April 26, 2014. I saw no lingering ice on the beach, nor in the water (thankfully), but a little further north along the coastline, things were looking mighty white still.
It was a balmy 4 or 5 degrees C, and the water temperature was about 2 or 3 degrees. Without a doubt, these conditions were the coldest I've ever experienced, and after about two hours or so of riding, I packed it in. But throwing in the towel isn't the point of this post. Rather, it is to reflect on a couple of hours of super-awesome freeriding in smooth 15 knot winds, not too gusty, and a well deserved season opener after six months hiatus due to our long Canadian winter.
I unraveled the new Controller Version 2 at the beach. The lines are a little on the stiff side, compared to the last bar, but if they are more stretch-resistant, then it will have been worth the extra minute or two to untangle the ends. The functionality of the bar remains about the same, but this new version bests the Version 1 in a few key areas:
- The rubberized grips are nice to hold and create a little bit more "friction hold" between my hand (or gloves in this case) and the bar;
- The clippable stopper at the end of the trim line is a godsend - no more flailing trim lines to wrap around my steering line; and
- Aesthetically it just looks better, the blue and black scheme is nice (white just gets dirty).
Those are my initial thoughts on the V.2 Controller bar. Last week, while suffering from a flu, I made my first ever video of an "unboxing" when I received the new bar in the mail. Later in the week on return to work, I found out that it's not actually that "cool" to video the box opening ritual. I never tried to hard at being cool - but my video is still out there if you have 10 minutes to spare...
Well I must admit that after our longest, coldest and snowiest winter in several years, I think I actually got out less this year than in previous years on the snow. I had some great luck at the start of the winter season. The ice formed up solid a month or so earlier than last year. And the snow fell in plentiful amounts. One problem I kept finding though, is that when the wind came up, it came with just enough force to blow much of the snow away. This left me to kite on ice for more sessions than I would have liked. It was still fun though.
I put together one little video from this winter season. It was from my first day out this winter on Bass Lake. Unfortunately, my Go Pro suffered some irreparable damage on my next trip out. A note of caution to anyone considering a backpack-boom mounted camera (I have the Wizmount pack), be extra careful when sending the kite back when transitioning - in my case I turned the kite aggressively to catch a little air and my steering line just happened to catch my camera boom and wrap around the Go Pro just as I left the surface...leading to a seriously scary situation!
Welcome 2014. Winter has fully set in over Southern Ontario. My favorite snow kite spots are well frozen over, and the snow is falling as I write this. As I usually do with the turn of the season, I refresh my offers to the community of kite equipment demos through Facebook and local advertisements, and now here on this Blog.
My equipment is offered to those with experience and can handle a kite safely. I would prefer it, if launching on the ice, that you also bring your own anchor to launch from (an ice climbing screw is best). That said, if you are brand new to kiting, I can understand the feeling of intimidation as I was there myself about five years ago. I still encourage you to contact me if you are a neophyte - I can put you in touch with a good instructor for an introductory session to set you on your own course to becoming a kiteboarder.
If you have some experience and want to try a Switch Kite on for size, I have four kites in sizes covering wind ranges up to about 25 knots. I personally cut myself off around 20 knots on the ice anyway. In the past when I felt particularly brave on a strong wind day, I would take out my 3m trainer or 4m foil on those nuking days...but alas, a couple of months ago my small kite totally disintegrated in a 40 knot gust whilst landboarding at Wasaga Beach.
So, contact me at norriegga@gmail.com if you are interested in Switch Kites or kiteboarding at all. I'll do my best to help you out. In winter, I frequent Lake Simcoe, Bass Lake, Luther Marsh and a few other spots in Southern Ontario.
Hi! It's New Year's Day and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that in a few days, I'll be breaking the seal on this year's snow kite season...I hear there's snow up north of Toronto, and I know that the ice has formed early...just waiting for some favourable wind.
In the meantime, I've just edited up some footage from Oliphant this past September. A super day of sun and wind in the flat waters of Lake Huron.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcgQKKKRSd8
This is just a quick post to remind myself (and others) that October is soon to arrive...and with it, marks an official end to the summertime doldrums.
I am looking for ideas, any idea, in terms of beaches to host some demos of Switch gear this fall.
I'll be out in the water until Christmas typically, switching to the drysuit sometime near the end of October.
I've got the new Element V2 13m kite that you MUST try!!
And hopefully, I'll have a new V2 Switch control system (bar) very soon too.
