THE 2004-05 SEASON RANKING LIST:

     name       max speed    location        boards    kite     date

1. Andreas Dahle 66.9 mph  Cooking Lake, Alberta skis  10m Speed 3/30
2. Joe Levins        60.1 mph   White Bear Lake, MN    skis    11m Fuel      3/11
3. Tony South      57.6 mph      Austin Lake, MI        skis    7m Windwing 2/28
4. John Zietlow     54.6 mph  Lake Minnetonka, MN     skis    10m Wip      1/18
5. James Lyne      52.6 mph   Shelburne Pond, VT      skis     17m Bomba  1/26
6. Shane Rodwell  51.4 mph  Halley, Antarctica   snowboard 7m Psycho    1/16
7. Marty Roy        51.4 mph  Winnipeg, Manitoba       skis    4.9m Blade    3/10
8. Kaj Kjellgren      50.3 mph    Lake Ekoln, Sweden    skis    6m Rookie2    3/18
9. Dominique Buchi 49.4 mph  Lake of Reschen, Italy  skis   7m Speed       1/29
10. Dave Rothman 48.9 mph   White Bear Lake, MN    skis      9m Fuel     12/18
11. Doug Remsen   48.5 mph   Sand Bar, VT              skis    7.3m Frenzy  2/19
12. James Everding 46.4 mph  Lake Simcoe, Ontario   skis   12m Phantom  1/15
13. Keith Kallio       46.3 mph  Canyon Ferry, MT        skis      3m Wasp      3/6
14. Rob Campbell    45.4 mph    Fredericton, NB        skis  5.5 Concept Air 3/19
15. Gary Kjelleren   42.1 mph  Sand Bar, VT        snowboard  7m Frenzy     3/6
16. Brian Vanderslice 41.9 mph Oneida Lake, NY        skis    C-2 Quadrifoil 2/12
17. Trevor Potapoff 38.8 mph Winnipeg, Manitoba  snowboard  9m Fuel     3/12
18. Kevin Davreaux  34.3 mph   Winnipeg, Manitoba   skis     3.5 Bullet      3/18
19. Rachael Miller    34.1 mph   Sand Bar, VT            skis       5mFrenzy    2/11
20. Anna Levins      33.9 mph  White Bear Lake, MN   skis       11m Fuel    3/13
21. Steve Stanley   31.2 mph    Sand Bar, VT           skis     17m Outrage 2/27
22. Ken Lucas        30.0 mph   Sand Bar, VT        tele skis  12m Frenzy    2/27
23. Paul Flemming    29.1 mph     Rangeley Lake         skis    10m Frenzy   3/13
24. Dave Hansen     28.8 mph  Shelburne Pond, VT   skates   5m Frenzy  12/19
25. Barclay Morris    24.5 mph   Shelburne Pond, VT    skis     9.5m Frenzy  2/6

Above is the 2004-2005 snowkite speed ranking based on max speed gps reading - no courses, no averages...just pure top speed.

We will be starting up again come the winter with prizes for max speed of the week and year. Be fast, get gear. Goodies from Stormboarding, Ozone, Peter Lynn, Dakine, Sugarbush Resort, Ultra Nectar and more.

The rules:

1. You must have been on snow or ice - skis, snowboards, sleds...
2. Your power must have come from a kite. Be honest and have good kite karma.
3. Units must be in miles per hour
4. If it is a time that tops the list, we need either the gps file or a readable digital photo of the gps with your max speed. Put your face in too and we'll post it
5. Include your name, location, what was on your feet, max speed, date and kite size/type in an e-mail to [email protected]

2004-2005 prize winners week by week

Week 1: Joe Levins:        54.5mph on hockey skates, Peter Lynn beanie
Week 2: Dave Rothman: 48.8mph on skis, Dakine Hip Pack
Week 3: Joe Levins:        57.6 mph on skis, Ultra Nectar Beanie
Week 4: Dave Rothman: 41.3mph on skis, Stormboarding T
Week 5: Shane Rodwell: 51.4mph on snowboard, won ice screw
Week 6: John Zietlow:     54.6 mph on skis, Peter Lynn Cap
Week 7: James Lyne:      52.6 mph on skis, stormboarding co-owner
Week 7 prize winner: Gary Kjelleren: 33.7 mph on skis, Ozone T
Week 8: Barclay Morris:  24.5 mph on skis, Dakine Hip Pack
Week 9: James Everding: 43.0 mph on skis, Peter Lynn T
Week 10: Doug Remsen:  48.5 mph on skis, Ozone T
Week 11: Marty Roy:         30.5 mph on skis, Peter Lynn Beanie
Kitestorm: Steve Stanley: 31.2 mph on skis, PL Bomba 13m kite
Top Speed of Feb: Tony South 57.6 mph, Kiteworld Subscription
Week 12: Keith Kallio         46.3 mph on skis, Ultra Nectar T
Week 13: Joe Levins          60.1 mph on skis, Dakine Beanie
Week 14: Kaj Kjellgren      50.3 mph on skis, Ozone Ball Cap
Week 15: Marty Roy           36.3 mph on skis, Ultra Nectar T
Week 16: Andreas Dahle   66.9 mph on skis, Dakine Hip Pack and
Top Speed of March: Andreas Dahle 66.9 mph, Kiteworld Subscription

THANK YOU AND CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO PLAYED AND THE COMPANIES WHO JUMPED IN WITH GOODIES...WE WILL STILL TAKE LATE SEASON SNOWKITE SPEEDS AND POST THEM HERE AS THEY COME IN...MAY EVEN HAVE A FEW PRIZES LEFT.

Andreas Dahle: 66.9 mph takes week 16, the month of March and tops the list for the season. Here is what he had to say about this year's fastest recorded run:

 The Canadian Flysufer rep had just picked up a prototype of the new Flysurfer Speed kite and so I got a chance to give it a try yesterday.  That thing is amazing.  It just keeps going faster and faster.  It was a beautiful sunny day with winds in the 30-40km/h range with the odd stronger gust.  I had seen the times that had been posted over the winter and I knew that 60mph was the number to go after.  After 5 or 6 downwind blasts I hit the mark 60.1 mph or 97km/h.  Being so close to 100km/h I decided to keep trying to break the 100km/h mark.  I went on run after run and could only reach the high 50�s(mph).  Just as I was about ready to give up I got hit by a huge gust sending me on one last screamer.  When I started to slow down I looked down at my GPS to see 66.9 mph or 108km/h!!  I was riding a 10m Flysurfer Speed on downhill parabolic skiis. 

Our questions:

All of our previous fast times were found on more ice than snow, it looks snowy. What were the conditions underfoot? You're right the conditions didn�t exactly look great for fast times.  We had pretty much lost all of our snow the week before and then we got our usual last spring dump of snow 4-5 days before.  On Sunday we were out at cooking lake riding in spring skiing type conditions with almost 6-10� of snow.  By Wednesday the snow was a bit thinner but still in that 3-4� range of spring skiing type snow (not to slow and slushy but soft).  I think what made for the fast times is the lake was untouched and the snow was perfectly smooth making it very easy to stay in control.  I was only breaking through the snow to about the bottom of my boot.  Because I had tones of grip I was also able to hold on to a lot of power. 

Were there other riders around that day? Being midweek we only had 4-5 of us coaxed away from work out riding.  Everyone else was riding kites in the 4m range for the first part of the day and then it backed off a bit and they were out on 10m.

Kaj Kjellgren had some fun on Lake Ekoln in Uppsala, Sweden to go 50.3 mph and win Week 14 (Ozone Cap). He was on skis and flying a Flysurfer Rookie2 6m kite.

Here is his report:  I was riding on the local lake in more or less a blizzard. The
power really picked up when the snowfall got intense so it was a bit
"interesting" riding that fast with only 20-30 meters of sight. :-)

What made it doable was the incredible snow; it was extremely compact
and cold but the top-layer was kind of soft eventhough it stuck very
nicely to the harder snow below. So the amount of grip was almost
endless. Also the snow on the lake was completely flat and no drifts or icy
spots as long as I could see. So I don't think that the surface could
get any better then that. The wind (and the snowfall) on the other hand left a lot to be desired.  The wind was quite gusty,  ranging from 7 m/s (around 14 knots) to about 13 m/s (around 25 knots), the changes came very suddenly and rapidly which made it a full time effort keeping the edges in the snow.
Luckily my Flysurfer kites helps a lot when it comes to eating up a lot of the sudden jerks, with a LEI I'd probably would have got whiplash-damage to my neck. ;-)

A photo of his GPS that also shows his winding track is on:  http://www.flysurfer.se/media/Ekoln_050318.jpg