Big-Wall Street:
Kiteskier Chris Hilliard at Sam Ford Fjord,
Baffin Island (Noah Howell)
Adventure hounds have always pursued the free ride. Waves don't charge. Backcountry ski runs don't either. But few natural forces—except gravity perhaps—dole out free adrenaline shots as potent as the wind.
Unfortunately most of the wind-powered sports out there often require water, a boat, or an arsenal of big equipment like masts, sails, and boards. But back in the late 1970s an Estonian had the brilliant idea to take a regular monoski, those goofy one-plank snow skis from the '70s, and attach a windsurfing rig to it. Doing so allowed him to zip across the vast frozen landscape of his Baltic homeland. And so the winter sport of snowkiting was born, actually beating its watery brother kiteboarding to the scene.
And since the bulk of the world is actually flat—the best turf for snowkiting—there's no shortage of places to ride the wind. All you need is snow. Fields and frozen lakes with at least four inches of ice or snow are often the best winter kiting locales, since they offer vast terrain and little chance of snagging a kite in the trees. Combine the abundance of the world's smooth terrain with the fact that inflatable kites are much easier to control and to cart around than ever before, and it's no wonder that snowkiting can be a fun way for anyone to rip a few turns through the pow.
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