Part of the Ozone crew have been snowkiting in Turkey, invited by Murat Bükey, the Ozone turkish distributor. We spent one week at the Mt Erciyes resort 2.230m, at the Ace Hotel, and we went snowkiting every day with Baris Düldül from Arlberg Sport shop and restaurant (www.arlbergsport.com)
Pretty lucky we were, as the weather was all the time perfect. Amazing snowpack, more than ever, here in the center of the Turkish country. Mt Erciyes 3.950m is situated near the big city Kayseri 1.000.000. Every day was windy, and for two days the North-West wind was blowing about 30 knots. Great fresh powder snow as well, but after the two day wind storm the snow turned into hard and frozen waves. Anyway, this super snow was covering large areas we’ve never been during the past two years, so we could discover new spots and new angles for great pictures.
Team riders Johann Civel (F) and Marek Zach (CZ) were going to the spot with Sébastien Bocos (F) from the Ride Up crew, but as well Martin Florek (CZ), Michele Leoni (It) and a few other kiters from CZ and Italy. Murat Bükey was with us all the time and that was a great pleasure to spend every session sharing our runs together. The snowkiting level was pushed up all the time by Marek, Johann and Michele, giving a real motivation to all other kiters from the crew.
The Erciyes spot is definitely perfect for hill-gliding as the wind remains super stable and the terrain is smooth, without any danger around, no rocks, no trees, nothing but soft and deep snow, the best for long flights. It’s not a good idea to promote the hill-gliding way but obviously lot of kiters are really loving it so when it’s done with complete safety, why not show it a little bit. That’s the reason we can see one pretty good picture beside, and you’ll see as well some parts in the video below.
Super video I did as the kiters managed really impressive moves and runs all along the week. The heroes are the kiters, don’t forget it. In Turkey, it seems that we can trust the weather forecast, quite every day right, so when they announced no wind on wednesday, Murat and Baris organized a visit to the famous Cappadocia country. What a wonderful day we had, nice houses made in the rock cones to keep fresh in the burning summertime, so esthetic and strange.
On the last day, for the first time the wind was blowing a little little bit more east. After a huuuge freestyling session on the northern area of the resort, I decided to give a try to the volcano which is impossible to reach with a kite when the North-West wind is blowing as it did all the days during the week and during the two trips we did there the years before.
Good idea as my kite was pulling in the right direction so after a while I managed to get really close to the high summits of Mt Erciyes. Johann Civel was joining after seeing me near the volcano bowl and we went together to the summit of one of the peaks. Amazing experience as you’ll see in the video, and Johann went skiing a steepy and thin slope between impressive rock cliffs. That was a perfect last day and great luck to add this run to our amazing week in Mt Erciyes.
Well, always try to stay as long as you can when going for a snowkiting trip. It’s so nice to be sure having the best conditions and bringing back the unforgettable footage and stories. Sincerely, we all thank you mister Murat Bükey, our journey in Erciyes resort was more than perfect. Next year, perhaps we’ll go discovering another place in the endless Turkish mountains which are more and more impressive as far as we drive to the Eastern areas.
The snowkiting sport is definitely the ultimate skiing and snowboarding way of life. And the story is only beginning. Let’s keep in touch for new adventures coming soon.
