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Hi everyone,

check out the story below from one of Jim & Cathy’s friends and customer for www.kiteyukon.com - sorry customer - we do not have your name

If you ever fancy a very special snowkite trip to Snowkite heaven then you’ll be needing to contact Jim & Cathy - they know the best spots around Yukon, can organize everything and are snowkite addicts with a passion for FUN & Adventure…..

Read on for our friendly customers recent Epic adventure to Mt Logan

Epic! A bold statement given the riders who keep pushing the limits with massive airs and 1000km expeditions, but the recent week up on the Mt. Logan ice fields lived up to the hyperbole.

Eight of us started the trip with a rocking solstice party on the shores of Kluane Lake in the Yukon Territory of Canada. After a brief weather delay, a few dozen hands of euchre and numerous crossings of personal boundaries we were off to the largest ice glaciated area this side of Antarctica (not coincidentally, the very spot where one of the group’s ex’s currently resides).

The first day out was marred by an entrenched high pressure system that gave a beautiful view of Mt. Logan (Canada’s highest peak), Mt. St. Elias and numerous peaks in between. More importantly though, it meant no wind. We made the best of a tough situation by scaling a peak adjacent to camp and carving through some powder that by all rights shouldn’t exist in late June in the northern hemisphere.

The next day dawned cloudier with the promise of a weak frontal system pushing through the area. Canopies deployed, harnesses cinched, beers in hand, we awaited the big event. A ghostly wall of cloud rolled up the plateau toward up, obscuring all visibility and bringing with it a light but steady wind. This was my first chance to try out the 15m Manta II, graciously loaned out by Jim, who I imagined was sticking pins into the knees of my voodoo doll likeness as he took a break from building his new house. Rime ice grew on everything as we tore through the mist with only the sounds of whistling kite canopies and giddy laughter to guide us. I lost track of time, with only my screaming legs to remind me that couch-surfing doesn’t count as endurance training. The clouds finally lifted and with them went the wind. It’s impossible to describe the sublime feeling that one gets from cruising through mist tethered to a whispering kite, suffice to say that I recommend everybody try it at least once. 

The following days would qualify as epic in their own right if they hadn’t already been dwarfed by their predecessor. Fresh couloirs, more wind and the most stylish Manta-assisted switch shifty shitter gap that I’ve ever seen.

Many thanks to Sian, Lance, Bronwyn and Donjek for the ride up, camp and good company, and to Jim and Cath from Kite Yukon for the loan of their kites and for having refrained from punching me as I showed them pictures from the trip.

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