A couple weeks ago, I had a moment of immature elation when I saw a clip of Chris calmly blaze over a frozen lake with a Phantom 2 at break neck speed. After little searching, I found his blog, www.hardwaterkiter.blogspot.com and also that the man has a natural story telling ability, reading through his experience at the Mille Lacs Crosing where he used a 24m Peter Lynn Synergy. Anyway, I was impressed & inspired to contact him & ask him a few questions.

Ski’s on Ice?!? Are your Ski’s specially adapted or can you buy them stock standard and hit the Ice?

Not specially adapted beyond the way I tune them. Most of my skis are some flavor of Super G or DH race skis. Many are race stock meaning not made for retail but most retail versions work just as well if not better in some cases because they last longer. I have my own tastes in regards to tuning and 20yrs of tuning experience to get me just the right edge. The trick is tuning an edge that will hold on glass but won’t try to kill you if you hit soft snow. =)

To date, what has been your favorite Peter Lynn Twinskin & what is your biggest appeal to them over LEI’s or Fixed Bridle Foils?

Even though I’m sponsored by Peter Lynn it’s not the reason I ride Arcs. I ride them because they work for what I want in a kite.
My favorite Peter Lynn Twinskin right now is definitely the new Phantom 2. You know you can’t beat a Twinskin for gusty conditions and I ride on lakes surrounded by mountains where the wind speed always doubles in a gust and changes direction constantly. The Phantom 2 prototypes I’ve been testing the last two season have been sick. Fast across the window, fast turning, great lift when you want it. The best thing about the Phantom 2 is it gives what it gets. You fly it hard and it will do what you want. If you want to cruise, it will do that too.
My next choice is still the Charger and after the Charger I gotta say the antique F-Arcs.
I can’t ride fixed bridles here. As much as I like the raw power and fast forward speed they beat me up too much in the gusty. And for me bridles just suck. They get snagged on ice shards and stuff like that.
LEI? What’s an LEI? Just kidding. Nobody here in Northern New England rides LEIS. Pumping is too much of a nuisance when it’s cold and they haven’t held up to the environment we ride in. Over the years I understand they’ve gotten more durable but when my Phantoms and Chargers turn as fast as an LEI what advantage is there for me on the snow? I’ve got nothing against LEIs. In fact I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a Peter Lynn Fury at some point to try it out but I’d never give up an Arc for one.
I love Peter Lynn Twinskins for sure but I’m not a kite snob. I’m game to try anything out there if the opportunity pops up.

I’ve read from your blog that you absolutely live for the winter, what do you do in the summer to get your fix & stay in shape?

Yeah, right now I’m strictly a snow rider. Last season I put around 3000 miles on the kite for the season. Seems a lot and it is but when you put between 70-100 miles on in a session it adds up quick.
I live too far from the ocean to ride water and I don’t really like water that much to be honest. Maybe if I rode water I’d feel different. I bought a ATB to ride in the summer but I never got the right wind day. I need to go to the coast to get it dialed and then deal with the gusts here at home. Otherwise in the summer I ride bikes. Mostly mountain and some road on my single speed. Between 24hr mountain bike races and single speed centuries I get a good fitness level going in the summer.

What has been the highlight of your Kite Ski career?

I’ve hit shoreline twice and have gone under the ice once. Any day that I get to go out, push my limits and get back without getting hurt for me is a highlight.

If you knew then what you know now when you moved over to Hard Water kite ski-ing, what would you tell yourself?

“You’ll never ride a chairlift again. But you’re going to burn up about 2 pairs of skis a year.”

If there’s anybody in the world you could spend the ideal sesh with, who would it be?

Buster Keaton. If that guy rode a kite he would have been freakin amazing!

Besides hitting 80mph (you nutter!) have you any other kiting goals for 2012?

I’m going to compete in the WISSA event at St. Ignance Michigan here in the U.S. and see how that works out. It will be nice to compete in a race that actually has wind for a change!

Although they are mostly on snow, would you consider any EU events like the Snow kite masters or the Ragnarok in Hardangervidda in Norway?

It’s a considerable cost for me to attend events like those coming from here in the states. When The Ragnarok was first started I thought that would be a great event to enter if I could swing it. I seems really popular now and I’m glad to see that snowkite events like this take place over seas. I wish we could get that kind of organization here but snowkiting’s popularity here is still a ways off. If I could afford the Ragnarok I’d be all about it.

What is your weapon of choice for the upcoming Mille Lacs Kite Crossing this year?

Peter Lynn Phantom 2 without a doubt. I was the only racer on a Peter Lynn last year, in a race where the wind was so light they nearly canceled it. Peter Lynn Arcs aren’t known for light wind as I’m sure you’re aware and we still came out on top. Maybe there will be wind this year and I won’t have to work so hard.

Finally, what is your best advice for finding a girlfriend that’s into kiting or getting your current girlfriend hooked on it?

Ha! Good luck. I’m incredibly lucky for one thing because I found a girl that’s willing to do what I do. Not only that but she’s able to do it at the levels that I do it. Seriously, I’m the only guy I know that really likes to ride with his smarter half. Molly (Savard) is one of the best kiters, skiers, skaters or bikers I’ve ever seen or ridden with. Not the best woman, the best PERIOD. Seriously I actually LIKE to ride with her.

How did I find a girl like that? Simple, her boyfriend introduced us, no joke.
Otherwise I guess if you have a girlfriend and you want to get her kiting all I can say from what I’ve seen is THEY HAVE TO WANT TO DO IT. Like really want to do it. If they really want to do it then the next step is to get someone to teach them because you as the boyfriend shouldn’t teach your girlfriend anything. That almost never works out.
I don’t know if that helps at all.

I fortunately haven’t had to think about it for the last 20yrs.

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Thanks again Chris & good luck for 2012.
roi