A bit of a video diary from the past winter!

It's been a pretty good winter for me to be honest, even though it did start a bit rough what with breaking my ankle and leg in early December but as it happens it didn't really make much difference as I only missed a handful of sessions and only one that really stands out.

The past few weeks have been a bit sh*te but then again it's aloud me time to update the Blast website  plus get some of these video's finished and uploaded too! This is the latest video of some wave sessions during the past few months taken at a few spots along the S.Wales coastline.

 

The best snowkite conditions we have had here in S.Wales  EVER!

Big thanks to andy9lives for suggesting meeting up at Storey Arms to check out the snow, we never dreamed it would be this good mind.

A cold session early December taken at Llangennith and Fresh Water West with just myself and two mates out! It's super cool to have mates that are super amped to get wet as much as these to, cheers Ads & Gareth


 Couldn't wait any longer to get back in action and then found the plaster cast fitted perfectly inside the snowboard boots with the liner removed!
The leg now is healing pretty good and I hope it's not going to slow me down pushing myself especially with full on kiteloops.

As I'm writing this we've had yet another long February of cold easterlies, seems to happen every year. Hopefully it will change back to regular SW direction soon and the lessons season will get off to another awesome year like last year!

Bring it on!

The Welsh Alps

What an awesome week we've had here in S.Wales!
How many places can you snowboard/kite/surf all in one day?

My leg was still in the cast from recently breaking it six weeks ago but it felt strong enough so I was not going to miss out on a rare day of snowboarding/snowkiting. So a small group headed up for a snowboard session on the hills around the Beacons. We arrived pretty early to find the main snow slope  with only a handful of people making the most of the untracked slopes.

After a few hours snowboarding we drove a few miles further up the A470 where we met a few other kiters there making the most the fresh snow. I had a good few runs on a mates kite/board and the leg felt even better than it was snowboarding....giving me more confidence if we were to have another dump of snow.

 Snowboarding in the Beacons

Followed by a sweet snowkite session.

 

 Another awesome SUP session in Porthcawl in between the dumps of snow.

On Tuesday we had a day showing off kitesurfing at the RAF Health and wellbeing exhibition, whilst we were there it was constantly dumping a fresh lot of snow especially up on the mountains.

My wingman Andy9Lives txt me early the next morning and we rushed up to Storey Arms where we found blue skies and up to waist deep fresh snow. It was a very long slog up to the top of Pen-Y-Fan especially as my cast had only been removed two days earlier.

What followed was easily one of the most memorable days kiting we both have ever had. We both took seven metre kites up but soon realised that this was way too small for the approx. 10knots of wind we had. 

We had a few hours in the super soft crystalised powder before heading back down to the car park, the treck down turned out to be the best part of the day as we found super soft smooth powder all the way down.

 Andy and I heading back to base camp.

 Austria, France, Switzerland..Nope Wales!

Once back at the cars we rushed back home to Porthcawl....forty minutes later we were at Rest Bay with a nice clean 3-4 feet breaking into the bay.

Anyway here's a vid of the last day we had

As I'm writing this we are about to get hit by a BIG swell from the Atlantic so we're hoping to get plenty of wave riding sessions over the next few days.

Golf...you gotta love it!

Never played a game of golf in my life but I do appreciate there dedication to the impressively looked after green's especially when they are covered in deep snow!
One of the many Porthcawl Golf Courses!

Brecon Beacons 19th December

A few of us (actually I counted 12) trecked up the Beacons with huge expectations after all the snow we have had in the past. We met at the car park at Storey Arms and spotted a few kites already up on the peak in the clouds.
Unfortunately after the slog up the hill we found there was simply not enough wind. Wenglish tried with his 9.5m HQ foil kite but ....nada!
Still it was a good afternoon out and we did get to snowboard back down!

Check the two kites up in the clouds, click the photo to enlarge!

Snow Kiting in S.Wales (again)

What a fantastic day we've had today! Woke up too a total white out here in S.Wales and quickly realised the wind was building too. So once we'd loaded the car and slid most of the way to Rest Bay, Porthcawl we quickly set up our 7m Kites and were on it!

We had two sessions and were joined by our good friend Alun J who was on his 5.5m and still well powered up. It looks like we should have a shit load more snow over the w/end so are hoping to get up the Brecon Beacons (if they open the roads)

More to follow!



Snow to hit Britain

Think we may get some snow kiting in again this winter!!


Taken from the Daily Telegraph.

Winter will come early to Britain next week as snow is forecast for the north while the south will shiver in frosty sub-zero nights.

The cold snap will seem worse after temperatures soared to 75F (23C) last weekend.

Forecasters warned snow is due in Scotland and possibly northern England next week, with frost as far south as southern England, which will see bitter 48F (9C) daytime maximum temperatures.

Sir Stuart Rose reveals his secret at Sir David Frost's summer party“A northerly air stream in the middle part of next week means coldest conditions will probably be in Scotland, with sleet or snow showers and snow settling on higher ground,” said forecaster Brian Gaze of independent forecasters The Weather Outlook.



“Even southern England will feel distinctly chilly."



Forecasters Positive Weather Solutions have already predicted a ‘white-out’ winter almost as harsh as last winter - with widespread snow, temperatures down to -4F (-20C) and transport chaos.

The Weather Outlook, which has an accurate seasonal forecasting record, warned the UK is now being gripped by a bitter series of winters comparable with the harsh 1939-42 winters which made conditions so horrendous during the Second World War.




Last winter was the coldest for 31 years, with an average UK-wide temperature of just 34F (1.5C).



“Winters were mostly milder than average from 1991 to 2007, but this changed with a colder winter in 2008-09 and last winter being the worst since 1978-79,” Mr Gaze said.



“History shows cold winters do tend to come in clusters, indicating underlying factors cause them to persist for a number of years.

The heaviest snowfall occurs on the boundary between cold, dry air from the east and mild, moist air from the Atlantic - so it would not be a surprise to see the west of the UK having heavy snowfalls