Hogback Heaven in the Snowcrest Range

Hogback Heaven in the Snowcrest Range

Maybe I’m crazy.  Is it crazy to:  Drive to a remote mountain town, miles from anywhere then continue further, twenty miles further, on greasy clay roads to where the road ends, then, load up your packs with skis/snowboard, food, water and (of course) a kite and continue on foot, four more miles up a couple thousand vertical feet to find snow and howling winds?  I guess maybe I am crazy. But that’s what my crazy friend Cale and I did this past Saturday.
For some time now I have wanted to kite in Montana’s remote Snowcrest Range.  It’s wild country.  As I said; it’s many miles from any form of civilization and takes a fair degree of effort and time to get there.  However, the reward was worth it! 

After a spectacular hike up a long ridge we arrived at 8600’ and the snowline.  Conditions were gusty -  20 – 40mph and snow was smooth Styrofoam.  We had brought only one kite each:  Our 8m Manta2.  That one kite was the right choice.  It was big enough to get us up the steepest lines and small enough to handle the largest gusts.  Kiting in this mountain playground was especially tactical.  Steep drops and sharp rocks were around every corner on this October day.  Shifty, gusty storm winds played with us.  It required all our concentration to fly the kites well and at times we were literally living gust to gust as we ascended the flanks of Hogback Mountain. 

My hoped for goal was to ascend Hogback and ski steep lines of powder.  However the storm winds and early season conditions forced a rewrite of the day’s playbook.  We eventually found the best winds and snow conditions were on the massive lower slopes of Hogback.  That was fine with us.  We were rewarded with a full day of kiting and spectacular views.

See ya out there,
Noah

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