Snowkiting Masters in Winterberg

Taking place for the first time this year, the “German Kitejunkie Snowkite Masters” are a new international competition platform for snowkiters. Snowkite disciplines such as racing and freestyle battles are on the program. The snowkite competitions begin at 10 a.m. on each of the three competition days. They end at 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday. The awards ceremonies for the race and freestyle battles will take place after the competitions on Saturday and Sunday at the Atomic Alpin Center (Zur Postwiese 16, 59955 Neuastenberg, Winterberg).

Snowkiting is a variation of kitesailing—only instead of taking place on the sea or a lake, it is done on snow and ice. You need skis or a snowboard, plus a traction kite measuring six to 15 square meters. All that remains is to find an open area—and, of course, wind. There is plenty of snow at Postwiese, and the Postwiese lift operators also plan to turn on the snow cannons. Wind speeds of eight knots or more are also sufficient to hold the snowkite competition. “But 15 to 20 knots would be even better,” says Kai Malter, who is organizing the Snowkite Masters together with presenter Nutcase. The prospects for sufficient wind for snowkiting are good. “There are relatively steady wind conditions at the Tenne, opposite the upper Postwiese.” As one of the largest ski areas in the Sauerland, the Postwiese ski area in Winterberg—with its 300,000 square meters of connected ski terrain and its pro fun park featuring kickers, rails and a corner—is an ideal venue for the competition as a fun-sports ski area.

A fun-sports event also needs to offer plenty of entertainment after the snowkite competition. Guests and competitors can look forward to a varied evening program on the event days in Neuastenberg: The festivities kick off on Thursday evening with Nutcase Irish Night at the “Chillout” après-ski and party bar (in the middle of the Postwiese ski area, above the Westhang), featuring Dublin guitarist and singer Stephen Kavanagh. The party continues at Neuastenberg’s Chillout on Saturday, too—but this time with dubstep: TH3 NEXT and STOKE from Hamburg’s WobWob team will perform at the “Relentless Dubstep Night.”

Snowkiting has been known since 1960, but it has only become popular in recent years as part of the fun-sports boom in winter sports. The most important snowkiting areas are considered to be Lake Silvaplana in Switzerland and Lake Reschen in South Tyrol.