Location: Luční Bouda, Giant Mountains, Czech Republic
Time frame: 3 Apr. 2009

During 2008/2009 I have moved to Poland for a year and had the pleasure to explore the Giant mountain range. Snowkiting on the large plateau around Luční Bouda located in the Giant Mountains is something special indeed. I have already mentioned this spot in detail in my first article Snowkiting under full moon. Being able to go snowkiting whenever there are kiteable conditions gives you a lot more feedback on the spot itself.

In terms of weather I recommend to check these weather forecast models: WRF with a special 2Km resolution on Flymet (this proved to be the most reliable source of information, with fresh daily updates during the evening for the next day). I also checked the GFS and WRF 27Km on Windguru, which was pretty reliable for northern flow. Winds from the south were usually reported with half velocity. For example 6ms was 12ms in reality and 2ms was 4ms. The WRF 9Km on Windguru did not provide consistency but can be also taken into account. It is very important to also check the real-time meteo data and the webcam! The real-time meteorological data from a professional weather station are available on the same page in the lower right corner. There you can see a graph with the direction and wind velocity as well as other parameters that were gathered in the last 24 hours in fairly small intervals. Other weather sources can be also considered like the Aladin forecast model or the Medard project, but the results in terms forecast accuracy and exact wind velocity are not sufficient.

Luční Bouda is a place where we can enjoy freestyle, freeride as well as some pretty nasty air time sailing. One special thing one can also do, is to try a backcountry tour on the mountain ridge. I tried one during o light day with wind around 3-4ms. Reaching the top of the ridge is possible via the cable car from Poland (starting in Karpacz and ending below Kopa). Then you make a little hike, depending on the wind and snow conditions. With my crossing I started pretty close near to Kopa and I rode to the ridge peak Smogornia (1489m) and then back to Kopa with a small freestyle session around Smogornia, where the winds were the strongest. The distance between these two peaks is not that large, only 9km one-way but it was a nice experience none the less. If the winds were stronger I would try to continue as far as possible. According to my estimation it is possible to cross the whole Giant mountain range that would make it 25-30km one-way. There is one little problem on the way and that is the location around Špindlerova Bouda, that might not be possible to cross with a kite above your head, but apart from that it should be possible.

#1 pic: In the middle of the way, Sněžka (1602m) in the background.
#2 pic: Above the Polish hut “Strzecha Akademicką” (in the background).. Here I met a couple hiking around.
#3 pic: I have to thank them for being so kind and making the photos of me..
#4 pic: On the top of the flat peak Smogornia (1489m).. the Polish valley and Jelenia Góra in the background.

#5 #6 #7 pic: Snowkiting around…
#8 pic: Panorama photo taken from Smogornia (1489m) looking at the hihest mountain of Czech Republic…