North Dakota is a great place to fly a kite, but have you ever seen one like this?

Whether it is a big festival at Fort Stevenson on the Missouri River or a family in the park, it is not an odd sight.

What you're about to see, is, however.

Two Grand Forks men are making their way across the state using the wind as the power.

Perry Olson shows us how it works, and what messAge they hope to spread.

(Sam Salwei - Grand Forks, ND) "With the wind energy in North Dakota, we are number one...why aren't we number one in production?"


(Perry Olson - KX News) This group is calling themselves 'To Cross the Moon' is trying to change that by doing something called snow kiting across the state. Obviously, this group is not suggesting people start traveling this way, but they are using the experience to show the power blowing in the wind.

(Jason Magness - Grand Forks, ND) "I think sometimes it takes somthing extreme to do this. We can go preach wind power but we can now because we are doing this crazy thing." (Sam Salwei) "We are really wanting people to pay more attention to this wonderful resourse I'm sure you can hear blowing in the mic right now, the wind. We are doing this to reach the youth and everyone. It is a unique thing to see."


(Perry Olson) The travelers have taken notice of and had to deal with obsticles traveling this way.

(Jason Magness) "Kiting through society or an Agriculturally developed area is really difficult." (Sam Salwei) "We are dealing with lots of fences and power lines so once we hit the river it should be a lot smoother sailing."


(Perry Olson) While the main goal of this cross-state adventure is to bring attention to the possibilities with wind...but there is another goal as well...

(Jason Magness) "To show young people that there is this really cool new sport and North Dakota is the premier spot for it. We've been kiting 20 mph and this is just a ditch on the side of the road. You get a nice field and you can just play all day."


Watching this group play, it is easy to believe snow kiting might just take off, helping advance their message every step of the way. Perry Olson, KX News.

Salwei and Magness say there have been a few tense moments during the trip especially when a truck passes by.

The wind the trucks gernerate grabs the kites and brings them dangerously close.

They hope to finish their cross-state trip at the South Dakota border by the 14th. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list