| 🌍 Country | Austria |
| 📅 Season | February, March, April, May, June, September, October |
| 💪🏼 Skill | Advanced |
| 🔮 Forecasts | Traunkirchen • bergfex – Salzburg Flughafen • bergfex – Golling |
| 📹 Webcams | Traunkirchen • Traunkirchen – Wetter Hausruckviertel Rindbach • Rindbach – Axis |
The Traunsee is surrounded by scenic rocky mountains. This cliffs heat up and are the cause for thermal winds. Besides its good wind conditions the Traunsee has a clear water sailors, wind and kite surfers are enjoying.
📍 Kite Spot: Ebensee – Rindbach
ℹ️ Spot description
This spot works at with constant clear weather conditions and a high temperature difference between night and day. If it’s working it usually starts at about 11:00 and stops at about 15:00 o’clock and has approximately 10 – 15 knots.
The spot offers a spacious gras area to setup your gear and launch your kite. The entrance has some spiky stones, so wet shoes are an advantage to avoid cuts on your feet. The water is very clear and barely ever has a temperature above 20°C throughout the year.
If you kite to the west side of the spot you’ll get to where the river “Traun” flows into the lake.
This stream flowing from the south against the wind coming from the north increases line tension and adds to the perceived wind strength in flat water conditions.
Traunsee is home to the KiteFoil Grand Prix organised by the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA).
🧭 Arrival
Coming from the direction of Salzburg you have the choice between two equally picturesque routes via Attersee or Bad Ischl. At the kite spot Ebensee – Rindbach a gravel parking lot with a parking machine welcomes you right next to the spot. Camping is also possible directly at this spot and that’s why usually there are also some early birds waiting for the next breeze and enjoying the scenery.
🏘️ Infrastructure
Food & Drinks
Schools
📍 Kite Spot: Traunkirchen
ℹ️ Spot description
This spot is very special for several reasons.
- Let’s start with the wind which is coming from the south and starts before sunrise at about 06:00 o’clock in the morning.
The forecast is rather tricky and the stakes are high considering the early alarm clock to be at the spot in time. This spot works if there are gusts above 25 km/h at Salzburg Airport from south and gusts above 30 km/h at Golling from east.
- The area to set up the gear an launch the kite is just enough for 1 starter at a time. It is a small gras covered peninsula with some benches. This spot is for advanced kiters only because launching and landing at this tiny piece of land can be tough. The gusty conditions mixed with turbulence coming from the leeward mountain offer challenging conditions.
If for some reason you loose height and end up further north of the starting point make sure to exit the water at the harbors. After passing them exit possibilities are quite tough because the lake gets wider and the wind weaker further up.
After entering the water you’ll easily get better wind conditions on the east side of the Traunsee. There is a narrow passage in the south where the wind is even stronger because of the jet effect. Make sure to realize when the wind is about to go down early enough to make it back to the peninsula with enough residual wind to land your kite safely.
There is no better way to start your day with a nice early bird kite session in Traunkirchen. The local hosts offer a nice breakfast to share the experiences with other kite surfers.
🧭 Arrival
Same as described above at the spot description of Ebensee – Rindbach and further up north through some tunnels to the center of Traunkirchen.
Parking there also requires a parking ticket but not during these early morning times until 09:00. At this time sun has risen, the wind went down and the session is already over.
🏘️ Infrastructure
Food & Drinks