I am looking at fully committing to getting into kiteboarding this year mainly in Squamish. A little background is that I was a windsurfing instructor in NZ growing up, have done a lot of wakeboarding and snowboarding, so am expecting to pick it up fairly quickly. I also used to mucked around with a kite on a land board occasionally so have an idea of the basics but that was 8 years ago.
I plan on taking a 4hr lesson with one of the schools at the spit however I want to start keeping an eye out for deals and buying some gear slowly now with the intention of having a full setup ready to go by summer.
I am 205lbs and 6'2"-3"ish, my question is what size kite and board should I be looking out for if I was to get one kite that will work in the most conditions at the spit to begin with that will hopefully last me a while as I progress?
Hi Justin Welcome to the sport. I hope that you noticed the 'Getting Started' link near the top of this page. This time of year there is nothing going on at Squamish but you can stop in a store like Airtime for advice. A quick trip to Baja is a good option for the next month. Then in the spring we start having good kiting at Spanish Banks and Boundary Bay.
As for gear, everybody has their favorite. Be careful of buying anything more than a few years old even if it is in good condition. At your size a 10m kite might be good for Squamish (or something 9m to 12m) and a twin tip board at least 41 to 44 cm wide (length is less important)