For two months, Paul Donnolo had been chasing wind and snow.

In December, he went to Maui on 24 hours notice but the forecast tanked overnight once he got there. Over the holidays he wound up in Georgetown, Mont., where the wind was good but the snow was not.

Next, he was off to Jackson Hole, Wyo., where he found snow, but not wind.

Skyline, Utah, was the next stop, where both the wind and snow were lackluster.

Finally, Paul Donnolo caught a break.

On his way home to Coeur d'Alene from Utah on New Year's Eve, Interstate 15 North was closed and a detour took him through Island Park.

There was snow.

There was wind.

There was no time to waste.

He grabbed his snowboard, kite and harness.

It was time.

Donnolo glided on and above the white ground of the Targhee National Forest, sometimes 10 mph, others topping 25 mph.

As he zipped along, friend Jeff Pierson of Wildlight Photography snapped away. It was one of those bliss-filled days to be looked back upon with only smiles and wishes it could have lasted longer than a few hours.

"It really was a good day for it," Donnolo said.

He'll be back, too.

"That's where we have to go right now since there's no snow in town," Donnolo said.

The 42-year-old has been a dedicated snowkiter for five years - a sport born out of windsurfing about 10 years ago. But instead of being harnessed to a sail, you're attached to a kite. Instead of flying over water, you soar over and on snow.

The Rathdrum Prairie or the fields of the Palouse offer perfect grounds for North Idaho snowkiting - when there's snow. Or the Gorge, even, works well, too. The wind is plentiful, anyway.

At 10-12 mph, "you can have quite a bit of fun," Donnolo said.

Thirty-five or 40 mph, "is where they draw the line for safety."

"When you do hit a jump, you can get 30-35 feet up," he said. "You can get up there pretty good."

If the wind is strong, a smaller kite is best.

If the wind is weak, try a larger kite.

Over the course of a good day, a snowkiter could cover 50 miles or more, Donnolo said.

"You can go as fast as the wind," he said.

Donnolo, an experienced surfer and skier, has stuck with snowkiting since discovering it. He loves the self-expression that comes with "riding the wind."

"It's really exhilarating and gives you a sense of freedom," he said.

While equipment to start costs around $2,500, he advises lessons first. Don't read about it, see it on the Internet or on TV, then decide to do it.

That's a good way to get hurt.

"It can be a dangerous sport," he said. "There's a learning curve and safety aspect."

But you're never too old to try, he adds.

"It's the kind of thing, you don't have to be a teenager to get into it," he said.

Donnolo believes that eventually, the right combination of snow and wind will arrive in North Idaho. Eventually, he'll get his chance for some serious snowkiting near his home. Winter will deliver.

"As soon as the snow flies, I'll be out on the Prairie," he said.

If not, well, there's always a roadtrip. Load up the kites, the boards, the harness. Start driving.

Snow and wind, together, are somewhere, and Paul Donnolo will find them.