The Kiteboarder Magazine Vol. 11, No. 3 by The Kiteboarder Magazine

VOL. 11 NO.3 SCORING PIPELINE HOOD RIVER GIRLS

CIRCLING GREENLAND ADVENTURE DISSECTED

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Shana Gorondy Art Director Alexis Rovira Editor At Large Gary Martin Technical Editor Amy Robb Online Media Manager amy@thekiteboarder.com Paul Lang Senior Contributor/Photographer EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS Neil Hutchinson, Stefan Ruether, Rick Iossi, Toby Brauer, Matt Sexton, Kevin “Irie Dog” Murray, Kinsley ThomasWong, James Brown, Ginette Buffone, Maui Mike, Members of the Central Coast/Santa Barbara CKA, Evan Mavridoglou

CONTRIBUTORS Billy Bosch, John Bilderback, Colleen Carroll, Amy Robb, Dixie Dansercoer, Jen Jones, Stephen Whitesell, Tonia Farman

PHOTOGRAPHY Jason Lombard, Christian Black, Stanley Yu, Toby Bromwich/PKRA, Alexis Rovira, Nate Appel, Christine Sleichter, John Bilderback, Moona Whyte, Nate Volk, Eric McNair-Landry, Jen Jones, Vincent Bergeron, David Grahn, Kevin Drye, Stephen Whitesell, Damien LeRoy, Amy Robb, Manu Demanez Thanks to all editorial and photography contributors for supporting this magazine!

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CONTENTS

ON THE COVER Photographer Jason Lombard chases Alberto Rondina to Cabarete, Dominican Republic to capture the aftermath of a perfect load and pop in the flat waters of La Boca. Alberto is a four-time Italian champ riding for Cabrinha and Jason is a globetrotting photographer when he’s not managing the pineapple express as a ski patroller at Colorado’s famed Wolf Creek.

VOL. 11 NO.3 SCORING PIPELINE HOOD RIVER GIRLS

CIRCLING GREENLAND ADVENTURE DISSECTED

$9.99US

FEATURES:

12 BEYOND BEER PONG

46 SEA CHANGE

20 PIPELINE

58 KATABATIC CIRCLES

34 LARGER THAN LIFE

66 WHERE THE WIND BLOWS

Eric Rienstra’s friends call him The Predator. He earned this name from summer’s past, living in the jungle-like thicket of the spit, but it’s also a nod to his fearless intensity and focused consistency in the slider park. Eric uses this feature to cover some sizable sandbar real estate with the help of his friends, speed and altitude.

DEPARTMENTS: 10 FROM THE EDITOR

74 EXPOSED

18 THE SCENE

82 VIEWPOINT

54 PROFILED

84 ROOTS

86 PARTING SHOT

FROM THE EDITOR There’s a first time for everything. In these pages, surf photographer John Bilderback shares the first iconic kite surfing session at Hawaii’s famed Pipeline, while Flemish explorer Dixie Dansercoer tows us along with his 400-pound sled on one of the first successful Arctic circumnavigations with a kite. Colleen Carroll documents her first team trip with Aaron Hadlow as a North man, and a bit closer to home, our own staff member, Amy Robb, dissects the siren’s song of adventure with self-effacing wit and humor aboard her first boat trip with Vela St Martin. In my own personal experience, something as simple as a trying a new piece of equipment for the first time can drastically expand the kiting horizon. Last winter, I snagged a friend’s newfangled foil contraption to give it a go for myself. The ego-eviscerating fumbling that followed awoke a long forgotten intensity within. It’s been awhile since I had tasted the essence of early kiteboarding, a goofy spectacle delivering a complex matrix of challenge and reward. I purchased that very foilboard, a first generation Lift foil which I will admit, has changed my life by introducing far off mysto reefs never touched on surfboard, endless light wind sessions out my backdoor instead of a long drive up the coast, and not so simple maneuvers like the elusive full-foiling duck tack. Of all the diverse experiences the foil offers, the best by far is pushing the foil’s awkward initiation on friends. Watching tempers flare and grips tighten after each violent crash is better than a thousand ALS Ice Bucket Challenges on Facebook. These first time foil sessions are generally very safe for the instigator, passively watching the chaos from the sidelines. At least, that was what I thought until one late Hood River evening when I challenged North Kiteboarding’s Danny Schwarz. A shrewd businessman, Danny refused to put anything on the line unless I was equally compromised, so we agreed to a mutual challenge: Danny against the foil, and me against a rail for the first time, specifically the North Rooftop feature. Jesse Richman agreed to do the judging honors with failure in our respective challenges putting our facial grooming and haircut mercilessly in the hands of the other for 24 hours.

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The adventure that ensued is far too lengthy to recount in these pages (if it interests you, check our website), but it is safe to say that while both Danny and I thoroughly humiliated ourselves, we both discovered exciting new dimensions of kiteboarding while having a boatload of fun in the process.

: G N O P R E E B D N O Y BE

By Billy Bosch

S E V L O V E A K C E H T Four years out of college and I am still winning beer pong and dominating games of flip cup. Although I’m not really living the seventh-year-senior dream in Van Wilder or Dangerfield fashion, one of the perks of my volunteer work with the Collegiate Kiteboarding Association (CKA) happens to be participating in college kite parties from time to time. In actuality, I graduated in five years with an Engineering degree while successfully starting a business during my senior year. As an undergrad at the University of Florida, I became involved in what was the early days of the CKA, which introduced me to groups of likeminded young kiters with the motivation to better themselves. CKA was an outlet for our wind addiction while we immersed ourselves in the educational rigors of university life. The contacts and friendships made during that period of my life have continued to shape who I am today. The CKA played a pivotal role in starting my kiteboard school / retail shop Good Breeze, that has grown into a successful partnership with Ron Jon, a notable surf shop in Florida. The first semblance of an organized college kiting association started in 2007 when Matt Sexton was a student at Eckerd College. He spearheaded a number of college events with support from Slingshot’s Neil Hutchinson and friends. In those days, kiteboarding and college did not go hand in hand, so Matt and Neil deserve credit for pulling student kiteboarders out of the woodwork and building the foundation of the CKA organization. As word spread, many students, such as myself, started clubs at their respective schools. This grassroots growth continued for a few strong years but after Matt and others including me graduated, the membership numbers of CKA fizzled. Companies like Liquid Force tried to step up by letting the West Coast clubs use their liability insurance to run events while also contributing gear to incentivize participation, but the infrastructure was lacking and soon these gatherings were put on hiatus as well.

Some of the more structured clubs continued on and remain strong today. To be honest, there wasn’t much organization even within the biggest clubs to begin with, however the energy from a few key leaders created enough momentum to keep the clubs going after the figureheads graduated and moved on to successful careers. Former president of UC Santa Barbara Club, Chris Herbert, started his own tech company upon graduation while past Eckerd College treasurer Chase Kosterlitz started the Stand Up Paddle Athletes Association and is winning SUP races left and right. Cal Poly’s Patrick Rebstock won the first ever West Coast CKA event and continues to push the envelope in strapless kitesurfing for Slingshot Kites. The list of early CKA pioneers goes on, but their post collegiate careers are equally as impressive. These days the CKA is experiencing a resurgence with expanded participation of almost 20 active schools. This is in no small part due to the return of CKA alumni to help steer the national organization and build membership. Brian Walters, alumni of Florida State University, is the current president of CKA and operates remotely from New Zealand where he works full time as a financial investor. Our vice president is Ryan Druyor who works as a scientist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Current Florida Atlantic University student, Bret Sullivan, is acting treasurer and gives a good insight into what is currently happening within the college community. Among the other volunteers at the CKA, I fill in the gaps as industry coordinator with the goal of maintaining brand and shop relationships while securing donations and funding for the organization.

CK CHRISTIAN BLA

The CKA is now a 501(c)3 nonprofit association, which is crucial because we rely heavily on donations and fundraising to support collegiate kiteboarding. Our events are limited by the scope of donations, so fundraising is an important aspect at both the club and organizational level. Most kiteboarding brands are responsive to requests for support, frequently donating equipment and “swag” as prizes at the events. For a small collegiate club like Florida Atlantic University, equipment prizes can be just as good as money. In 2013 FAU could hardly secure $250 in funding from their school, but due to the competitive level of the riders on their team, their winnings added two complete kites and a board to the club’s equipment list, a retail value of $3500.

events. The generous sponsorship that Best has committed has helped us grow CKA participation. From an industry standpoint, a functioning collegiate club is essentially a kite school that is growing the next generation of kiters. College students are introduced to the sport and its culture and once they graduate and acquire well paying jobs they are in a position to purchase gear. Visionary brands like Best, are investing in the long game. College students are in a part of their life where they might have the time and the athletic ability to quickly learn to kiteboard through a club, but they often don’t have the financial freedom to acquire equipment. This is where brands that help us build strong clubs with resources and a deep arsenal of communal gear can have a sizeable impact on our sport.

While quality prizes are important at the club level, we must also secure monetary backing to execute the highest level of events possible. One of our biggest supporting brands is Best Kiteboarding. They stepped up this past year to become head sponsor for the CKA and donated money to run each one of our

Another major challenge to the CKA’s strength is maintaining a consistent level of organization at the individual schools. A wellorganized club is better prepared to navigate the paperwork process for obtaining funding from school athletic and activity programs to pay for travel to CKA events as well as equipment. Many of the clubs

LEFT: Although collegiate kiting isn’t necessarily responsible for turning Patrick Rebstock into a pro, it probably didn’t hurt. ABOVE: When he’s not competing at CKA events, Bronek Gepner is working on his PhD in Civil Engineering while studying “Crashworthiness Evaluation of Paratransit Buses.” RIGHT: Chris Herbert created a quarter sized tracking device that pairs with smart phones to locate your keys and just about anything else. After crowdfunding over a million dollars, Chris’ team delivered a working product called TrackR. BELOW: Zach Goepel works for a virtual reality company that is revolutionizing the architecture industry with immersive 3D simulated building models.

a club exists. This is changing rapidly with the advancement of the sport as well as our promotional efforts at the CKA. The learning age of kiteboarders is dropping quickly as equipment and instruction techniques evolve, introducing the sport to a wider audience. I feel this is one area that will work itself out over time, particularly with the expansion of the CKA.

STANLEY YU

One of our long term organizational goals is to offer scholarships and support to individual students throughout their time in school. Many students have no choice but to take on the financial stress of student loans and university work programs. If the CKA can help these students with equipment and participation costs, this will strengthen the roster of each club. We recently worked with a group called Sportfiilm to offer a $1000 scholarship to the student who submitted the best kiteboarding video. The creativity and level of riding was extraordinary with the videos gaining over 50,000 views on the web.

with an established track record are receiving thousands of dollars each year to support their programs and get more students involved. We’ve learned that a big component of maintaining a structured club is establishing better plans for passing the torch between each generation. When club leaders graduate they need to ensure a line of successors will fill behind them. Without this structure, a club can easily dissolve upon the graduation of one or more individuals. This has been seen in the past by clubs as well as the CKA itself. In the last year we’ve created an effective management structure for the national organization, while at the club level we are building a document to act as a guide for students looking to start or maintain their school’s kiteboarding club. Although every school has different policies and requirements, we’ve created a basic outline for success, easily accessible to students in the form of an operational handbook. The dissolution of clubs is not solely caused by lack of organization or structure. Many simply do not have an adequate number of kiteboarders at the school or the students just have no idea that

Collegiate kiteboarding is becoming a proven path into professional positions in the kite industry. Matt Sexton graduated from Eckerd College, teamed up with the Otherside Boardsports and is now running Keys Cable Park. He has also been riding on the Slingshot team for many years. After University of Central Florida, Alex Fox is cranking out amazing videos and designing killer graphics for Slingshot’s latest products while also riding on the Slingshot Team. There’s no question that the CKA is an excellent resource for the kiteboarding industry, but without the generosity of individuals and organizations willing to donate their time, skills and resources, the grassroots clubs won’t grow. The current and past CKA officers have dedicated a great deal of time along with personal monetary investment into the growth of the organization. Like many past graduating club members, these investments are warranted because each officer experienced firsthand how their involvement enriched their lives in so many positive and unique ways. The bonds formed from the collegiate kiteboarding experience are memories we will treasure for a lifetime. We welcome any support toward our efforts to grow the collegiate kiteboarding scene and a new generation of riders. To get involved with the Collegiate Kiteboarding Association or learn more about participating in college events check out their website: www.collegekiteboarding.com

THE SCENE

1 2

1. KB4C volunteers Rayna Morton and Dustin Laur keep a close eye on the silent auction. PHOTO TKB STAFF 2. Blaine Baker and Lindsay McClure attend Stoked Roaster’s opening party on the Hood River waterfront. PHOTO TKB STAFF 3. Another textbook launch from

the legendary A-Train with the paint still drying on the second story addition to the spit’s clubhouse. PHOTO TKB STAFF 4. The late summer buzz was all about SPO – the St. PeterOrding event in Germany is easily the biggest kite event of the year. PHOTO TOBY BROMWICH / PKRA 5. Alex Bloechinger doing some heavy lifting in the R&D department. PHOTO TKB STAFF 6. Marie Lacroix Samson, Corrie Neufeld, and Jessica Winkler rock the women’s podium for big air bragging rights at the Squamish Kite Clash. PHOTO ALEXIS ROVIRA 7. Paul Porter drops in on the Bridge of the Gods Kite Festival to judge the pro division. PHOTO TKB STAFF 8. Winning trophies is cool but the stoke at a fun event like the Bridge of the Gods Festival is off the charts. PHOTO TKB STAFF 9. Gary Siskar and Fletcher Chouinard taking a break from kiting laps while raising records amounts of money for KB4C’s Camp Koru cancer survivorship programs. PHOTO TKB STAFF 10. Real Watersports plays host to the Blu Girls, a band of mountain girls with a nack of combining adventure and fashion. PHOTO NATE APPEL 11. Chris Boyle is caught teaching girlfriend Inga Aprans at the sandbar. So far so good! PHOTO TKB STAFF 12. Jalou Langeree packs friends Suzanne Kuiper and Robin Oudshoorn for a trip around Fuerteventura. PHOTO SELFIE 13. Hood River’s big four: Jacob Cook, Brave Dave, Danny Schwarz and Mike Duhaime swap uniforms for the day. PHOTO TKB STAFF 14. Rich Sabo and Gregg Gnecco keep KB4Cers motivated by freestylin’ on the mic. PHOTO TKB STAFF 15. Christine Sleichter and family load up the RV for some good old kite adventures. PHOTO CHRISTINE SLEICHTER 16. Richard Hallman celebrates the win along with his team, The Patagonia Randoms, which he purchased for bragging rights as the highest bidder at live auction during the KB4C pre-party. PHOTO TKB STAFF 17. A pro photographer like Toby Bromwich is no stranger to danger. PHOTO TKB STAFF 18. Team Naish, Jesse Richman and Mike Duhaime, getting pumped up for KB4C. PHOTO TKB STAFF 19. Daring photographer Patrick Rebstock shares the takeoff ramp with Eric Rienstra to get the best shot. PHOTO TKB STAFF If you have a photo you would like to see in The Kiteboarder Magazine, send it to editor@thekiteboarder.com.

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16 17 11

Words and Photos by John Bilderback

There is only one Banzai Pipeline and it is the spectacle that has been called “the greatest 10 seconds in surfing.” Many will argue there are heavier waves in terms of physics — bigger drops, thicker lips, and shallower reefs, but in terms of the place it occupies in the surfing universe, none can compare. Pipeline is the original, the prototype, the alpha. 21

MOONA WHYTE

LEFT: Reo Stevens in front of the Volcom house struggling with a heavy case of indecision while waiting for a glimpse of a second rideable wave. Photo Moona Whyte ABOVE: Bilderback and Reo joked that when Keahi arrived, a perfect wave would unload on Pipe’s reef. Sure enough it did, and Keahi pulled the trigger within 30 seconds of getting to the park.

n the early years of surfing it’s intimidating shape and tightly focused power inspired debate: Could it be ridden? Could it even be survived? From all accounts, Pipeline got its name in December 1961 when surfing movie producer Bruce Brown was driving the North Shore with California surfers Phil Edwards and Mike Diffenderfer. Brown stopped at the then unnamed site to film Edwards catch several waves. Like royal offspring, from day one, Pipeline was brought to life under the intense scrutiny of the camera. These days when winter’s larger swells hit the North Shore the collection of expensive telephoto lenses lining the beach is staggering and with good reason. As surf imagery goes, the wave is nearly unbeatable. Even when the waves are large enough to break boards like matchsticks, the carnage happens a mere 75 yards off the beach. Perhaps that proximity is it’s defining characteristic because when someone gets a horrible beating on Pipe’s reef, you can almost feel it from the beach. Its intensity is well within reach of even a modest amount of empathy. Unfortunately for Oahu kite surfers with a taste for big waves, Pipeline faces directly into the prevailing east/northeast tradewinds which tragically blow straight into its barrel. Even if it weren’t packed with top echelon surfers every single day, the angle of the setup makes it essentially un-kiteable. Once however in 1987, Robby Naish surfed Pipe on a windsurfer with a strange and brief southwesterly wind that lasted for 45 minutes before the wind direction shifted. Twenty-seven years later, Robby’s session is a ghost that many people talk about as urban legend. I’d question its legitimacy if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes. Hawaii is known for its easterly trade winds because they blow roughly 250 days a year. Winter storm fronts kill the trades, replacing them with westerly Kona winds, named for the town on the western side of the Big Island. Kona’s predictably clock

around from the south to the west then north as the front passes, wreaking havoc on the ocean’s surface while often bringing rain. Most kiters sit out Kona’s unpredictable frontal winds and wait for the trades to return to their usual kiting spots but over the years a handful of kite surfers have scoured the North Shore of Oahu’s reefs for a Kona wind option. Jeff Tobias tackled some large storm waves one winter at Pipe and later Davey Blair developed a relationship with a big and nasty left called Rockpiles, a few hundred yards up the beach. Both attempts were bold and solo, these boys seeing something nobody else wanted in the sloppy and transient conditions. Despite their efforts, the photographic evidence was unappealing. Choppy, grey, and furious, the ocean bore an ugly and discouraging look – Pipe wasn’t her sexy self. Just as Pipe’s aversion to kite surfing was thoroughly planted in my mind, this winter, my 29th on the North Shore, everything changed. Hell must’ve frozen over.

January 25, 2014, was a Saturday. I had a pro-bono shoot on a piece of land we’re trying to protect from development. I was photographing some girls, cute kids and a dog, trying to capture the value of natural beauty and the loss we’d feel should someone pave over this part of paradise. Around mid-morning my phone vibrated, once, twice, three times. I try not to be one of those people who endlessly looks at their phone, but on the ocean I could see whitecaps moving left to right under the sunny skies. This had happened a couple of times over the last few weeks. The jet stream had shifted south and the storms that produced our typical winter swells were brushing unusually close to the islands as they passed.

This day, the weather wasn’t unsettled as the storm was two days out. I put my camera down and removed my phone to view

my message from Reo Stevens: “Checking Pipeline and I’m about 50% sure it’s rideable...” That was about 40% more confident than I needed to wrap this shoot, after all, how many photos can a surf photographer shoot of a couple of kids and a dog? Reo was standing at Ehukai, the beach park at Pipeline. As I walked up I could see Reo was flustered, wrestling with what he’d been watching. His phone’s battery had died so he was unable to confer with his partner-in-kite-crime Keahi de Aboitiz. I could sense Reo’s isolation on this tourist-packed beach. He’d seen one really good kiteable wave. It was perfect; it spit and then disappeared into 15 minutes of rubbish. I got Keahi on my phone and asked him to meet us while Reo and I assessed the many variables he needed to consider before committing and grabbing a pump.

It looked windy, but was it? The normal pack of surfers was absent. Was that a fluke? Would they all be paddling out any minute? Would the lifeguards, professionals in risk management in big surf, just shut him down when they saw what he was preparing to do? Was the current so strong from the left that it would suck all the power out of his kite as soon as he hit the water? Was that one spitting barrel the only one we’d see all day? Worst of all, would he be able to walk away — if he didn’t at least try? This was Pipeline after all and pardon the expression, this was not just another day at the beach. We joked that as soon as Keahi showed up, for sure, a perfect wave would come through, and that was exactly what happened. Keahi called it after all of 30 seconds. They would go. As a photographer, the long periods of crumbly waves between sets

didn’t bother me. All I needed was one good 500th of a second; the hours of crap that pass between make no difference to the still frame, everything in between is forgotten. As a kiter I also recognized that they’d need a fair bit of luck on top of their considerable talents to be in the right place at the right time in order to score the good waves amongst the garbage. I also knew they’d really be hanging their asses out, not just for themselves but for the sport too. What if, on surfing’s most prestigious stage, in front of hundreds of spectators, things went horribly wrong? It was easy to imagine all sorts of dire outcomes: A bad launch splattering into a few tourists, a kite falling impotently from the sky, or a humiliating “no way brah” from the esteemed North Shore lifeguards. It could end badly dozens of ways, that much I was certain, but I would back these two riders against these odds any day. I walked out onto the beach, planted my sticks in the sand and began cleaning my big lens.

Keahi and Reo set to work pumping up kites under the confused stares of all manner of beachgoers. I held my breath for the lifeguard’s reaction as the kites took shape on the sand. It bears saying that the lifeguards stationed at Pipeline are at the top of the surfing hierarchy. Being some of the most elite watermen anywhere on earth, you’d have to be a complete clown to argue against their judgment call. In my mind, the lifeguard’s blessing was key to the boys simply getting off the beach. Keahi and Reo quickly put their kites in the air and silence from the lifeguard tower indicated that the first of many hurdles was down. As the boys approached the water, the downwind current presented a clear problem. If either of them rigged too small of a kite, the loss of apparent wind would end the dream just feet from the beach. Their first power strokes generated good power, and they headed for the next challenge, the shorebreak at Gums.

Gums is the little patch of sand that sits just to the right, downwind in this case, of the wave at Pipe. It’s where you either squeak straight out, or get pummeled by brutal closeouts on the sandbar. From years of swimming out at Pipe, I can tell you that Gums can break your spirit before you’ve even gotten a chance to get your ass kicked with some dignity up at the peak. Once you’re past that though, you’ll have a relatively easy time getting to the real action at Pipe. Surviving Gums is a matter of timing. Both riders climbed some good sized foam, bore off downwind and then bam; they were outside!

Now I was getting excited. This might actually happen. Working their way upwind, feeling their way onto a few shoulders, each moved closer and closer to the peak. Within minutes the first proper fade and bottom turn sent cheers through the crowd. You could feel the support of the previously uncertain audience. Whatever these strange guys were up to, the crowd liked it. After several tacks, Keahi was the first to get to the bottom of a big one, skillfully setting it up on his backhand. Reo followed immediately on his forehand. This looked promising, the wind was cooperating and now scoring would come down to wave choice. The barrel at Pipeline comes from a combination of the wave hitting the abrupt reef and the trade winds holding up the lip as it throws out. Today’s unusual wind direction was not providing that kind of assistance, so if the wave was going to tube it would have to be from sheer horsepower. More swells rolled in, stacked up, and bowled as the boys came off the bottom, but then failed to morph into Pipe’s legendary round and hollow shape. After half an hour of shopping, Reo found a good one. He came from way behind the peak, dropping into a cutback stall as he got to the bottom, and pivoted onto his inside rail. He put his weight firmly onto his back leg, dragged his hand in the face and tucked under the lip. There it was, a legitimate barrel ride at Pipeline on a kite; the beach went nuts. I smiled wryly as I knew, no matter what, this was a little bit of history. Maybe it wasn’t the biggest or the most perfect wave, nor

“

”

If the wave was going to tube it would have to be from sheer horsepower.

LEFT: While searching for a hollow one, Reo lays into Pipe’s wall with a heavy hack under the lip. ABOVE: Always creating his own lines, Keahi drops a knee, drags his hand and sets his sights on Pipe’s backdoor.

The opportunity to charge Pipeline is fleeting at best, which makes the decision to proceed an uneasy balance between the excitement of scoring and the risk of complete failure. Standing at the entrance to Ehukai Beach Park, Keahi and Reo made the right call.

the gaping gutter we all know Pipeline can be, but after having seen Reo’s mentor Robby Naish put his mark on the place almost three decades earlier, I knew this moment was to be savored. I high-fived the people around me for Reo, knowing right then it was going to be a big night for the boys. Then the World Champ answered back. Keahi took a page from the Pipeline backsider’s handbook and went deep. He pulled in up high, grabbed his rail and stuck his butt into the wave face. The lip threw out over him, he travelled through the tube, and evened the score with the beach escalating into a full on love-fest. Meanwhile, Konrad Bright had driven down from his house at Yards for a look. By now he’d seen enough, and began to pump up his kite. Within minutes Konrad was in hot pursuit of his own piece of Pipe history. When he found a barrel for himself his smile was priceless. I could see it through my lens.

Having helped with launches and watching all this go down, Richard Whyte realized he couldn’t simply watch from the sidelines. He too blasted out through the shorebreak and made his way upwind. The two regular footers, Richard and Keahi, and the two goofy footers,

Reo and Konrad, rotated through the lineup. Each ride seemed to feed the whole group. Once they’d gotten a handle on what it took to bullseye the short thick barrel, the boys put on quite a show. The long, straight-walled and fast tubes they’d been pioneering at Backyards for the last several seasons were entirely different to what they faced here. I watched as the skilled tradesmen adapted their technique to Pipe’s demanding requirements. Instead of blazing speed, she required precise positioning and hitting the brakes at exactly the right moment. It was an impressive display of kitesurfing prowness. When the session finished, nobody could immediately process what had just happened. It took a couple of hours, maybe even a day, to comprehend how lucky they’d been to seize the moment. That day is a flash in Pipe’s long history, a unique opportunity that the boys might have to wait years or decades for the next one. Moments like these will go down in the history books, but as Reo will attest, only if you keep your phone charged and your eyes open. In the words of perhaps the greatest Pipeline surfer ever, “ You have to pay attention. That’s why we’re here in life – to learn how to properly pay attention.” – Gerry Lopez

Shawn Richman:

2015 PARK

Freeride/Freestyle Sizes: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14

2015 PIVOT

Freeride/Wave

Sizes: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14

Photos: Quincy Dein

PARK 6 + DUB 134x42

GET OUT AND RIDE ! The brand new Pivot arrives on its own terms, in a class of its own. This accessible, all-around freeride kite delivers quick and easy turning, intuitive steering and predictable power development so you can take advantage of every opportunity with complete control and confidence. Interlacing the past, present and future, we’ve taken a proven design and honed it even further to bring you the 2015 Park. With performance in mind, this year’s Park provides an even easier ride, the power to boost and outstanding freeride and freestyle performance. Play matchmaker and combine your kite with any one of our 35 test-winning twin tip or directional kiteboards and you’ve got yourself the perfect ride!

Jesse Richman:

PIVOT 5 + SKATER 4’8”

2015

KITEBOARDS

MEGA

MONARCH

ANTIC

DUB

MOTION

HERO

GROM

ALANA

ORBIT

GLOBAL

ALANA

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130x38 134x40

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5’2” 5’8” 5’10” 6’0”

5’6”

Pacific Boardsports LLC - info@pacificboardsports.com - (509) 493-0043

NaishKiteboarding

SKATER CUSTOM LE 4’8” (S) 5’2” (M) 5’6” (L)

5’7” 5’10” 6’0”

ALAIA 5’9”

NAISHKITES.COM 33

larger than

life

By Colleen Carroll | Photos by Toby Bromwich

I hear my name shouted from somewhere upwind. As I turn to see the source of the cry, a soggy tennis ball comes soaring straight for my face. It was Reno Romeu, my North Kiteboarding teammate from Brazil with the strong arm. He and the cheeky Brit, Tom Court, had instigated a game of catch while kiting under the Golden Gate Bridge with fellow teammates Craig Cunningham and Aaron Hadlow during one of the last days of our 2015 North Kiteboarding Vegas team shoot this summer. Whether it was the intended message or not, it came through loud and clear. It was time to stop and smell the roses. We had been intensely planning for the two-week shoot for months. All the details that go into pulling a trip of this magnitude together takes copious

Google searches, hours of brainstorming on the phone and negotiating complicated travel logistics. No matter how much planning you do beforehand, inevitably unforeseen challenges arise and the troubleshooting begins well before anyone has boarded a flight. We encountered uncooperative weather, vehicle breakins, traffic closures leading to missed sessions, locked keys in cars and the biggest challenge of all: Exhaustion. Going hard sunrise to sunset takes itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toll. Especially when you are burning the candle on both ends for weeks. This comes with the territory and if asked, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure that any of the members of our team would do it all again in a heartbeat, because these photo trips always end up being memorable adventures as well.

Aaron Hadlow When five-time World Champion Aaron Hadlow announced his decision to leave long-standing sponsor Flexifoil, everyone wondered what would be his next move. Rumors flew, was he branching out on his own? Or would he join one of the existing brands? If he chose the latter, which brand could offer the support that such a high caliber athlete required? The announcement, timed impeccably with his wins in both surf and slicks at the Triple-S Invitational, seemed a likely choice. He had signed with one of the biggest brands in the industry, North Kiteboarding. Of course, we had been in the loop all along. Craig, Tom and I had already given a warm welcome to our new teammate and longtime friend, knowing he would meet us in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to start our first shoot as a team. North had sent photographer Toby Bromwich to photograph us during the second half of the Triple-S and to continue shooting for the following week to get the first historic shots of Aaron as a North International Athlete. As far as photo shoots go, Cape Hatteras is a dream location. The kite spots are close, the features are perfect, and more often than not you’ll be woken up with a steady 18-22 knot breeze. We worked hard following the Triple-S: We sessioned daily, discussed future projects and enjoyed the collaboration of working together as a new team. It would have been easy for Aaron to come to the shoot on his own agenda with his personal goals placed well ahead of those of the group. But on the contrary, Aaron’s laid-back attitude and expertise was a pleasure to have onboard and made us even more excited to rendezvous at our next destination for good ol’ fashioned kiting fun in the Pacific Northwest.

hood river The North Kiteboarding roots reach deep into Hood River. The North Sail loft was located there when designer Ken Winner and team rider Jaime Herraiz crafted their first kites. The Gorge’s consistent summer winds were ideal for testing prototypes and developing gear and as a result North quickly became a fixture in the scene, as the sport gained a foothold in North America. In choosing a location for the team trip, this piece of North history combined with Hood River’s undeniable status as a mecca for wakestyle kiteboarding was enough to tip the scales in favor of the Gorge. So while most photoshoot locations are chosen for white sandy beaches and jello-y waters, the 2015 freestyle shoot was brought back to the place where it all started and where the team could truly put the Vegas to the test. As Murphy’s Law would predict: Any time you plan a contest or book a photoshoot, or basically invest time and money on a set of narrow dates for any reason, it’s virtually guaranteed you will have trouble with the weather. July in the Columbia Gorge is as good as it gets, but we all know there is no such thing as a “sure thing” in kiteboarding. As luck would have it, during our time in Hood River we frequently woke up to light winds or worse, dark clouds threatening to shower. Given our limited time frame, we didn’t have the luxury of losing a single day. We would start early and finish late just as the sun ducked behind the last hill on the horizon, finding minimal time to do much else besides kite and chase the weather. During the shoot we experienced every possible condition and kited every size in our quivers, from our 7m to 14m. After all our efforts, we had scored enough sessions where everything seemed to come together. The promise of clean wind and calm water lured us to explore lesser known places for some epic freestyle rides and we enjoyed riding in the slider park to catch sessions that, albeit challenging, were motivating. One person’s hit would inspire the next, all the while, the cameras encouraging bigger moves and newer more progressive tricks. We all worked hard to earn that feeling of success at the end of the day.

JIBSTRUCTION Looking out from the downtown streets of Hood River, you’ll see the only public slider park on this half of the globe. Made possible by sponsoring brands and the Slider Project, the park is open for all. Positioned in the shallow juncture of the Hood and Columbia Rivers, the hand-built features are located in one of the few flat water spots of the entire Gorge and as a result, the park has evolved into one of the most consistent breeding grounds for slider talent in the world. In the planning stages of this year’s Vegas shoot, Craig Cunningham wanted to build a new slider that would be a unique element for the North team, as well as a fun and challenging fixture in the park for years to come. Once the budget was secured, a lot of details needed to come together to make the rooftop happen. Joby Cook started the construction process well in advance, but in the week leading up to our shoot we had to hustle to get a high-end graphic wrap designed while dialing in the small things like anchors and permits before we could launch. Joby’s company, Jibconstruction, built the rooftop completely out of HDPE plastic 4x8 sheets that were welded together using an oversized high-tech glue gun. It was a clean design: No screws, no wood, no metal frame. Through an awesome collaborative effort, the brand new North rooftop slider was ready for it’s maiden session shortly after the team arrived. The feature itself was massive, measuring in at 74 feet long and 18 inches wide. The rail was so big that it had to be constructed and transported in three separate pieces. The first day it was in the water the whole community rallied to help move it into position and instead of the NKB team monopolizing the first hits, we invited all the locals and pros in town to break in its first session. That day we rode until the very last breathe of wind and it was sheer satisfaction to see this project come to life.

san francisco After 10 days in Hood River, it was time to show our out-of-town teammates something beyond our beloved little kite town. The plan was to expose the guys to something they’d never seen before, so we loaded up a massive recreational vehicle and headed south, cruising along the Pacific’s rocky coastline and towering old growth forests. Our final destination? One of the largest West Coast cities, a hot bed for tech startups, cable cars, free love and a premier kite destination to boot. We were road trippin’ to San Francisco.

The trek is not particularly arduous, especially when you’re traveling the good old American way: A 32-foot house on wheels equipped with every imaginable amenity. We wound our way down Highway 101 stopping at any sign of wind, drive-through-trees, or the best in seafood buffets. We were yet again unlucky with wind as we checked the usual coastal spots, so we kept our train moving and headed straight for the Golden Gate Bridge.

Tom Court living large under the Golden Gate Bridge.

As we arrived in San Francisco, coming to the top of the last hill before the bridge, everyone in the RV jammed to the front eager to get the first glimpse. If you’ve never seen it before, it really is a remarkable structure, huge in stature with beautiful lines coloring the sky. Larger than life. As we drove across the bridge during the late rush hour traffic, we noticed whitecaps still lingering below. It seemed our jinx had been lifted; we were going to score a session. We drove straight to the launch at Crissy Field and quickly unpacked kites, feeling extra eager after traveling for so many hours. We kited until there was no more light, sticking close to shore because of the strong currents and dropping winds. But the following day we would come back for more and get our chance to do what we came for; kiting under the Golden Gate Bridge. It may sound like a simple goal but until you’ve done it, you can’t fully understand its weight. Feeling the currents rip beneath you with the enormous ceiling above, carrying the load of the daily commute, is a heady experience.

For the five of us, it was the perfect way to end the trip: A lighthearted session of catch, while reveling in the sheer act of kiteboarding underneath an iconic landmark so much bigger and permanent than ourselves.

SEA CHANGE By Amy Robb | Tkb Staff

“

Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. — Terry Pratchett

”

I’m going to Bolivia. This is what I told my parents one evening when I was 20 years old and had just quit school to think about what I really wanted to do with my life. “That’s nice,” my mom replied after she’d looked at a map, and before she realized I was serious. I didn’t really have a plan. But that really didn’t matter. Two weeks later, I returned home with paper tickets. The call to adventure is a difficult thing to explain. Most of us know the feeling; that urge, that longing, that desire for something that upsets the monotony of our daily routine. But what we don’t know is where it comes from or why it persists. There are people who maintain we’re born with it. J.R.L. Anderson calls it “the exploring instinct in man,” The Ulysses Factor, but I’d argue it’s actually something we learn and develop. I think of this now as I pack my bags for St. Martin. Two weeks prior, I had received a call from Vela Kitesurf indicating that a handful of industry reps and riders were planning a kite-sailing trip en route home from the Bahamas. When my husband Geordie and I were asked to join, my answer without hesitation was (as it always is) yes, because just the mere idea of doing something I’d never done felt instantly enticing. And this, of course, is how adventure gets you hooked. It’s the beer you drink because you forgot your last hangover and the horse you get back on because your back is no longer broken. Adventure always sounds like a good idea in the abstract. That is, before the adventure begins and then again, if (and when) you actually survive. What’s fuzzy around the edges, however, is what sits smack dab in the middle, that elusive elixir that causes us to crave more. I decide while packing that our last-minute trip will be a very deliberate and determined study aimed at understanding the experience of adventure, and I proceed to do what any great conquistador before me might have also done: I jam four travel-size bottles of booze into my pack and roll out a comprehensive plan. 1) Fly to the Caribbean. 2) Get on a boat. 3) Find some wind, and 4) Stay curious. We flew east from Miami, Florida to St. Martin on the earliest flight out of dodge, leaving open the possibility of a late afternoon session upon arrival. St. Martin is one of 20 island states marking the northeast corner of the Caribbean, and prior to our arrival, my only recollection of its existence was an image I’d seen years before of a KLM plane landing dangerously close to the sea, with jet blasts so close they scattered sunbathers like seeds across the beach. St. Martin is governed half by the Dutch and half by the French, and we’re greeted at the airport by humidity and a cacophony of international languages. I don’t know what it is about an island, but instantly, I feel the tension from a week’s worth of work fall from my shoulders and I begin to look for an umbrella-topped cocktail. I make my way to our kite bags and bumble through immigration, only to find my pace slowing at a charming rate. This is how it feels, I think to myself, to relax.

ad路ven路ture [ad-ven-cher]

1. An exciting or unusual experience. 2. A bold or risky undertaking involving action with uncertain outcomes.

Outside the airport, the afternoon trade winds dry beads of sweat from my forehead. We load our gear into a well-worn van and wind our way through old island development, tin roofs, and lap-sided shanties. We pass a rusty desalination plant and learn that every drop of water running from island taps is dependent on this technology; a reminder of how tenuous life in the midst of an ocean can be.

of French Captain Manu, pro-kiter Damien LeRoy, pro-windsurfer Tyson Poor, the General Manager of Vela, Karl Williams, Geordie, and me. Our plan is to sail between various locations throughout the three West Indian islands of St. Martin, St. Barts, and Anguilla in search of wind. While my husband and I have never been drawn to anything but do-it-yourself travel, I must admit, having plans made by the Vela team was a welcomed reprieve.

Only 30 minutes from the bustling airport, we arrive at the northeast corner of the island, and get our first glimpse of Orient Bay, a spectacular mitt of deep blue water, catching breezes that roll off the Atlantic. Just slightly offshore to the east, sits one small quay breaking the ocean’s long fetch, providing ample flats in the lee and waves on an outside reef.

Geordie and I check-in, then quickly drop our packs and hustle to the beach where we’re greeted again by the St. Martin crew, only this time with two kites pumped, bars and lines run, plus boards at the ready to spare. Less than one hour after we’d arrived we’re rigged and launched, blissfully zipping by kite across brand new waters.

When the van stops to drop us off, we learn that our first night on the island will be spent at the beautiful Plantation Hotel, and the next morning, we’re due to board Vela St. Martin’s 38-foot catamaran. For the next six days, our motley crew will be comprised

Later that night, I lay under the mosquito netting in our air conditioned room and log entry number one into my little book of study on adventure. It read: Doing everything yourself may, in fact, be overrated.

“

o venture causes anxiety, but not to venture T is to lose one’s self. . . and to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one’s self. —Søren Kierkegaard

”

Tintamare is a small island that sits just outside the north entrance of Orient Bay, and when the trade winds are steady, its leeward beaches provide the perfect launch for an 8-mile crossing to the crystal clear waters of Anguilla. Our plan was to a spend a night at anchor in the lee of the island, then start early the next morning bound for Rendezvous Bay. Karl, an instigator of adventure by trade, will sail the boat with Manu, while the rest of us travel by kite. While I didn’t dare say it out loud, I knew the crossing could push my limits. Physically, it would be two, maybe three hours in the beating sun, riding swell that could easily rise well above my head, but more significantly, I questioned whether I had the mental focus necessary to keep myself calm in the midst of uncertain waters.

On shore at Tintamare, the wind was light but steady, so we pumped up our biggest kites. I stood on the beach anxiously scanning the horizon for navigational landmarks on Anguilla, while the rest of our crew buzzed about me with enthusiastic energy. Geordie, Damien and Tyson seemed utterly uninterested in details, like where we were going or what might happen in case of an emergency, and my mind raced in ongoing negotiations with my nerves. The reality is that part of being a kiter demands that each of us must recognize the fact that our safety, our well-being, and our ability to find happiness on the water, is our own responsibility, and ours alone. At its worst, the weight of this task paralyzes us in fear; at best, it gives rise to a tremendous sense of wholeness and well-being. The real challenge is when it leaves us dangling, suspended somewhere in between. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me how easy it is to avoid hazards by simply “looking where you want to go,” I’d be rich. Like a journalist drawn to tragedy or a teenager drawn to drama, I’ve got a knack for fixating on places I shouldn’t. In addition to our boat, there were two other sailboats at anchor off the beach at Tintamare, and while there was plenty of wind in the channel, in the lee of the island, the breeze was light and fickle. The thought of weaving my kite between tall masts was making me sweat. Much to my surprise, I launch and the boats are easier to navigate than I expect, but another challenge falls quickly in its wake. Everyone, including our boat, has left the island and my sights are now set firmly on the horizon at Rendezvous Bay. The boys, however, spotted a surf break just off the southern tip of Tintamare and within just a few reaches, they’ve made their way upwind to surf a few sets. And then a few more. What I sometimes fail to remember is that one person’s idea of riding “together,” at a rescuable distance, is another person’s equivalent of kiting so far apart that you might as well be left alone to die at sea. With the boat already a half mile from the island in the opposite direction, I knew if I left the group, there’d be a considerable distance between me and everything else quite quickly, but staying meant my anxiety over energy conservation would continue to mount. I didn’t much like the idea of charging forth alone across waters I’d never kited, but after nearly 30 minutes of mowing the lawn, I also knew my limits – and when I get tired, things ABOVE: Sailing St. Martin on a Lagoon 38 provides comfortable sleeping accommodations for eight and plenty of room for gear on a one week adventure at sea. RIGHT: From boats to boards, French Captain and bonafide waterman, Manu Demanez, has been chasing wind and water around the world for the better half of his life.

never go well. Watching the boat continue to steadily make way, I make one last glance behind to see my husband, Tyson and Damien still circling through turns on the break. I conclude I have but only one choice, and with a deep breath of resolve, I turn my board downwind . . . and hope for the best. As I make my way into the channel, the water beneath me morphs from turquoise to royal to a deep and mesmerizing navy blue. In the moments when I manage to suspend my mind’s chatter of what-ifs, I become convinced there’s no greater joy than the lift of a quiet swell, the swish of my board beneath me, and the gentle pull of my kite moving me forward over giants. I’ll admit I was a little miffed at first when I felt forced to go it alone, but soon enough, I had gained ground on the boat and on deck I could see Karl waving his arms enthusiastically, making me at once feel both relieved and proud. Eventually, I looked behind me, expecting to see no one in sight. Much to my surprise, however, everyone was there; and probably had been all along. Later that night after dinner, I lay in my cabin feeling fully satisfied with the day’s events. With the sound of the ocean lapping at the hull, I stare at the stars through my hatch and marvel at time; how slow it is to pass when life is challenging, and how fast it flies when things go right. I drift to sleep thinking maybe adventure, like time, is relative.

“

Be careful going in search of adventure – it’s ridiculously easy to find. –William Least Heat-Moon

”

The whir of the dingy was erratic and sputtered as salt water licked our faces. Mine, was decidedly sunburnt. Manu’s was fixed and crispy. There’d been no wind all day and as evening set in, our crew was anxious in the way that three days of Caribbean sun, saltwater, and rolling about on a boat can make a person anxious: Half-stir-crazy, slightly queasy, UVbaked, and sometimes, a little bored. In what seemed like just moments after we dropped the hook, I looked up from the deck to find three faint silhouettes paddle boarding into the horizon. I grabbed a camera, signaled to our fearless French captain, and over the rail into the dink we went. As we beat our way across the chop, I begin to make out green, glassy waves in the shadow of the island’s foothills. Manu skillfully positions the dinghy just outside the break, the outboard still whirring, working hard to keep us in place. Beneath the surface, I see a faint, wavy line where the sandy bottom meets ribbons of reef, and just as I pull the camera out of the drybag, the engine sputters, letting out a defeated cough. Manu checks the prop, pulls the housing, and sighs. With no quick fix looming, he ties a bowline to the dinghy’s Danforth, and gives it a toss. The anchor sets and I feel a slight tug, which I know means the dinghy is now as steady as it will get, so with our position fixed, I ready myself to shoot. Waves roll onto the bow pulling hard against our anchor, and through every trough, I raise the camera over my head to keep it dry. As the boat crests, I shoot. As we dip, I lift. As we come up, I shoot. When we drop, I lift. This goes on for a somewhat ridiculous amount of time.

Admittedly, it was a buck-shot approach to photography at best (and if anyone other than Manu, still sullen over the state of his surly engine, had been watching, I would have been embarrassed), but given my current circumstances, and all the moving demands, I found myself feeling unusually tough. I decide in that moment, adventure is a space in time when we have a 40% chance of success and a 40% chance of failure – and the difference between the two rests solely in the balance of our own personal action. So for my part, I stood at the bow of the dink and took water on with a mission. I fired the camera as if my life depended on it. I told myself the only thing that stood between me and that Canon’s certain death by saltwater was my increasing desire to get the shot, and I became hell-bent on getting that shot. Breaking my moment of delusional glory, however, was Damien who, somewhere in the middle of my battle against nature’s elements, had paddled right up to the dinghy to see if we were alright. “Hey – you guys okay?” From the look on Damien’s face, it occurs to me we might not be as in control of the situation as my imagination would have it. “Don’t worry, I’m keeping it dry!” I tell him (it is, after all, his camera). “I’m not worried,” he says with a nonchalant shrug, “It’s just a camera.”

BELOW: As the sun sets over the West Indies, Damien LeRoy drops into yet another adventure on a break near the foothills of St. Barts.

“

Adventure is not outside man, it is within. –George Eliot

”

Damien turns to paddle away and I check to confirm all our bits are still in the boat. Suddenly, I feel very silly. In contrast to his calm, cool demeanor on the water, I’m a fumbling mess. “It’s not about the camera,” he yells again over his shoulder across the surf, “Life’s about experience!” I grin, in part because his words sound a little funny when said out loud, and in part because I know they’re true.

He also leads an exceptionally “adventurous” life: Last week, the Bahamas. This week St. Martin. Next week, Texas, followed by a week in Peru. As I listen to stories and watch him interact with the world, I begin to wonder what happens to the nature of adventure, when adventure becomes part of your routine?

In the minutes before dark, Manu continues to tinker with the outboard, and I let my mind drift back to notions of adventure. While it’s true what Damien says, it’s not about the things we have, but the experiences we collect along the way; not all experiences result in adventure for everyone. What may be an unusual experience to some, is ho-hum for another; and what may seem typical for one person, can be life-changing for someone else. I put the camera away and cast my gaze out upon Damien and Tyson, still surfing wave after wave. I contemplate what it must be like to live their lives. From the outside looking in, it’s one series of adventures after another. The road that goes on forever, the party that never ends. There’s a slight lurch in the boat as Manu stands and takes a pull at the engine. The motor turns over, and he quickly throttles up, sitting down to avoid tossing himself overboard. Finally, we turn and point toward home – a well-lit boat that awaits us, a floating oasis across the bay.

On our final day aboard the boat, we round a point from Marigot Harbor under full sail toward Orient Bay. Tyson stands casting a line astern, Manu’s eyes are fixed on the horizon, and Geordie is asleep on deck. Damien and I sit resting in the shade of the sail. I ask him point-blank, “Do you ever get tired of these kinds of trips?” “What do you mean?” he replied. “I mean, all the adventures. Do they ever get... boring?” “Aw, no. At this point, it’s all about giving back.” I look down into the ocean’s shimmering blue as it passes, and smile. Not only is Damien kind and cheerful, but he’s generous too. He talks about the choices he’s made, the stability it provides, and about the way the passing of time has brought him new challenges. The onceintoxicating adventure of building a career that was all about Damien, is no longer just about himself. It’s now also about nurturing young riders and leveraging good causes; supporting others in their pursuits, and most of all, making meaningful connections with the people he meets along the way – a new frontier of adventure.

“ ”

If you’ve never had the opportunity to meet Damien LeRoy in person, let me be the first to assure you, he’s nothing but the real deal. It’s easy to mistake his surfer-blonde locks, and almost too chipper disposition for an industry charade, but truth be told, he’s just chronically kind. Over the course of a week, I looked hard for chinks in his cheery armor; before coffee in the morning, after a queasy two-hour passage, during a prolonged period of exposure to the heat and sun. But through it all, there was nothing but good will. Damien is relentlessly positive.

There is no certainty; there is only adventure. –Roberto Assagioli

On the evening of our return to port, after we bid farewell to our traveling companions, I make my way back to our hotel, walk right to the pool, and order myself a mojito. Floating weightlessly on my back, staring straight into a blue and cloudless sky, I make one last attempt to wrangle some new and insightful understanding of adventure, but the effort is futile and fleeting. Instead, I think only of where the next one might take me.

PHOTO NATE VOLK

PROFILED

REIDER DECKER Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

Reider Decker didn’t really have a choice. The son of Barton Decker, an accomplished surfer, windsurfer, kitesurfer and local fixture in Cape Hatteras, Reider learned all three sports by the age of nine. Not that he minded. Reider is the first to acknowledge how huge an influence his father has had on who he’s become today. “My dad started Hatteras Island Surf when he was 17 years old with nothing but a couple hundred bucks in his pocket, a painted van, and a few surfboards,” said Reider as he retells his dad’s story. “Ever since I was little, I’ve watched my dad work almost every day from April until Thanksgiving. I think he struck an incredible balance between doing something that he loved and spending time with his family as much as possible. As cheesy as it sounds, he taught me to do what makes you happy, not what you think you’re supposed to do.” Reider started out on two-line kites and stayed on them for a year before switching over to four-line depowerable kites. Barton laughs, “Reider just liked the simplicity of them,” adding, “By 10, Reider was kiting whenever he could and since this is Hatteras, that was a lot. When he was eleven he was jumping higher than me, and started to sail in the waves.” Barton remembers a huge Northeaster when Reider was 14. “I launched him and watched him head out. The other two kiters on the water turned and rode the overhead waves on the first sandbar, but Reider headed for the far offshore bar.” Like any parent, Barton was pissed and when he asked his son what he was thinking, Reider calmly stated he was going outside to “find the biggest wave I could.”

Barton’s story pretty much sums up Reider. He’s an adventurous freerider who doesn’t particularly like to compete, seek media

coverage or wants to be the center of attention. Humble and modest with a laid back attitude, he rides for himself and the pure enjoyment that kiteboarding brings to his life. Childhood buddies Brock Cullen and Evan Netsch both believe that Reider is one of the most naturally talented strapless riders in the world that you probably never knew about. Ironically, Reider’s introduction to strapless riding was through pure default. Freestyle had been getting old and he had hit a wall in his progression until one day he saw a skimboard leaning up against the wall in his dad’s shop. According to Reider, his dad had needed to add one more board to make up an order and the skimboard was the cheapest of the lot. He grabbed it and started goofing around on it, incorporating skate moves and making up new tricks. Since then, Reider has barely touched a twin tip, instead he’s glued to his surfboard, and sometimes the old skimboard for fun. Reider is entering his senior year of college and will be graduating with a degree in Economics this spring. As to what he plans on doing after he graduates, he has no idea. He said, “From the stories of my dad’s youth and the challenges he faced through school, the surf shop and life, he kind of taught me it’s okay to come to a point in your life where you are totally lost.” For Reider it’s not only okay, but almost to be expected. According to him, “I’m a lot less petrified of what my future holds and this gives me confidence to go for things even if they come with some risk.” Reider Decker is 21 years old and is sponsored by Airush, Hatteras Island Sail Shop, Mobe Kiteboarding and Dakine.

now available www.airtstyle.tv

PHOTO TKB STAFF

PROFILED

BRIANNA HIRSCH Saugerties, New York

At just 17 years old, Brianna Hirsch had a lot to look forward to. Her junior prom was approaching, and her parents had just booked a family trip through Europe over the summer. Brianna’s world changed on the day of the final fitting for her prom dress. As Brianna sucked in her gut for one last adjustment, she passed out. After getting rushed to the emergency room, doctors discovered that she had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and an eggplant-sized tumor close to her heart. Equally concerning, they believed it was just days away from crushing her trachea. Ten days later, Brianna started chemotherapy treatment that would last for two years. Less than a year into her treatment, Brianna was contacted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Brianna’s wish sent her entire family on a 10-day trip to Greece. While on a ferry boat to Paros, Brianna came across a magazine ad offering kiteboarding instruction. For the remainder of her trip, she took lessons. Although conditions didn’t fully cooperate and Brianna struggled, she didn’t care. She had a new passion and it was kiteboarding. Six months later, Brianna’s family traveled to Cabarete and it was here that she really progressed. Call it coincidence or karma, but she met a man who had gone to high school with Tonia Farman, founder of Kiteboard for Cancer (KB4C) in Hood River, Oregon. He told her about the annual event but since it was on the West Coast and she was applying for a job at Kitty Hawk Kiteboarding that summer, she didn’t give it a whole lot of attention.

Brianna got hired on at Kitty Hawk in the summer of 2013. While kiting with a friend, she crashed, and her kite deflated making it impossible for her to relaunch. By chance, she washed up on the dock of Terre Peck, also a kiter, and was invited inside to warm up. Little did Brianna know that Terre would have a profound effect upon her life.

Brianna and Terre ending up chatting and eventually the subject of Brianna’s battle with cancer came up. Terre also asked Brianna if she knew about KB4C, which she supports every year via Sensi Grave’s Bikini Fundraiser at the annual Triple-S event. Brianna responded that she’d love to go but with the event just two weeks away, probably wouldn’t be able to participate due to money and work. Three days later, Brianna had a plane ticket in hand, a place to stay with Sensi Graves and Brandon Scheid, and was flying out with the REAL Kiteboarding KB4C team to Portland – on crutches. The day before she had injured her foot kiting but was determined to try and ride nonetheless. On the day of the KB4C Kite Derby, Brianna’s foot was in bad shape and she couldn’t complete even just one lap. Sitting in the medic tent trying to keep her spirits high, Jason Slezak approached her and said, “This is your dream, you flew all the way out here and I’m taking you out.” He got her set up on a SUP, and with cheers from the crowd, Jason completed a lap with Brianna beaming from the nose of the board. When all was said and done, the fundraising support of Terre and her friends combined with KB4C participants who were throwing down cash in support of Jason and Brianna’s SUP kite lap, Brianna raised over $10,000, and broke the KB4C fundraising record. Since her fight with cancer, Brianna’s path has been anything but normal, but the serendipity of her experience has culminated in her dream job as a level one instructor at Cascade Kiteboarding in Hood River. She plans on studying abroad in Florianópolis, Brazil, this year as she works toward her degree in International Business and Marketing. But the Gorge holds a special place in her heart and is where she hopes to return next summer to spread her stoke on kiteboarding with others.

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By Dixie Dansercoer Photos by Eric McNair-Landry

AS FAR AS DAYDREAMS GO, THERE ARE NONE BETTER THAN THOSE MENTAL WANDERINGS THAT ACCOMPANY WILD ADVENTURE SEEKING. Embarking on an Arctic snowkiting expedition leaves the world of the mundane behind, with the unknown and dangerous delivering these reflective moments in spades, at least when the conditions are near perfect: When you have had a good nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rest, when the temperature swings well north of minus 30, when the terrain is free of sastrugi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; dangerous yet aesthetically beautiful ice formations, and when your 400-pound sled is your friend rather than foe. Snowkiting expeditions are both heaven and hell; the struggle against nature puts you in a state of simple gratitude, a place in which you can distill the chaos of civilization into the greater context of life.

n a two-month ice expedition around Greenland, nostalgia is a common destination for the idle mind. On my most recent trip I revisited my earliest negotiations with the wind, the series of firsts that have placed me on a pioneering circular path around Greenland’s Arctic shelf. 1981 was my first time on a windsurfer and 1984 was my first time in Hawaii subsisting on a diet of ramen noodles and strong northeast trade winds. Windsurfing and Hawaii introduced me to my competitive self and a year later I was traveling around the world as part of the Gaastra / Browning World Cup team.

The following years were filled with more snowkiting adventures in the polar regions. We began working with Ozone and the advancements in kite profiles yielded increased efficiency allowing us to traverse greater distances, and in turn, collect an ever growing number of expedition records. Back in 1997, Alain and I had struggled to travel 168 miles in 24 hours, but in 2010, Canadian Eric McNair-Landry had doubled this distance record during his south to north expedition in Greenland. I stored Eric’s name in my internal hard drive for future use.

Oddly enough, despite this traditional windsurfing trajectory, kites entered my world via Arctic explorations in the early 1990s. I stitched together my first kite to harness the wind on a straight-line expedition across the Greenland Ice Sheet. In the following years my adventure partner, Alain Hubert, and I adapted a Nasawing, a frumpy parachute-like kite, in order to cross the Antarctic continent in 1997. The Antarctic crossing took 99 days to traverse the vast expanses of the “greatest ice field on earth” and for those who know a bit about Belgium’s cultural divisions, placing a Dutch-speaking Flemish man and a French-speaking Walloon together on the ice is, by itself, is an impressive accomplishment. Although the successful expedition covered 2443 miles, it only made waves in the small polar community, but in my mind it showed promise for Belgium’s unity despite its linguistically divided cultures.

At that time snowkiting expeditions were conceived as a challenge from point A to B, but in 2011 I partnered with fellow explorer Sam Deltour to chart a new direction. I had a theory about the katabatic winds that flow from higher elevations in Antarctica down to the coastal or lower-lying regions. With the distances so great, the flow of these winds is subjected to the motion of the Earth’s rotation, a phenomenon called the Coriolis effect. Instead of the logical straight line down to lower elevations, the direction of these winds is slightly bent so that it’s conceivable to kite in a circle around the enormous high plateau in East Antarctica. After careful analysis of the scientific mathematical models, I was certain the katabatic winds offered up the possibility of a circular trajectory in which we started and ended the expedition at the same point.

LEFT: When the flags don’t fly, Flemish explorer Dixie Danscorer is on standby. BELOW: Eric McNair-Landry snaps a selfie around midnight with his expedition partner in the distance. BOTTOM: The 18m Chrono is

a game changer in the light winds of Greenland’s Ice Sheet.

Our first attempt at circumnavigation was planned for Antarctica. It was truly a step into the unknown, and a daring one because of the limited or non-existent fuel caches and challenging search and rescue logistics. In fact, we learned only after the expedition that The Antarctic Company, an air support outfit responsible for our rescue, could not guarantee a search and extraction operation on a circular route. The Antarctic trip did not start well with Sam and I losing precious time at the beginning due to bad weather. After struggling 3112 miles it was in our best interests to get off the continent as the favorable austral summer season was coming to an end. We were picked up before we could close the circle, but despite the setback, the promise of circumnavigating only strengthened our resolve. The opportunity to revisit circumnavigation presented itself when Eric was looking for a partner to attempt a circumnavigation of Greenland. I gladly offered to construct the support team and we scheduled a training expedition on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in March of 2014. Two weeks later we held a joint press conference in Brussels and flew to Angmassalik, East Greenland, where we had a helicopter drop us off on the white expanse of the continent’s ice sheet. The first three weeks of the expedition was a complete disaster. As we attempted to cross the southern expanse while conditions were still cold we encountered back-to-back storms, chest-deep snow,

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unfavorable winds and sastrugi almost as large as those on Greenland’s bigger brother Antarctica. We averaged 13 miles a day when we needed to cover at least 45 to stay on track. At one point Eric’s sled got lodged in the aggressive wind chiseled sastrugi and his kite pulled against his rope tether to quickly lift him 30 feet in the air. From a distance I could see my expedition partner suspended above the horizon, but Eric’s confidence allowed him to casually pull the brake on his kite for a controlled descent and he was able to free his sled from the ice formation. In order to successfully complete the circle we needed to make up for lost time. Our weather forecasters suggested we take advantage of a solid easterly wind to make the transition to the west coast where we could stopover at Dye 2, an abandoned radar station, before heading north on the stable wind highway to Thule. As our kites pulled us toward the large domes of the abandoned radar station, a snowmobile came unexpectedly racing towards us. Dye 2 was one of four Cold War radar stations erected on Greenland to warn of a Soviet invasion over the Arctic, but it was no longer in use. Eric immediately recognized the snowmobiler from a previous Greenland expedition. It turned out Eric’s friend was trying to warn us that a Hercules aircraft was on its final approach as we were standing in the middle of their ice runway with our kites. We watched as the American Hercules practiced its ice landings and spent the night exploring the abandoned station. We met three Brits waiting for a medevac to pick them up after an injury foiled a west to east crossing. The next day we carried out some repairs and then we were off again into the white.

The success of a polar kiting expedition requires the team to be on standby all the time. The wind dictates our travel; even with the advantage of 24 hours of daylight you must be ready to move as soon as the tent canvas starts flapping. This was our first expedition with the 18m Chrono, a new design that allowed us to pull our 400-pound sleds in the slightest breeze. Out of a quiver of 6m, 10m and 15m kites, the Chrono was our main kite because we could begin traveling when our wind meter ticked above four knots.

ABOVE: Eric and Dixie clear the runway moments before a US Airforce

Hercules aircraft practices ice landings against the backdrop of an abandoned cold war radar station sinking into the Greenland Ice Sheet. BOTTOM: Home sweet home: Dixie makes himself comfortable within the utilitarian confines of the tent.

Eric and Dixie spent the night exploring the spooky, abandoned radar center; a carton of eggs still sat on the kitchen counter dated back to October 1988 as an eerie reminder of the month when everyone was pulled out. BELOW: In the Cold War haste of the 1950’s, the DEW Line of radar stations

stretched from the Arctic region of Canada to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands of Northern Europe.

yet it’s constructed of thin canvas just like our kites. When fierce storms force us to pull the brake on our kites and seek refuge in this frail piece of cloth, it’s essential to set it up correctly. Taking a second tent is not an option as we shave every ounce of each piece of equipment during preparation, yet without a functioning tent we would be exposed to the wind chill and soon find ourselves in a life-threatening situation.

On a good day we averaged 8-12 hours on our skis, but even under the best conditions keeping your morale high can be difficult with the extreme cold, the monotony of a monochrome environment and only a single person to talk to. It can also be quite stressful between the sharp sastrugi, deep powder swallowing sleds, or whiteout conditions impeding any kind of visibility. Despite these challenges our great love and respect for the Arctic landscape combined with a desire to complete our circular path kept us motivated. After a long day out on the ice, the tent is a comfortable bubble where we can find respite from the wind, hot food, a warm sleeping bag, and some music to inspire us for the next day. Eric had brought a Kindle with sixty-some books while I travelled old school with two paperbacks. It didn’t take long to get hooked on Eric’s virtual books, so the Kindle would sit between us and whoever was not asleep could grab it for a quick trip to another world. When we were both awake we would frequently battle it out over a game of Yahtzee that we spiced up with our own additional rules. While the tent is where we enjoy the small luxuries of our expedition, it is also the single most important piece of equipment we carry. It protects us from the wind and the cold,

In addition to our circumnavigation mission, we had planned on collecting wind data for research purposes. We launched fixed position kites upon which we hung four miniature weather stations in order to study the katabatic winds that drove our expedition. We managed to launch the weather kites every other day and made daily observations of snow temperature at various depths and observed the state of the snow in order to investigate the role downslope winds play in the warming of the polar regions. We sent the data to our headquarters in Brussels, who in turn forwarded our recordings to a scientific steering committee for analysis. The 39th day into the trip we reached the northern part of the Greenland Ice Sheet. We were ready to tackle the eastern coast which we referred to as “Terra Incognita” because no expedition had used kites to travel this area before. In preparation we had studied the wind models back to 1980, yet it was still very difficult to forecast the predominant direction and strength of the wind for our final segment of the trip. We were on constant standby to grab the wind whenever it came, and we worked hard to average 77 miles a day during that stretch. On day 54, Eric and I thought we had it made with only a couple hours between us and our starting point almost two months earlier. With the end in reach the wind died and would tease us throughout the day. A little puff would come through and off we went on our Chrono’s, only to be stopped by a stillness so quiet that the weight of the kites was simply too much to stay airborne. The doldrums brought the temperature up and it quickly became too hot for our polar clothing and Eric was the first to change into shorts.

BELOW: Eric and Dixie sit for a celebratory pose as they successfully circumnavigate the second largest ice sheet on earth via kites.

Throughout the day we embraced even the slightest breeze yet we were 16 miles from our final goal. Sleep deprived, I suggested we set up camp and walk the last stretch the next day but the thought of finishing the expedition on foot didn’t sit well with Eric. Just as I entered into the full depth of much needed sleep, I felt an insistent tap on my shoulder bringing me back. “Dixie, Dixie, I think we have some wind, are you game to git‘r done?” This familiar phrase whispered in my ear over the Iridium phone by Troy Henkels had pushed me in past expeditions, so despite my exhaustion I crawled out of my sleeping bag half awake and rigged up for the final pitch. That evening under solid wind, it took us less than an hour to close the circle of the Greenland ICE expedition. Eric and I celebrated exactly at midnight with the compulsory photoshoot. Two days later we were picked up by a helicopter at Greenspeed Ridge, overlooking a grand view of both the Trillergerne Mountains and the Labrador Sea.

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Since the beginning of my polar career I have strongly believed that there is no greater adventure than the discovery of uncharted territory. We believed in the possibilities of katabatic circumnavigation and despite my failed first attempt in Antarctica, Eric and I proved it possible in Greenland. In addition to the valuable climate change data we collected, we demonstrated members of disparate generations, Eric as a 29 year old and myself as a 52 year old, could flawlessly work together by combining hi-tech and experience while both striving for a common goal. Expeditions come in all shapes and forms; those which pioneer new territory entail much greater risk and potential for failure, however in the case of success, yield far greater satisfaction.

Flemish explorer Dixie Dansercoer’s next expedition is a kite / kayak route over ice sheet and open water that will start at the North Pole and end in the Russian Archiepelago of Franz Jozef Land. You can keep tabs on Dixie’s latest adventures at www.polarcircles.com

Switchfoot, and he made it. Reo Stevens pushes the boundaries of barrel riding with a kite. North Shore, Oahu. John Bilderback ÂŠ 2014 Patagonia, Inc.

An adventurous documentary series uncovering the lifestyle and heart of Oregon kiteboarding. Photos by Jen Jones

here I was, standing waist deep in the Columbia River, my toes were starting to feel like ice pops and my shoulders were cramping from holding my cameras above water for hours on end. I had been out there for five days in a row, firing frames off at kiters hitting rails and praying that everyone stomped their tricks so I didn’t get nailed in the head with a kite. It was exciting, a bit dangerous, challenging and rewarding, all at the same time.

I had been drifting in and out of Hood River for a couple of years and it was clear to me that I wasn’t the only one who blew in with the warm winds of summer. The beach was packed with people from all over – Florida, France, Wisconsin, the UK. Some were on holiday for a week or two and others had their lives packed into various home-onwheels situations.

There were a handful of women competing in the competition and it was obvious that these ladies were dedicated and passionate about making a statement on the water. Equally as impressive was how they acted off the water – not as sniping competitors, but as good friends, exchanging tips and cheering each other on between heats. The girl’s camaraderie on the Hood River’s otherwise intimidating sandspit was something I hadn’t felt before and it inspired me to endure the freezing water. Two years later, I’m still a seasonal Hood River inhabitant and well connected to the social and commercial pulse of this amazing community. When I first started photographing kiteboarding, I was working remotely for the corporate world, living out of my home office and only ducking into downtown to grab a brew and a bite every once in a while.

Since then, my creative work is no longer fattening the bottom lines of global corporations. Instead I’ve immersed myself and my work into a community where I can see the real differences of time well spent. The Hood River experience is a lifestyle everyone in kiteboarding should get to know. This community thrives on “local-vores,” a unique blend of action sports entrepreneurs who “keep their money where their heart is” by embracing the mantra of buying local. Restaurants take pride in serving customers menu items prepared with fresh local farm ingredients. The new Hood River Waterfront Park is lined with earth-friendly buildings, where rooftops are covered in solar panels and to-go boxes are made from recycled materials. Go green or go home is a trending theme amongst the locals and visitors, who can do most of their organic shopping for the week at a street market filled with the bounty of local farms.

Since the earlier days of the RoSham, I wanted to put together a documentary that explores the epic kiting locations of Oregon while weaving a lifestyle narrative through four diverse professional kiteboarders. Despite exotic winter adventures, Colleen Carroll, Lindsay McClure, Laura Maher and Sensi Graves all find their way back to the Gorge each summer. Hood River is where we met and so many aspects of the community, companies and culture around kiteboarding here has inpired our multi-dimensional story. I invite you to get to know these women and follow them through the Colombia Gorge and beyond. This is “Where The Wind Blows.” - Jen Jones

>> It’s more than a story about kiteboarding, it’s a look inside

the benefits of health and sustainability in our everyday lives.<<

aised in the agriculturally prolific Hood River Valley, I was spoiled by good food from the start. When I was young, I didn’t think much about what I ate or where the food came from but I was lucky enough to have neighbors that would drop off overflowing baskets of extra produce they’d grown in their gardens. I learned early to satisfy my sweet tooth by overindulging on cherries and wild blackberries straight from the bush. Currently, my appetite for adventure is stronger than my appetite for locally grown food. I’ve adopted a lifestyle of travel as a teacher with the World Class Kiteboard Academy — a globetrotting high school for ambitious young kiteboarders. Among the many challenges we face, keeping our teenage athlete’s energy levels turned up is a battle when traveling to remote locations. Kiteboarding does a great job silencing the hunger pangs until everyone’s grumpy and on the verge of a total breakdown. I wish I had a dollar for every time our school entered a speck on the map Central American village, nearly starving after a long kite session. Typically, the only eatery in town is a pair of plastic tables behind Abuela Maria’s kitchen where the

verbal menu offers either al pastor (marinated pork) or carnitas tacos (shredded pork). As for drinks, it’s a choice between cerveza (beer) or Coca Cola, so clearly not a lot of options for an athlete, vegetarian, and all around picky eater. I’ve endured many kite trips feeding my poor gut a steady diet of corn chips and avocados. As an athlete, I’m always trying to figure out how I can kite longer, kite stronger, pop higher, stick the trick, and perform my best. It’s often more complicated than simply finding the discipline to keep up with cross training and limit my junk food intake. Even with good intentions it’s a struggle to eat well while on the road. I’ve found that attempting to order a nutritious meal at a southern Texas diner is kind of like telling a joke. The more I travel, the more I appreciate where I’m from. In Hood River, my friends and neighbors push me to do my best. The high concentration of top level athletes

ABOVE: Lindsay smiles her way through an S-bend to blind on the east side of the Gorge.

living in the Hood River Valley is no secret, yet the intersection between athletic performance and easy access to good fuel is often overlooked. I can’t speak for the masses, but I value my hometown, not only because it’s a gigantic playground, but because I’m a healthier version of myself when I’m here. - Lindsay McClure

got my start in the kiteboarding industry as an instructor in North Carolina back in 2012. I was fully engrossed in the kiter lifestyle, everything was kiting, it was my drive and my purpose. Whether I was working or playing, I was living my entire life in a bikini. It became apparent that the suits I bought off the shelf couldn’t keep up with me. Among other things, in many ways they were severely lacking in functionality so I started Sensi Graves Bikinis, a business where I pursue my dream of creating a stylish, functional bikini for the active woman. Shortly after launching my company, I moved to Hood River, Oregon. Hood River has been a great incubator for entrepreneurship. The community is alive with self-starters and forward thinkers who are connected to our planet and conscious of their actions. This has inspired me to source locally, produce domestically and promote the lifestyle that I love so much.

VINCENT BERGERON

I started Sensi Bikinis because I saw a need in the marketplace. Yet today it is more than that. It’s an opportunity to promote healthy living, a platform to spread an active lifestyle and a community to empower and engage women. Kiteboarding and bikinis go hand in hand and those two pieces in my life continually challenge me, allow me to grow and lead me to various places around the globe. I couldn’t be more thankful. I often get asked how kiteboarding and entrepreneurship are similar. They’re both challenging, roller-coaster rides that teach, inspire and humble. Kiteboarding leads me to exotic locales and enlivens my sprit of adventure. So does owning my own business. I learn something new everyday and am inspired to grow, travel and learn. Entrepreneurship is an adventure in itself. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, don’t be afraid to follow the wind, you never know where it might take you! - Sensi Graves

ABOVE & BELOW: Part LF team rider, part bikini mogul,

Sensi charges full steam ahead on and off the water.

didn’t seek the nomadic lifestyle of professional wanderer/adventurer/athlete. I merely bumped into it by getting a peek at a shining opportunity and grabbing it by the horns. I couldn’t be where I’m at today without the help of friends, family, and beautiful strangers. I’ve been given advice, invaluable contacts, a place to stay, and even a job when I’ve been in need. And so much of this blessed life I lead was budded and nourished from the dynamic community in Hood River, Oregon. This tiny town nestled in the Cascade peaks poised along the rising bank of the Columbia River is so much more than another small Oregon town. It is a community bustling with recreationists, artists, activists, professionals, and entrepreneurs. It is one of the major kiteboarding meccas in the United States and a place I have held near and dear since I was a child. Shortly after graduating college with a degree in hand but no clear direction in life, it is the place I chose to call home to help me find my focus. Since coming to Hood River, I’ve met amazingly creative, conscientious, driven, and generous people. People who continuously push me to reach my goals and inspire me to create new ones like the women of the “Where the Wind Blows” project. Having this network of athletic successful women is one of the driving forces that keeps me moving forward and always striving. But not only do they motivate me, they

have helped me create a sense of home in Hood River. A place where I am part of a community even when I am only passing through, something that might be taken for granted by those rooted in a 9 to 5er, yet for me, a homebody at heart but homeless nomad in reality I haven’t found anywhere else. - Colleen Carroll

TOP RIGHT: Taking a break from a whirlwind life of Triple-S podiums, German car commercials and North Team product shoots, Colleen grabs her banana board for a fun session with friends at the Sandbar in Hood River. RIGHT: Sensi and Colleen waiting for the results of Huckfest 2014 in Rufus, Oregon. NEXT PAGE: Mountain biking, snow sports and copious amounts of yoga allows Laura to ride new school, old school, or a little of both with this big air Indy grab.

ike many of the first kiteboarders, I came to the sport from windsurfing. In 2000 I was traveling in Baja, Mexico with friends that had already begun the process of learning to kiteboard. They told me to ditch my windsurfing “barge” because kiting was where it was at, and although I took their advice, at the time I had no idea what a game changer that was going to be for me. I returned to my home in Minnesota, land of 10,000 frozen lakes, and with a set of 2-line kites I learned to stay upwind on snow. After that first year of riding I earned a spot on the Slingshot team and decided to throw my hat into the ring of competition. My first contest was the Waddell Kite Clash in Santa Cruz, California. Men were on 6m kites with brands like Slingshot pulling out unbranded prototypes small enough for their riders to use. It wasn’t for the weak of heart. Although I got my ass handed to me, the intensity and fledgling status of the sport created a camaraderie amongst those first professional kiters that I will never forget. Later that summer I entered my second competition; it was the Gorge Games in Hood River, Oregon. My first trick which was captured on NBC TV was a toeside 540 down loop transition that unintentionally boosted me over a rock jetty. I started in the Columbia River and landed in the glacial waters of Hood River and by the grace of good karma and a seat harness, my ego and my butt were the only bruises I sustained. The sense of adventure that kiting brings to my life hooked me from my first moments and continues to this day. I keep it fresh by continually working on new air tricks, hitting features, and riding waves. On a broader level, kiting has played a steady role in my life mostly because I’ve kept a balance between being a competitor, Slingshot brand ambassador and my work as the AWSI Executive Director. I have a day job as a hairstylist in Hood River but I am super grateful for the relationships that I have formed in kiting on a pro and organizational level, and the personal friendships that ensure kiting is always giving back to me. - Laura Maher

TOP LEFT: Colleen and Jen Jones are all smiles during production. TOP RIGHT: If kiteboarding doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work out, Colleen has a job waiting for her at Solstice Pizza. MIDDLE: Filmaker Wiley Watson captures the sound of Lindsay McClureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s board hitting the water. BOTTOM LEFT: Lindsay and Sensi

harvest peas at Wildwood Farm in Hood River. BOTTOM RIGHT: Snake! No wait... Thats just the excitement after completing a long day of shooting!

The culture and sustainability within our community is thriving and has a positive impact in our lives. 72

- Laura Maher

Where The Wind Blows is much more than a kiteboarding story, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an adventurous exploration into the heart of what makes four professional female kiteboarders tick. Travel the length of the Gorge to the Pacific Ocean in our 4-part mini web series for a unique look into community driven sustainability and athletic longevity through the discipline of kiteboarding.

facebook.com/wtwboregon #wtwboregon @moxyint

wtwboregon.com

EXPOSED 74

FISH OUT OF WATER Sir James Ropner makes the trip from California to the Gorge every summer. When the wind is really pumping heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll pull out his surfboard and take a quick jaunt upwind from the event site to put on an aerial show for the windsurfers at the Hatch. Photo Brendan Richards

EXPOSED

TAKE OFF Brandon Scheid and photographer Vincent Bergeron wake up early to score a session in the wave park at the end of Union Islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s airstrip before the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s air traffic begins.

EXPOSED 78

HAWAIIAN TRADITIONS Jesse Richman joins the cult of Alaia, engaging the rail and committing to a finless arc in the flat water of Mauiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kitebeach. Photo David Grahn

GUIDE TO

BAJA BUSINESSES: LA VENTANA

THE BEST OF BAJA

DOWNWINDER INN

Enjoy a peaceful setting away from the crowds up near the Hot Springs. Amenities include community kitchen, complimentary cars for around town, downwind shuttle service. www.downwinderinn.com

ELEVATION KITEBOARDING

Located at Baja Joe’s, specializes in radio-assisted lessons with waterproof radio helmet systems to watercraftassisted lessons. After your lessons, enjoy a crafted beer and food at Joe’s Garage. www.elevationkiteboarding.com

PALAPAS VENTANA

Upwind of the main riding area where waves often break when there’s a strong El Norte, enjoy the eco-resorts new pool and Jacuzzi after a day of riding. Lodging includes breakfast and lunch served at the restaurant/bar located just above launch; lessons also available. www.palapasventana.com

LOS BARRILES HOTEL BUENAVISTA

Sitting atop a natural hot spring which provides water for its guests and pool/hot tub, the hotel has a semi-private beach and full restaurant/bar. Additionally, its historic spa is expected to be fully renovated by the start of the winter season. www.hotelbuenavista.com

VELA KITESURF

Creating and perfecting the windsports resort experience for over 30 years, Vela offers standalone lessons or packages with gear, lessons, and lodging options at 13 wind-driven destinations around the world. www.velakitesurf.com

EXOTIKITE

An IKO certified/insured school with experienced instructors offering Jet Ski lessons and rescue with radio helmet instruction since 1998, they operate year round and offer healthy smoothies, snacks and food along with lodging at their new location right on the beach. www.losbarrileskiteboarding.com

VIEWPOINT

Following his father’s lead, 10-year old Evan Drye brings the next generation into the fold as he takes his little sister Addison for a ride. Photo Kevin Drye

The kids really are the future. Imagine your local kite beach with dozens of kids rolling up after school to go kiteboarding. Some ride their bikes with kites and board strapped to the back while others skate with their board under an arm, wetsuit slung over the shoulder, harness and helmet already on. The girls almost outnumber the boys, all pumping up with excitement in an unspoken race to get on the water. Parents show up shortly, rigging up to kite as well. The atmosphere is filled with nothing but enthusiasm, energy and stoke. Sound like a dream? It’s not. This is happening right now. In the Gorge, this is just another summer day at the Hood River Event Site on the Columbia River bordering Oregon and Washington. There are kids everywhere, either going out to kite with their friends or learning to kite with their parents. Those who can’t kiteboard mill about their friends who do, hoping the stoke and some skill might magically rub off. Parents can’t wait to put their kids through lessons in the hopes their kids can be a part of the same great vibe and community in the long days of summer and after school.

After 15 years of this sport hanging awkwardly at the edge of the playground, desperately seeking approval to hang with the cool kids, kiteboarding has finally started to find its way into the fickle desires of teens. Kiteboarding is no longer “weird.” It’s becoming (do I dare say it) — “cool.” What’s even more encouraging is to see parents and kids go out as a family, hanging at the beach together, learning to kite together, or just supporting the kids in their kiting.

Along with our progress in the “cool” factor, the gear has finally evolved to the point where parents can be confident that their kids will be safe. With huge advancements in safety and reliability of gear, even in the past five years, kiteboarding is no longer “extreme.” At Cascade Kiteboarding, we start kids on a small 4-line inflatable kite with short lines. Not only do we have confidence in the safety systems and kite performance, but it keeps kids engaged and empowered to start on the same kite they’ll be riding with the board soon. The lessons themselves become as much about confidence and character-building as they are about kite control. The challenge in youth kiteboarding will always be the price tag. Let’s admit it — kiteboarding is not cheap. That said, it’s still more affordable than outfitting a family of four with ski or snowboard gear plus lift tickets each year. At this year’s Kiteboarding 4 Cancer event, the number of families riding as a team doubled. The number of individual participants under 18 years of age tripled. At Cascade Kiteboarding, the number of kids ages 12-18 taking lessons also tripled from 2013 to 2014. I hope the kiteboarding industry capitalizes on these numbers by supporting more youth participation, camps and events. After all, the kids are really the future of our sport.

Tonia Farman

Gosia Rosiak-Brawanska, CEO Ten years ago we fell in love with kiteboarding. For us every moment in the water means joy and fantastic experience. When we travel around the globe and find our products in Australia, Cape Town, San Francisco, Tarifa or Hel, we are seized with satisfaction and realize the challenges we face every day, in order to meet your expectations and remain the producer of the best equipment worldwide. This year, for the first time, we present four product lines in fantastic Saudade collection, inspired by Brazil of the sixties, when the country celebrated the biggest economic and cultural boom. We are convinced that you will love the boards of Uniao, Pro, Beleza and Separa lines. We want Nobile, apart from being the technological leader of the branch, to set new standards in design as well. Welcome to Saudade.

Pró 2HD

Pró XTR

Pró Infinity

Separa NHP Carbon Split

Separa Flying Carpet Carbon Split

Separa Infinity Carbon Split

Pico NHP Snowkite

Pico RC 2000 Snowkite

União Skim

União Flying Carpet Pró NHP Carbon Separa Infinity Split

União NBL Separa Flying Carpet Split Beleza NHP

Pró NHP

Separa NHP Split Beleza T5

Pró 50/Fifty

União T5

NOBILE KITEBOARDING PRESENTS COLLECTION 2015

ROOTS France’s Anne-Laure Pegon boosts her Wipika Airblast 4-line kite over Hawaiian photographer Steven Whitesell.

Words and Photo Stephen Whitesell

One sunny day back in 1999, a cute little French girl rolled up to Kailua Beach in her rental car with a bunch of Wipika kites. The Kailua crew gathered round, ready to lend a hand with rigging and a launch. She just laughed and got on with it herself. The peanut gallery and kite cops, in full force back then, stopped talking and quietly watched, most of us speculating which tree she was going to stuff her kite into or if she was going to take out Joe’s flagpole as half of us already had. But upon hitting the water she proceeded to bust out back rolls, forward rolls, grabs and a whole bunch of style. Most of us were happy if we made it back upwind without walking the beach, so she pretty much schooled every guy on the water that day. Equally impressive was her humble attitude back on land; we were just blown away. The following week she flew over to Maui and took first place for the women in the inaugural Red Bull King of the Air contest.

Anne-Laure Pegon was one of the first pro women kiteboarders in the world. Living in the south of France, where her sponsor Wipika was based, she started kiteboarding in 1998 when she was

18 years old. One year later, she was killing it in competitions and gracing the pages of kiteboarding magazines around the world. I recently caught up with Anne via e-mail to find out what she has been up to. Still so humble, she told me how kiteboarding helped her fulfill her dreams of traveling to Hawaii and experiencing the world. She reminisced about her time in Maui, kiting everyday and living off rice for three months; she was determined to spend as much time as she could on the island and in the water. She laughed at how competitions back then were all about fun, “never a fight but always a pleasure.” Now living in Geneva, Switzerland, Anne has built her world around the art of massage therapy. Inspired by the exploration of new massage techniques and the freedom of being her own boss, Anne hopes to return to Hawaii someday – she loves the history, culture and ‘the deep wisdom’ of its people. In the meantime, when she has time to get on the water, you might find Anne ripping around her old stomping grounds in the south of France between Montpellier and Leucate.

PARTING SHOT In the fading winds of a late summer evening, Niccolo Porcella launches one last frontside air. As summer slips into fall, the windy season for many of us is in its final days, yet for others itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just kicking in. Photo Quincy Dein

QUINCY DEIN

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nail it with the first try

Rider_Aaron Hadlow/Pic_ Toby Bromwich

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