Kite Bytes

Looks like John and I are going to Vail January 12-15 for business. Funny how that falls over a weekend. There is a company there that offers snowkiting lessons so I think we’re going to give it a try! The name of the company is the Colorado Kite Force.

Also, today was the day that I was supposed to get back from kiteboarding trip to Cabarete which I had to cancel due to a delayed move in date for my new apartment.

I haven’t done much kiting recently and I’m choked. However, the thought of a few snowkiting trips this winter is getting me revved up! Anybody got hookups for the Honda Session in Vail that weekend too?

The flight and hotel is booked! I’m going to Cabarete in the Dominican Republic from December 9th to January 4th. Yep, that’s 25 days and I’m staying at the Extreme Hotel.

Trip was CANCELLED due to complexities.

We had a great time at Windfest 2006 in Nitinat on Vancouver Island (Google Satellite Map). I didn’t get to see much of the windsurfing competition but the kiteboarding events were awesome.

The boarder cross or kitercross was the most exciting to watch and the freestyle events was filled with big air and technical handlespasses, board off tricks, and kiteloops.

We didn’t get to kite much due to the competitions going on and the sheer number of kiters and windsurfers on the water. However, there was plenty of action with a dj and sound system pumping all weekend with all sorts of activities and events to keep you occupied. Windfest was a success and I’m sure that we’ll see it again next year and many more years to come.

I have posted my pictures on Flickr at:
Photo Album Link

I have also added a few video to Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdqC_zEbxMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs4KVbZlw_g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk3EgxcMqk4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkZw7TeaJcA

RESULTS (by Chris Glazier)

Congratulations to the Squamish crew of riders in a very popular event. It seemed like the entire crew of regular Squamish riders was there.
The winners are all Squamish riders (..well 2dog Mark was last year):

Long distance race: Chris Glazier (1st), Don Armstrong (2nd)

Kiter Cross: Chris Hunter (1st)

Free style: 2dog Mark (1st), Andrew Scott (2nd), Chris Hunter (3rd)

Big Air: Don Armstrong (..timed at about 8 seconds hangtime)

The overall winner was Chris Hunter, big congratulations.

Unfortunately there was a serious incident in the kiter cross, where Philippe Cabanne was in a kite tangle and had his fingers seriously cut by lines. Thanks to plastic surgery at Nanimo General Hospital, his fingers are stitched up and he hopes to be kiting again in a month.

(write up borrowed from Skypilot Kiteboarding forum post)

Ron and John and I are heading up to Nitinat for Windfest August 11,12,13. It is a combination Windurfing and Kiteboarding weekend with contest, prizes and parties!

More Details

There will be 4 kiteboarding events:

• Longwinder/distance - open event with mass start.
• Hangtime event - open event
• Freestyle event - max 50 competitors organised into heats.
• Boarder Cross - max 50 competitors organised into heats.

Check out my pictures from my 3 previous Nitinat trips on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/extra_chrisb/sets/72157594223219923/

SPONSORS INCLUDE (short list):
Dakine
Ocean Rodeo
Best Kiteboarding
Airtime Kiteboarding
Strong Kiteboarding
North Shore Ski & Board
Trident
Pepsi
Red Bull

Full Windfest details are available on the Skypilot Web site at: http://www.skypilotkiteboarding.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=214

Talk about it in the BigWaveDave forums too: http://www.bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1674

Canadian Kitesurf Challenge 2006
August 23rd to 25th 2006 Iles de la Madeleine

Open to men and women as well as amateurs and professionals. For the first time, the North-American kitesurfers will be able to compete for the national champion titles. Furthermore, the Canadian Kitesurf Challenge will be the occasion for the winners to access the professional world tour as Wild Cards will be distributed to the best kitesurfers of the Challenge.

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Ok, I’m not going to be in the Canadian Kiteboarding Chapionship in Iles de la Madeleine but maybe you will be or someone else you know. Right now I am busy with work and finding it hard to find time to go kiteboarding. My sister and her husband Francis just went to Nitinat this past weekend and my parents tagged along to take care of their daughter so they could spend more time on the water — and I missed it. The wind is blowing hard here in Vancouver at Boundary Bay and still, I sit in the office and watch the webcams. Even Dan from Skypilot Kiteboarding was in last week from Calgary, and hit Squamish a bunch of times… again I missed it. I’m trying to find a place to go kiteboarding for Christmas so if you have any suggestions, drop me a coment below.

Ron and myself just got back from a wild weekend in Nitinat. Check out the Nitinat kiteboarding pictures. Also joining us were my sister Karli, my brother-in-law Francis, and my neice Amalia. The weather was supposed to be bad but we went anyway because you can never accurately predict the weather at Nitinat. This weekend the sauna was built and we had 1.5 days of great wind for kiteboarding. The camp site was full, with only a few of the kiteboarding regulars, but we made new friends and had a great time.

The pictures are online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/extra_chrisb/sets/72157594223219923/

Nitinat Dale was ripping up the 25-30 knot wind on Sunday on a 16m and catching huge air. I grabbed a quick video of him kiteboarding, check it out below.

Actual Dale at Nitinat kiteboarding video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a6eRZA0p8Q

Our kiteboarding pictures are up from our trip to Tampa and South Padre. Check them out here.

Also, we shot a short video of John kiteboarding which is embedded below.

Actual video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDPZzBtYkvI

Hello from South Padre Island, Texas. We had a great day of kiteboarding today in the most amazing kiteboarding spot that I have been to. Key West, Florida was good but everything is bigger in Texas including the sand flats. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of square miles of shallow water to kiteboard. Johnny and I are going up wind, for the most part, and finally, I think we can call ourselves kiteboarders. I bought a used Cabrinha Crossbow 12m to compliment my 16m Crossbow and I love it. I’m now looking for a bigger board because I’m a bigger guy and I was loving the Litewave 169cm that I was riding today. We have one more day of instruction tomorrow with Roberto who was a great coach/instructor. Details and lots of pics to follow when we get back as I can’t find the USB cable to download all of the pics from today. The nightlife is a little funny here but we’re going out tonight with huge smiles on our faces and a few minor bumps and bruises. It looks like I’m going to Nitinat next weekend… who’s coming? This sport rules!

I didn’t think I would get to do any kiteboarding in Tampa, but John and I went out today and had a blast at a place called Ft. Desoto. Tomorrow we are going to South Padre Island for the weekend and have a couple of lessons. I have to figure out how to straighten out my front leg so I can edge properly. Anyway, its BBQ time and its Johnny’s last day in Florida so we have to celebrate. Here are some pictures, the first one is of me getting pulled off the board.

It’s about 11:30pm and I’m just packing up my things for my business trip to Tampa followed by a weekend in South Padre Island Kiteboarding. I’m too tired to post details but I’ll have lots of pics when I’m back next week. South Padre is in Texas ya hear!
http://www.southpadreislandkiteboarding.com/