September 22, 2008
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By kimandre in Kiteboarding
I had my car nicely packed up with a sleeping madress, all my gear next to it and ready to go. Thursday morning I headed for Stavanger, Bore beach, for the Nationals in kiteboarding.
After 6 hours of driving, I finally got to the beach. The dark clouds was covering the entire sky, and the rain was falling pretty heavily. But there was alittle wind, and I rushed to pump up my kite and get into the wet suit. Sure enought, as I got ready to hit the water … it stopped raining and the wind was gone.
Friday, first competition day started off good. It was windy enought to start the competition (not good for me who had emtyed a bottle of jegermaister the night before), anyways the wind died down after the first heat. The wind was up and down trueout the day, and I got alittle time on the water underpowered, just riding with good friends and having fun.
Saturday, was a beatyfull day. We got blessed with nice sunny weather and a huge swell …. but no wind. So we spent the day surfing and chillin on the beach. Helge had gotten down from Lillehammer, so we made alittle stand for Flexifoil (my new kites).
What I love most about the Nationals is the social bit, you get to meet all your friends from all over the country and just have a good time with good vibes. Chill out and talk smack. Saturday there was a kick ass party, and some well played entertainment from Alf and Marius. We got too see some action from the new Snowkitefilm that Remi, Sigve, Petter and Bjørn had been working on called “Dimensions” (or something like that) … gonna be sick!
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| Thursday (got the place all to myself) |
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| The stand |
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| The beach and swell |
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| Alf and Marius runnin the show |
September 16, 2008
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By kimandre in Kiteboarding
Then the training sessions are done, and I feel beat. 10 days of hard workout done, have I gotten any better? Well, I would like to think so … but the hard part still remains … landing the tricks.
We have gotten many good days and I have started to work on my frontmobes, and finally I get the bar with me most of the time. But the landings are hard to stick, and I usually end up just getting worked by the kite.
(Click on the images for full size)
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Backmobe
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Frontmobe
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The new kite
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Martin, Camilla and me had a great time. Pushing each other to try new stuff, and as allways that payed off.
Now the Norwegian Nationals are just around the corner (next weekend) and I feel alittle more prepared and familiar with the new kites. It feels good to be back on c-kites, as they differ from the hybrid kites I have been riding until now.
September 9, 2008
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By kimandre in Kiteboarding
I have shifted gear and started training hard the last couple of weeks. Some new tricks are forming (the trouble seems to be the landing). Can’t belive how many hours go into acctually landing a hard techniqual trick. Sometimes I wish I was about 10cm shorter, it would make it so much easier (better center of gravity).
(Click on the images for full size)
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KGB
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Tweaked grab
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Front med grab
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August 3, 2008
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By kimandre in Kiteboarding, My local spots
We have been blessed this summer, got many days with wind. Sometimes gusty, sometimes alot, sometimes not quite enought, and sometimes perfect.
After alot of hard work and countless crashes I finally started to land more than I crash (good to know I’m moving forward atleast). August seems to be the month every year, when all my trix start to get consistent. So now it’s again time to learn some new moves with new gear. My new, “secret” gear are right around the corner and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
My girlfriend was kind enought to take some photos, all the images can be found here.
(Click on the images for full size)
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S-bend
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Backroll
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July 14, 2008
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By kimandre in Kiteboarding, My local spots
We went an entire May month without any wind (got 1 or 2 days), but then June came around with awesome forecasts and alot of great days. Infact I managed to tear one of my stomach mucles, it doubled in size and hurt like hell. Just due to the fact that I got too many days on the water and not enough resting time. Was it worth it? Fuck yeah!
I had set up a little selfcam project, that turned out o.k if you ask me. It can be downloaded from this location (right click and save as)
I have also gotten some visits from my good friends Martin, Tom and Helge. Love to kite with these guys, you push yourself harder and go faster when you are with skilled friends. Easy to fall back when you are out there all buy yourself. Guess it’s my turn to visit them now, looking forward to it.
Guro and Susanne has taken some photos, they can all be found at my gallery.
I have gotten a few new trix dialed in, and are very happy with that. Some trix has been lost, but are in recovery mode (hopefully I will get them before the summer end). But one of the most memorable and fun trix is just jumping high and looping the kite. For me nothing bets the fact that it is like having your own personal rollercoster ride. Up up up, slingshoted away, coming down at insain speeds, and picked up again by the kite …. it’s a rush! Adrenalin pumping, endorfins exploding in your brain, what a great feeling.
(Click on the images for full size)
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Getting some air
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Crash and learn
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All in a good days work
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May 14, 2008
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By kimandre in Kiteboarding, My local spots
Finally, after ages of waiting … the wind came back and the water got warmer (at least a tiny tiny bit).
My girlfriend went with me to the beach, locked and loaded with the deadly Canon D350 camera. The kites got pumped up, the adrenaline started to pump and off we went! First serious session this year, and it allways feels like you have to start from scratch when you almost haven’t kited for 5 months.
Guro took some really good photos, they can all be found at my gallery.
(Click on the images for full size)
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Backroll to revert
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Backroll
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See any wind?
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Backmobe try
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Grab
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Front
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April 14, 2008
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By kimandre in Kiteboarding, My local spots
I have just gotten back from my second session this week on my local spot.
Yesterday the wind was blowing almost directly south, and between 10-15 knots. I played around on my surfboard for a while in the light winds, when the wind picked up I got to try out my new board. The Cyclone 133×41cm mounted with Union bindings and no fins. Tried acouple of trix, nothing with a “high crash-factor”. The water holds about 5-6 degrees celcius, and it’s pretty cold when you take one on the head.
Today I got another lightwind session, the wind came from south-west (and pretty gusty), and between 8-12 knots. So I spent all day trying to ride toeside on the surfboard from both left and right. My surfboard is gotta be one of my best buys ever, if the kite fly’s, I can have fun with the surfboard strapless.
(Click on the images for full size)
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Blade Vertigo 08 12m2
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April 10, 2008
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By kimandre in My local spots
Then it finally happend, after months of massive depressions, huge amounts of drinking, endless sleepless nights and burying oneself in selfpitty. I have finally taken the first swim on water this year, and it was gooooooooooood …
The wind blew at about 8-12 knots, the wind direction was steady south and the water temprature was actually not that bad. I geared up with my 12m2 Blade Vertigo and my trusty surfboard, put on my weatsuit and hit the water at my favorite local spot. I had a great time playing around with the surfboard strapless for about 3 hours before the sun started to fade. Awesome!
March 30, 2008
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By kimandre in My local spots
March is a funny month, we got some snow for the second time this winter. It acctually stuck with us for about a week, and this friday we got some wind from the right direction too. So Thomas came down and we went for a session on one of our local fields.
The snow was wet, the wind was gusty but who cares? I had just gotten to take my new 12m2 Blade Vertigo kite for a spinn, and I liked it alot! The kite feelt good, even in bad conditions. The fact that we only had 20cm of wet snow below us, made it kind of hard to try any tricks. So I enjoyed doing transitions, grabs and just cruising.
In my package from kitebutikken.no, I also got a new board to try out. The Cyclon Wildseries 133×41cm board, what a beaty! Looking forward to hit the water soon.
(Click on the images for full size)
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Cyclon Wildseries 133×41cm
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March 23, 2008
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By kimandre in My local spots
Indeed there is something fishy about March, you can never really trust it for anything. It can be sunny with 15 degrees celcius, or you can get snow. We have gotten thru an entire winter with almost no snow, and when March arrives, somebody thinks it’s a good idea to throw down some snow!
To bad it was only 20cm with snow, alittle more and we might have gotten this winter season’s best session. Offcourse I had to give it a go, and luckly I did not hurt myself.
We also had to check out how our local spot (Hvittesand) was holding up after all the winterstorms. It looks epic! If it stays the way it is now, we will have a perfect “lagoon” sheltered from the chop with waist deep water. The water temprature is acctually pretty descent, so I am hittin the water as soon as we get some warmer weather and winds from the south.
(Click on the images for full size)
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| Snow session in March |
The lovers |
Hvittensand |
