Craig Cunningham

3'rd Place In KiteScoop Best Trick Contest

2012-02-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

KiteScoop.com just ran the Kite Scoop Best Trick Contest and I entered two tricks from my recent trip to Brazil... a Shifty 315 and an Ole 7 to Blind! The Shifty 315 made it into the voting round and I was pretty stoked to come in 3'rd place!!!

Check out the entry here...

ROCKSTAR ENERGY Kiteboard Promo Edit

2012-02-11T06:10:00.000-08:00

Short promotional edit I did for Rockstar Energy Drink! Mostly footage from the Philippines and Brazil at the end of 2011!!!

2012 ROCKSTAR EDIT from Craig Cunningham on Vimeo.

Brazil 2011

2011-11-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

So been down in Brazil for about 3 weeks now... I cruised down with Sam Medysky and our good friend and photographer/videographer Josh Pietras! After a full day of traveling we ended up at our friends Nuria Goma and Dave Romeo beautiful home in Taiba on the Ceara Coast where we met up with some of the NA Blend crew! Brandon Schied and Rich Sabo had already arrived before us and were hungry to start shooting and riding!

The conditions don't get much better then here in Brazil for freestyle/wakestyle kiteboarding! Warm and windy everyday, multiple flat water lagoons and nice kickers as well if you go search for them! The main lagoon in Taiba was closed to the ocean (which is good making it non tidal) and has been growing daily... perfect!!! It's only a one minute down winder from our house or a couple minutes to drive so we've been spending a LOT of time down there! The 2012 Liquid Force gear is working great and looks amazing lit up by the by the blazing Brazilian sun! I'm on the Envy and DLX again and couldn't be more stoked with the gear for this year!

By the end of the first week everyone was already on there game, dust was brushed off and it was on! After a couple weeks a shreding everyday a few more friends rolled into town and we now had a mob of kiters wherever we were riding! Dave Drinkwater, Brian "BCS" Smith, Kris Kinn and Lia Feriancek were the new editions to the crew!

The level in the lagoon is getting pushed everyday! Lots of new tricks being tossed by everyone and Josh is out there logging footy day in and day out! Watch out for some sick edits coming out of this trip and lots of photos in coming issues for sure!

Liquid Force team mate James Boulding dropped into town for a few days to ride and chill before he had to dip out to the south for some film work shooting a surf event. James, Brandon and I spent about 4 hours at the lagoon that day and it's crazy how well it came out! Steeze Productions is really not messing around! 3,ooo hits in 3 hours and it's almost at 10,000 hits after 3 days days! Will definitely be interesting to see what we could do in the future with a few weeks of filming with James...

Couple days after we shot the Taiba Trick Attack we headed north on a road trip to Ilha du Gurajuaru! Pretty cool spot but not the flat water haven I was expecting... Sounds like were going to grab a buggy and do some exploring up and down the coast from the main spot where apparently there are a bunch of nice flat water spots and river mouths! Will definitely be updating this again soon... Have 3 more weeks in Brazil so check back soon!

1'st Place at Wake Up Call & 1'st at KiteJam!

2011-09-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

So been at home pretty much all summer since I got back from Cape Hatteras... it's been a lot of fun riding my home spots, hitting up the Canadian events and catching up with all my bro's! We haven't had a tonne of wind this summer so I have been trying to ride the 2.0 systems that have been popping up here in Ontario waiting for some more consistent fall winds!

Boarder Pass in Sarnia the closest of the 2.0 systems is 2.5 hours from my place and it was holding an event called Wake Up Call. A few of the locals I was riding with told me that I should enter... I knew a bunch of the heavy hitters from the Canadian wake scene would be there and thought I'd get killed for sure... but having a bunch of air tricks in my bag from kiting and sneaking in some practice on the rails the day before the event really helped and I managed to take 1'st place, so I was was pretty stoked on that for my first cable event!!! Results were;

1st - Craig Cunningham

2nd - Christean Primrose

3rd - Tim Nixon

4th - Dylan Rivait

Not long after a few of our friends from the States rolled in to check out some of our local spots for a little while before the Sauble Beach KiteJam kicked off! Eric Rienstra, Rich Sabo and Ryan Evans joined the crew which pretty much is a circus when Medysky, Drinkwater, Steiner and myself get together as well as Josh Pietras along with David Tran behind the lens! We didn't really get any epic conditions and it was kinda cold but we definitely had a good time shredding together again! We hit up Turkey Point Marina, Port Dover, The Ranch Wake Park, Sauble Beach and Oliphant all within about a week and then it was time for the event.

The wind was pretty light most the weekend but some of the race guys got on the water but I mostly stuck to hitting rails behind the jetski and doing some speed runs and power slides on the kite buggy! We didn't have enough wind for our biggest kites so the event was to be determined by a competition behind the ski on the features ! There was a 8 inch wide flatbar with a pretty heavy ollie on, a flat to gap to down and a incline box... you had 4 runs through and the best line won. You basically had to string together a solid hit on every obstacle one after the other or you were done. I did a nose press, tail tap to blind on the flat bar, back board, gap, back lipslide to blind on the gap rail and a switch toe front 5 of the incline and that was enough to secure the win!!! Results were;

1st - Craig Cunningham

2nd - David Drinkwater

3rd - Eric Rienstra

4th - Rich Sabo

Just want to say thanks to the Medysky family for having the whole crew chillin at their place all week and for putting on such a fun event! Cheers!!!

After the event Rienstra and Sabo came down to Port Dover for a session and then Sabo dipped back to Merca (USA)! Rienstra stuck around and we've been shooting some lifestyle stuff with Josh Pietras and are heading to the King Of The Great Lakes this weekend... with maybe a stop at Boarder Pass Wake Park and Placid Wake Park if the wind is still looking light! Either way were shredding!

Thanks to Josh Pietras, David Tran and Dave Sanford for the photos!

Kitespain Issue #15 - English Version Is Out!

2011-08-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

The English version of KiteSpain Magazine latest issue has now dropped! You can now read the 14 page article on fellow Liquid Force team rider Brandon Scheid and myself even if you cant read Spanish! Pages 55 - 68! Peep it... http://www.kitespain.com/english/online.html

Kitespain Issue #15 Coverage

2011-07-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

pg 55 & 56

The latest issue of Kitespain Magazine just dropped and Brandon Scheid and myself scored some major coverage... a 14 page feature! Mostly stuff Bryan Elkus shot at the 2011 Liquid Force Team Shoot in Cape Hatteras! The article talks about the direction we would like to see Kiteboarding go and how to make the sport grow instead of be limited to a certain style...

pg 57 & 58

pg 59 & 60

pg 61 & 62

pg 63 & 64

pg 65 & 66

pg 67 & 68

Right now only the Spanish version is available but in another 2 weeks an english version will drop as well! Pretty excited though because Europe is such a huge kiteboarding market and Tarifa, Spain is probably the most popular spot on the planet! Nice to snag some coverage there for sure!

Within' Reach - An Ontario Kiteboarding Movie... Premieres in Toronto!

2011-06-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

"DVD and Blu-Ray for sale!"

This past weekend I headed up to Toronto for the premiere of Within Reach: An Ontario Kiteboarding Movie! Brendan Shnurr and friends at Big Fall Productions has been working on the video for the past three seasons, showcasing the best spots and best riders that the province has to offer! When I showed up I was stoked to see they had used a photo David G Tran had taken late last season of myself in Long Point as the back cover for the DVD as well as the DVD menu! I was really impressed with the amount of support for the event, they had a huge turnout for the premiere and the party went on all night! Check out some of the photos from the event and pick up a copy at your local board shop!

"Brendan and Krystian the videographers getting ready to start the movie!"

"big turnout"

"myself, Steiner and Krystian post viewing!"

Thanks to Jay Newman for the shots!

Boarder Pass Wake Park - Front Page News

2011-05-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

"Boarder Pass Glass"

"shifty to wrapped"

It was a national holiday this past weekend and the forecast looked pretty bad for kiting so I made the drive up to Sarnia for my first cable set of of the year! The crew at Boarder Pass is always fun to ride with and after a few really fun sets with everyone Saturday I was really not looking forward to the 2 1/2 + hour drive back home. With no wind in the forecast for Sunday either and an invitation to crash at Tim and Cody's pad I figured it would be a good idea to stick around and shred for another day! On Sunday we woke up and it looked miserable but by noon it had cleared up and we had another bluebird day in the glassy System 2.0 park!

"indy tantrum... almost. did tim miss the shot or did i miss the grab?"

"270 front board"

"around the corner raley"

"look at the all the LFX's!"

We all had a full afternoon of hitting sliders and loading up air tricks! A handful of locals are killin it now, getting real steezy on the sliders and throwing big raleys and some rolls! I really wish I had one of these so close to my house cause these guys are going to get ill quick! Everybody was throwing down and a reporter from the Sarnia Observer newspaper happened to show up, snapping photos and asking questions about the park! On Tuesday, the newspaper had Boarder Pass and myself on the front page throwing a raley to blind! Pretty stoked to get in the paper and for BP to get some coverage! Cant wait to get back up there again!!! Word is they have a rooftop with a flat bar on the end going in this week or next, similar to the famous one at McCormick's cable park! And the Liquid Force Browdown is going down on June 25'th with free cable sets, free food and free shwag! Get there!!! Should be sick!

"front page of the Sarnia Observer"

"Liquid Force Brodown Poster"

SBC Kiteboard and Kiteworld Coverage!

2011-05-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

The new issue of SBC Kiteboard just dropped and I'm pretty stoked on it! Lots of park riding, powered hits and heavy waves! Plus our crew scored a 6 page article on our trip to Maui, a few other shots here and there and Brandon nabbed the cover! Check it out...

One of the many beautiful Maui views!

Some Kitebeach action!

Secrets on the North Shore!

Some more media in the "Kite Camp" section of the mag! Hitting features is getting really popular in kiting and more and more people are getting interested into this side of the sport! Hitting the park with a kite is no joke though, so SBC hit up 7 pro's that are pushing the scene on what to keep in mind while taking your first attempts at hitting a slider with your kite!

Kite Camp - Hitting Sliders

There was also an article on the Wind Or No Wind Board Jam at the Camsur Watersports Complex in the Philippines! I was so excited to be invited to this event and to have a chance to be a part of kiteboarding history. One full week of kite and cable, rider judged, no heats and as much water time as you could handle! When we had wind we kited and when it shut off we went and shredded the cable or multiple 2.0 systems! Then at the end of the week everybody voted on who was killing it the most! I've never seen this much progression in such a short amount of time, I'm already jonsing to get back to Camsur and take some laps at CWC again! Lots of content already out from this event and I'm sure a lot more in the future as well!

WONW article

A little more exposure in the photo section as they do a feature on "jibbing, pressing and bonking" in kiteboarding and how it's blown up in the last few years! The photos from a session Bryan Elkus hit up last spring in Cape Hatteras, switch tail press on the Dock out back of REAL Kiteboarding alongside my budday Eric Rienstra booting a fat BS3, late melon grab off the kicker! Pretty pysched on this too because on the following page the credits for our shots are on the side of a two page spread of one of the guys I really looked up to coming up! Andre Phillip, as always steezing out on the corrogated tube up in the goofy slick!

Eric and I getting down in Cape Hatteras!

Kiteworld Issue 49 also had a little exposure in it too! A few shots from a trip to Brazil winter 2010 with Sam Medysky and Jon Van Malsen! Thanks to David G Tran for shooting that trip!

Kiteworld Issue 49

Jon, Sam and myself

Not riding but not a bad view, right?

So now I'm at home, catching up with family, friends and sponsors, Getting ready to kick off the summer for 2011!

2011 - SSS WILDCARD

2011-05-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a little edit I dropped for the SSS Kiteboarding event in Cape Hatteras, NC... the video had to be in by May 1'st so I had to hurry and get some footage together. Turned out alright but would have definitely like a couple more sessions to stomp a few more hits! Anyways here it... 2011 SSS Wildcard!

SSS WILDCARD 2011 from Craig Cunningham on Vimeo.

CWC Winch Park Shot in KiteSpain Magazine!

2011-02-22T06:52:00.000-08:00

The other day I came across a few photos that Tom Court had taken of Brandon Scheid, Sam Light and myself sessioning the Cable Park and Winch Park at the CWC just before the Wind Or No Wind Jam was about to kick off! All the shots were published in the latest issue of KiteSpain magazine in a 10 page WONW Jam article! Check it out...

Go support KiteSpain and the Wind Or No Wind by picking up a copy of the magazine, it come in an English version as well! Or for more info on the Wind Or No Wind Board Jam hit up the website... www.windornowind.com !

Cruisin' on Maui, Hawaii with the LF Crew

2011-02-05T11:37:00.001-08:00

So we've been out on Maui for a while now! I came out here after the Philippines with good friends and fellow Liquid Force Team rider Brandon Scheid and Sensi Graves! That night Sam Medysky flew in from Canada to meet up with us at our new place, The Kailolo house in Wailuku! The house was just newly renovated and completely decked out and we were lucky enough to be the first crew to stay in the new pad! With beautiful views of the ocean and west Maui mountains from both the front and back porch, a one minute walk to Rivermouths to surf or a quick 5 minute drive to Kitebeach we had a good home base to kick off this adventure!

LF Voyager @ the Kailolo Kite House

View from the front of the Kailolo Kite House

View from the back of the Kailolo House

And an adventure it was! I haven't ever been on a kite trip where we did so much exploring, sight seeing and touristy sorta stuff. It's all good though, there is so much to do and see on Maui it would take you years to complete everything and we had our sights set on kiting, surfing and exploring as much as we possibly could every single day! Some of the highlights so far have been the Road To Hana trip where we navigated the gnarly road of switchbacks and 51 single lane bridges all the way around the east side of the island, the lush bamboo forest, 400+ foot waterfalls, Haleakala Volcano, lava tubes, craters, tons of rainbows and double rainbows, the Rip Curl store, snorkeling the reefs, black beaches, white beaches, red beaches and just hiking the island with good friends to some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my whole life!

Road to Hana sunset

West Maui Mountain Hike

cave in the lava tubes

chillin at the Rip Curl Store in Lahaina

beautiful view from a drive around the NW corner of the island

hike through the bamboo forest

Brandon and myself on top of Haleakala Volcana

400+ foot waterfall at the end of the "7 Pools" hike

awesome Banyan Tree

With all the adventure you'd think we hadn't had much wind and you'd be right. December and January has been pretty dismal for wind with only a handful of sessions. But then at the end of January the crew started building and so did the conditions. My girlfriend Tahnee arrived as well as Julien Fillion Liquid Force Designer and Team Rider flew in with all the new 2012 gear ready to be shot and tested! Perfect timing as Henning Sanstrom Liquid Force Team Rider/Filmer from Sweeden showed up and brought the wind and swell with him! The next day Jaws was going off for the first time all winter and the NE trades were pumping too! The first big wave session of the trip went down and the stoke within the household was super high! I haven't done much big wave riding at all so pulling into some of those mackers with a kite really got my adrenaline pumping! The waves here are so perfect and unbelievably fun! I have much more respect for kiting in the waves now and want to do a lot more of it myself in the future! The freestyle conditions on the other hand aren't exactly as good as the waves. It can get really good just not as consistently as I was hoping for... there is only flat water in one direction (regular tack) which is switch for me and it is usually blowing the wrong wind direction to get deep into the flat water anyways but there are goofy kickers and I've been having a lot of fun and taking a lot of beatings learning how to boot off them! After that first really good surge and a few epic days of wind and waves Nuria Goma LF Team Rider from Spain and her boyfriend David Romeau arrived just as things were starting to mellow out but still scored some of the goods! Shortly after the crew kept on growing with the additions of one more LF Team Rider, Jason Slezak and Slingshot Team Rider Eric Rienstra! With such a solid crew of people and the chill locals Kitebeach is a super fun place to ride and hangout! I've been waiting to come here ever since I started riding! Looking up to guys like Lou, Elliot, Morris, Sleezy, Stone, and Moe! It's crazy to be here now, in the same spot but with a new crew trying to push it as much as we can! Maui is bound to get lit up with some good riding and good times in the next month or so!!!

LF crew maxin at Kite Beach

Kona Wind session on the South Side

Kite Beach kickers

Kite Beach flat water

Stumped On The Sea Shore

2011-01-19T12:07:00.001-08:00

Maui hasn't been exactly cranking in the wind department and on our third session in almost a month Sam had his leash wrap around his finger and it ripped off the end of his middle digit. He booked a flight home right away but spent the next couple of days filming Brandon, Cruser and myself. What a trooper! Here's an edit Sammy put together from a couple of sessions before he left... It would have been nice if we had more time to shoot with him before he dipped, I didn't exactly stomp all the tricks I was hoping for, it's tough only having flat water for regular stance but it's definitely going to help my switch game in the future! Anyways the edit turned out pretty sick regardless! Check it out!!! Thanks Sammo! Hope that finger heals up soon!

Stumped on the sea shore from Sam Medysky on Vimeo.

CWC Quick Hits!

2011-01-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

I'm already missing the CWC so the other day I went through some footage from a couple laps where Brandon Scheid and myself were trading of the HD Go Pro camera during the Wind Or No Wind Board Jam!

Here's a short edit with some quick hits! Watch out... a lot more footage coming out of this event!

2010 Wind Or No Wind Board Jam @ CWC

2010-12-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Wind Or No Wind 2010... what a blur! All I can say is Morris and Governor L-Ray know how to put on a proper event and throw some mega parties! Everyone had a blast and the level of progression went through the roof! Being able to wake up and just take a short walk to go shred the best cable park in the world or take a set on the System 2.0 winch park helped take everyones riding to the next level! Now we just have to take all this cable knowledge and drop it into kiting! The two sports are so similar with only a few differences. With a cable or System 2.0 you have the advantage from the consistency of pull and the features always being ready but with kiteboarding you have your own personal cable and you don't need to walk back to the start dock! Other than that were doing a lot of similar stuff and with events like this the sports can really feed off each other and grow at a faster pace!

Wind Or No Wind 2010 offically has put it's stamp on the kiteboarding industry and is now a world class event that nobody will want to miss! Having a full sized kite park, world class cable park, boat lake, 7 System 2.0's, cheap food and booze and $10 hour long massages, the CWC in Camsur is a hard venue to beat!

And the event organizers and all the riders took full advantage of having the chance to be here! Logging massive amounts of riding while the media crew buzzed around in the chopper! One thing that's for sure is there will be no shortage of footage coming out of this event! The amount of media was crazy, not one minute went by without being fully documented from multiple angles!

But Wind Or No Wind wasn't just about shredding all day long... we got a chance to see the other side of the Philippines too! Morris had a few trips organized for us with the most memorable being a trip to one of the local kite beaches where they had a System 2.0 with a flat bar and kicker set up for us just in case we didn't score any wind and our trip to Mount Isarog National Park was another highlight where we hiked to this raging waterfall with hidden caves!

As the week was coming to an end we knew something big going to happen to shut this event down and once again WONW stepped it up and threw a massive closing party complete with fireworks, L-Ray dancers putting on an amazing show, pig roast dinner, and another night of DJ Paul dropping beats late into the night at the Happy Ending bar after the awards ceremonies!

During the awards I was super surprised to hear my name? Morris called me up and handed me the "Best Attitude" award! SO STOKED! Being able to come to this event with all the top riders in the sport was crazy enough but winning that award and having it presented to me by the "Godfather" of wakestyle kiteboarding was unbelievable! Brandon Scheid fellow Liquid Force Team Rider and travel partner for the winter took down 1'st place on the cable and 3'rd on the kite! Amped for him cause he's been straight up murdering the rails and is one of the hardest working riders out there! Nice to see him take a first home for NA and LF! Aaron Hadlow and Sam Light held it down for the UK! Aaron took 2'nd on the cable and 1'st on the kite while Sam Light grabbed a 2'nd on the kite and 3'rd on cable! Big ups to the whole crew though! Everyones riding progressed a lot and kiteboarding just got a huge boost as far as skill level from the top riders on rails and kickers!!!

Wind Or No Wind 2010 was a huge success and a lot of fun! Such a beautiful place with the best wake and kite park you could ever imagine!!! I already cant wait to come back next year to get sick on the water and chill with the crew!

NOW OFF TO MAUI...

CWC @ CWC - Craig W Cunningham @ Camsur Watersports Complex!!!

2010-12-02T02:07:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been crazy! I've been riding the CWC (Camsur Watersports Complex) which is basically the best cable park/winch park in the world. I arrived in the Philippines Saturday morning with Brandon Scheid and we met up with the UK crew who were just getting in as well. Everybody is killing it and the progression is going through the roof! This place is absolutely of the charts! Couldn't think of any setup that even comes close... beautiful scenery, world class cable, kite park, concrete winch park with 7 System 2.0's, sick skatepark, $10 hour long massages, great food, free shuttles into the town and some very friendly people make CamSur, Philippines a place I know I will be returning to in the future no doubt!

We came here for the 1'st ever Wind Or No Wind Jam put on by the godfather of wakestyle kiteboarding, Mauricio Abreu! This will be like no other kite contest before. If we have wind we shred the kite park, if not we just go hit up the full sized cable or one of the System 2.0's! The idea behind this event is to show the world what kiteboarding can be and that the top wakestyle riders in the world can throw down on the cable or a kite... doesn't really matter!

Today we hit up the concrete winch park that featured two down rails and a step up pool! Nowhere else in the world does anything like this exist, just wait until you see the photos and footage from todays session!

It was our last chance for warm up sets before the event kicks off tomorrow morning so check back here, SBCkiteboard.com and windornowwind.com for daily updates! Brrraaapppp!

Boarder Pass, Sarnia - November 11/2010

2010-11-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

I've had been working on a short kite edit with all the scrap footage I had lying around on my computer from this fall at home in Ontario! Was looking pretty sick and I just logged some more footy at the cable in Sarnia! Then when I almost almost had it done, my computer crashed... so bummed, hope I can recover it. But I did have a little edit for finished, so here it is...

Quick set from last week at the Boarder Pass in Sarnia! Managed to make it up there a couple times this season and was jonsing for one last set before I head out for the winter! Tim and Chris have done an awesome job with the place and have a full selection of Liquid Force rentals if you dont have wake gear! If you havent made it up there yet to check out the setup you should definitely make sure you get up there next season! Cable is so much fun, perfect for no wind days! To bad it's over 2+ hours from home, really wish we had one closer!

Boarder Pass Edit from Craig Cunningham on Vimeo.

LTR Productions in Ontario...

2010-10-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Chuck from LTR Productions was in Ontario for a week along with some other friends from Cape Hatteras. At the end of their stay they came down to Long Point and shot for a day in the slick! The edit turned out really good! Wish I had more time to film with Chuck though cause he's so creative and I had a lot more tricks to stomp for him! Check it out! Part #2 featuring...
Evan Netsch, Brandon Scheid and myself!

More videos and sick swag at www.lifetheral.com

Ontario part 2 (feat. Evan, Brandon and Craig) from Lifethereal on Vimeo.

BEERS, BUGGYS AND BROKEN BONES

2010-10-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

SBC Kiteboard Magazine just recently dropped their 10'th anniversary issue and they ran an 8 page article on our crews trip last fall! Brazil: BEERS, BUGGYS AND BROKEN BONES! The title in the FEATURES section reads... "They were groms when we lunched SBC Kiteboard, now they're kids in adult bodies. Photographer David G Tran follows the next generation to Taiba, Brazil and does his best to keep them and himself, out of trouble!"

Pretty pumped on how the article turned out and that I scored a page and 1/4 spread in it! First one in SBC! Doing a crail grab over the sandbar at Cobra Lagoon! Check out the mega dunes in the background! Spot was super gusty but the scenery was perfect so we hiked all the way over that dune to get there! Plus it's called "Cobra Lagoon" for a reason, we had a short session, got the shot, then dipped! Here's a sneak peak at the some of the photos in the article! Pick it up at you local magazine rack or the nearest Chapters!

Thanks to Mark and Katie at Revolution Pousada for their hospitality, Liquid Force for providing me the best gear on the market for this trip, Rip Curl for always having me sorted for outerwear and westsuits, David G Tran for being down to shoot all the time and John @ SBC Kiteboard for running the article!

Liquid Force Crew Shreds Ontario, Canada!

2010-09-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I rolled out to pick up Liquid Force team mate Brandon Scheid at the airport. He was in my hood for the first time and we were ready to cruise and get our shred on! We headed straight up to Sauble Beach to meet up with everybody at the Medysky cottage. Some of our other friends from Hatteras were down... the LTR crew, consisting of Eric Rienstra, BCS, Evan Netsch, Claire Lutz and Chuck the man behind LTR Productions!

We woke up Thursday morning at the Medysky cottage right on the beach! We were all itching to get on the water but the wind looked kinda sketch and the locals boys were saying it wasn't worth the drive to the local flat water spot Oliphant! Brandon had never seen the spot though so we thought we'd take a quick 10 minute drive over to "Oli." They were right. The wind was pretty light but we hung out for a bit watching people try to kite with a few other locals that were chillin on the beach. Luckily the wind came up enough and we pumped up a 12m Envy and a 13m HiFi Comp! Everybody else was on huge kites and foils and they couldn't believe we were able to throw down in boots with such light wind. You wouldn't call it an epic session but we had fun and it was time on the water!

The next day was the first day of the Sauble Beach Kite Jam! This was the first year for the event organized by Sam and Dan Medysky! We woke up and took the 20 minute drive to next town over where LF had sent us a bunch of promo stuff to the local dealer. Now we had a tent to toss up at the event site! LF represent! 2011 Envy's were on demo as well as the new LFX and Contact board, Synergy CT and U2 boots and the new Luxury and Comp harnesses! Everyone thought the stuff was sick! I still cant believe how good the new Envy is! Now that everything was setup... light wind of course, it seems to be a trend for kiteboarding events.

We did have enough to buggy though! Although it looks pretty kooky, riding in a buggy and blasting down the beach with a 12m Envy doing mega powerslides is about as much fun as you could ever ask for in 8-10 knots! So no kiteboarding today but lots of buggying and a few refreshments here and there!

Saturday morning we woke up to again another day of no wind activities. People were at the LF tent checking out the new gear and Brandon and I got our tech on!

By the afternoon it looks like kiteboarding was canceled for the day and we pulled out the ski to run the "sliders" portion of the contest on the Kite Jam slider park! There was the Dakine up box, the Chenzo up, flat, the Best up, flat and a huge kicker! Everybody got 1 warm up run, then 3 park laps. I hadn't hit any sliders since Hatteras in early June so I was feeling a bit rusty but by the 3'rd run through the park I finally had some solid hits! Too bad the third run was the my last lap and I didn't really get to put my run together... oh well that's how it goes.

Brandon staright up beasted on the Kite Jam park though and took 1'st place for the LF crew! BAM! Behind him was the other Hatteras boys in 2nd Eric Rienstra and in 3rd BCS showing that the Hatty boys got there slider skills locked down! That night the band got rained out at the main stage so we headed out to one of the local bars and tore it up!

Sunday morning was a slow start but by the time we got to the beach in the morning it was blowing just over 10 knots and there was 50 + kites on the beach. By noon the wind was coming up and those kites were on the water and there was easily another 150 + people on the beach watching! We didn't get enough wind to run the freestyle heats but we still had a fun session! I was riding the wakeskate all afternoon and scored some pretty sick photos with John Bryja and David G Tran from SBC Kiteboard Magazine! Brandon was stalling on this fence and post that went out into the water and I'm sure got some bangers as well!

After the final word we took down the LF tent and were packing up when the wind started to get stronger. The decision was made and the crew headed out to North Oliphant for one last session in the Bruce Peninsula! We kited over 3 km offshore to these uninhabited rock islands that offered up beautiful rock slicks and clear blue water! We kited out there for a couple hours then headed in hoping the wind would hold for us to make it back to land! The spot were pretty sure has never been kited before and was coined "Steinbag Cove." I wont forget this session for a long time! Everybody throwing down in the middle of nowhere with MAJOR consequences if you broke down! Fun times!

After we all packed up we toured back to the Medysky's cottage and made the decision to dip out that night and head south from Sauble Beach to my home spot in Long Point for some favorable SW conditions! BCS came along with Chuck from LTR productions and David G Tran! On Monday morning we woke up at my place just outside of Turkey Point and headed out to the slicks on Long Point! Loaded up my little 14ft aluminum boat with all our gear took the quick 5 minute ride out to the west slick!

It was pretty sick rollin' up to my home spot with these guys because other than Tran nobody else had ever seen this place. We had it all to ourselves and when we got out the reeds were bending over! We knew we were going to get the goods today! Chuck and Tran fired up their cameras and we pumped our kites! It was on! Pretty stoked we scored a solid session here with two of the best wakestyle riders in the world... can't wait to see the footage to come out of it! After we were done we all headed back to my place to relax and figure out our plan for the next day.

The wind was looking okay but the new Sesitec System 2.0 in Sarnia always has perfect conditions... but Tran had to head back to Toronto and Charlie and BCS back to Hatteras via Maine. Too bad everybody to leave because the next day Brandon, my girlfriend Tahnee and I took the 2 hour drive North to Sarnia to check out the new System 2.0! They had put in a new 6 inch wide A- Frame with a super legit ollie on in and they also had the Metlab up, flat box set up! 2.0's are so much fun if you haven't tried one yet you really need to! Hit after hit on the rails and we even started getting some air tricks down too! To bad it was getting dark out by the time we arrived and we didn't have any flashes... Thanks to the boys over at Boarder Pass for hooking up the session and letting us ride until we could barely see the sliders! Super fun night, I'll definitely be going back soon!

What a week! Who would have thought with all theses crazy sessions that we were cruisin in Ontario? It was a lot of fun having the Hatteras crew here since we spend so much time down there on the island! Hopefully next year everyone will come back to shred, chill and party and hopefully more people will come to check out KiteJam and all Ontario has to offer!

2011 Liquid Force Team / 2011 HiFi Comp

2010-08-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

The new website for Liquid Force just dropped along with all the 2011 gear! Looks really nice and clean and it's easy to navigate as well. If you check out the Team Page you can see there has been some new faces added to the LF Family for 2011!

I managed to snag a spot on the International Support Team this year which I'm super stoked on! I still can't believe it... Couldn't be happier to be riding for LF in 2011 and representing Canada! They make the best gear available on the market and in my opinion have the most solid team in the kiteboarding industry. Plus they promote and have pushed wakestyle riding from the beginning and everybody knows it's the raddest stuff out there! Like...

I was also featured in the Official Release for the 2011 HiFi Comp and in the 2011 Product Catalogue as well! They used one of the shots Bryan Elkus snagged during the LF Team Shoot back in May from a session at Kite Point in Cape Hatteras, NC! I'm riding the 2011 Contact and the HiFi Comp (obviously) in the photo! Check it out at www.kiteroam.com

The kite is killer once again this year! Four strut freestyle/wakestyle beast that delivers lots of power, tons of slack but still has good range, relaunch and depower! The Contact is the freestyle board of choice in the lineup this year and replaces the best selling Recoil from previous years! It's really fast, blasts upwind, has loads of pop and comes in at a really nice price point! Check out all the 2011 gear in the Product section on the new site... www.liquidforcekites.com

...and don't forget to check back here for weekly updates! Were coming into the windy season!!!

First Day on the System 2.0 in Sarnia!

2010-08-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Sarnia a town about 2.5 hours from my house just dropped in a Sesitec System 2.0! I've only rode cable once before and have never seen a 2.0 system but I've seen a bunch of videos on the setup and have always wanted to try it out! So my friends Sam Medysky and Dan Steiner drove out to meet up with my girl Tahnee and myself for an afternoon session this past friday! The park was kinda small but the owner Tim was super chill and he was saying that him and his partner have some bigger plans! The towers were really short since they set it up in the water (set up in a marina) instead of on land. This made air tricks nearly impossible but was a dope set up for shredding rails! I'll definitely be going back once my cable board arrives next week! I was riding the 2011 Contact and it worked great but it will be fun to shred this park with a LF flex board!

Check out some of the photos!

The Sesitec System 2.0 setup in the @ Boarder Pass in the Sarnia Bay Marina!

My girlfriend Tahnee making her first few laps on a Cable system and loving it!

Naish team rider Steiner fresh of a broken femur! Getting his shred skills back!

Best team rider Sam Medysky showing the locals he's hit a few rails this season!

Couple Shots of me having some fun on the flat bar with the 2011 LF Contact!

Thanks to Tim @ Boarder Pass for hooking up the session! It was a fun day with good friends and good hits! Can't wait for the new A-Frame to drop in! Should be crazy!

Check back soon! Hopefully shoot some footy tomorrow in the slick!

Back to Hatteras... LF 2011 Team Shoot!

2010-07-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

Damn, I haven't posted in a while. Been super busy... lots of fun times and crazy adventures! I was back down in Cape Hatteras, NC to do the 2011 Liquid Force Team Shoot! Couldn’t have been more happy to be a part of this for 2011! Liquid had an amazing house complete with a golf cart and a home theatre with seating for the whole team! Just minutes from Real Kiteboarding, we basically just hung out, rode and shot a bunch of footage for a whole month with a few side projects here and there! The Liquid Force Team is stacked with sick riders from all over the world, bringing different personalities and different steeze creating the perfect team environment! Kite legends like Sleezy, Morris, Moe and Mulcoy, wakestyle rippers Brandon Scheid, Chris Burke, James Boulding, and Petter Johnson, Young bloods Chad Worall and Aaron Abel and the ladies of the house were Nuria Goma, Lulu Vroman and Arla Funk. Throw Liquid Force mastermind Gary Siskar in the mix, photographer Bryan Elkus and videographer Nate Appel and the house was full with constant entertainment!

The first little bit we didn’t get the weather for banger footage that we were hoping for so we used our time wisely and started on the Liquid Force Recycled Slider Project! This project was from start to finish built with recycled materials from old jibs that had been laying around in the back yard at Real Kiteboarding for a few years now. When the project was finished, the wind turned back on and the sun crept out and we had a fresh wallride and kicker to session!

Now things were rolling and so was the footage! We had to get photos and video for the 2011 Product Campaign like ads, website, product catalogue and some other random stuff! We scored some epic sessions and the LF Team was getting loose while Bryan Elkus and Nate Appel were there to document all of it! Check out Nate Appels Teaser for “All of it” the 2011 Liquid Force Team Video!

Liquid Force 2011 Trailer from Nate Appel on Vimeo.

We got work done and wrapped up the shoot! It was time for the SSS to start... ohh shit! LF was nice enough to keep the house for an extra week so everybody had a place to stay! If you dont know what SSS is you gotta check it out! Jason Slezak and Real Kiteboarding put on week long kiteboarding event in which the top 24 riders in the world are invited. There are no rules or judges and everybody rides for however long and often as they please. It’s 7 days long with 7 bands and 7 killer parties and at the end of it your lucky to still be alive. On the final Saturday all the riders and media personel vote on who killed it the most and the awards are given out and the final mega party kicks off. All I can say it was complete kaos on the island that week and you may hear the stories but you’ll never know what SSS is all about until you get down there to expierience it for yourself! Just want to throw out some props to everybody involved in this event and to my good friend and Liquid team mate Brandon Scheid for holding it down and claiming the #1 spot! Brrrrap!

Check out the latest SBC Kiteboard Magazines section on SSS. There is a cool article and a shot of me hanging out with the crew at SSS!

Once SSS was finished up and there was calm again on the island I had a couple extra days to hang out with everybody and get some riding in before I had to dip. Nate, Brandon and I were hoping to get some more footage before we left but things never really came together. We did have some fun skate sessions though and the day before we left, the wind came up and we headed up to the slick for a couple hours! Hatteras was over for the spring... it really sunk in when Nate and I were sitting at the airport knowing we were heading back home. Such a fun crew and good people, the perfect place to push your riding... I’m missing Hatteras already!

Now it’s back to Ontario for the summer! When I arrived home the wind was strong which is not very common here in the summer!

I dropped my little aluminum fishing boat into the bay and headed out to the slicks! It was on for almost two weeks, minus a day here and there but then the regular summer weather kicked in. I've Been riding the 2011 Contact with the new U2‘s and it’s been really good in the conditions we’ve been having on the Great Lakes this summer, I've had a few sessions lately and it’s been pretty light but the Contact has been working really well for me!

Lately I’ve been working on getting the Long Point crew slider upgraded for some winching sessions! Can’t wait to get some hits in on it with a kite when the wind fills back in!

Keep checking back for more regular updates and if your looking for more kite photos check out www.BryanElkus.com or pick up a copy of SBC Kiteboard!

Waves, Hatteras - The Fun Keeps On Rollin

2010-04-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

I've been in the small town of Waves on Hatteras Island since April 2'nd and it has been good times all the time! Always something to do on the island!

Not as much wind as usual this past week so Brandon Scheid, Sam Medysky, Eric Rienstra and myself have been keeping busy doing a lot of skating on the mini-ramp! I just learned how to skate a ramp two weeks ago and I'm already putting together some short runs. When I was a kid I skated a little street but never had the chance to ride a ramp... it's definitely now one of my new favorite no-wind activities!

We did get a few good kite sessions at the REAL Slick with Jason Slezak, BCS, RPE, Nick Baines, Brandon Scheid, Sam Medysky, and Eric Rienstra! It's sick to ride with these guys cause we always have a lot of fun on the water and really push eachother! Bryan Elkus rode for a bit as well and then headed out on the ski to get some shots and as always he banged of a bunch of killer photos! Here's a few from his "B" real and watch out for some of the goods in coming issues of your favorite kite mag!

It looks like the wind is going to crank for the next week and the SBC crew rolls in to town tomorrow so I'll be moving down to Avon helping them out testing all of the new 2010 kites and boards from all the top brands in the sport! Keep checking back on this site and www.SBCkiteboard.com for updates in the coming week...

Spring 2010 - Waves, Cape Hatteras, NC

2010-04-14T07:03:00.001-07:00

It's been a little bit since I last updated my blog. Sam and Mary Medesky picked Tahnee Pierog and myself up at the Norfolk airport and the 2 hour drive to the island was on... Since the minute we arrived on Hatteras we've been crazy busy! Catching up with old friends we haven't seen since last season and riding a lot! Some people get bored quick on Hatteras Island but if your open to trying other things rather then just kiting there is always something to do! If we're not kiting, were skating the ramp, surfing or like the last three windless days we've been towing into the Big John Wayne Slider on the REAL jet-skis!

In the past week we've had epic 8m sessions in the REAL Slick with the SW cranking 30+, an amazing downwinder to the inlet though some super fun slicks, skate sessions in Sleezy's Bowl and some gnarly hits on the 80 foot Big John Wayne Slider! If you haven't seen the Big John Wayne yet it's the most legit rail I've ever seen in my life, fabricated by the famous Pat Panikos and The Projects Slider Crew! It's an 80 foot long, 6 foot tall, up, flat, down with a removable flat section to gap, completely made out of HDPE which gives you the smoothest slide possible! This slider is sick and I've been drooling over getting some hits on it since they premiered it at last years world renowned SSS Kite Competion held here at the REAL Complex.

This past Sunday was the day! We got the permission to pull it out and I was really suprised how easy a single jet ski could pull this monster out. We anchored the beast and it was on! As excited as I was before, now I was a little scared, this thing is intimidating... I've never hit anything close to this size before and being towed in with a jet-ski rather than a kite was another new thing for me so I definitely had some butterflies. The crew was getting some solid hits though and it got me amped to hit it for sure. Evans, BCS, Baines, Medesky and Reinstra were charging! I was finally up and took a couple safety runs by it checking it out from water level... looked HUGE as I rode by! Next pass by I commited to it and boardslid the whole thing! BAM it was over, my heart was pumping and I was stoked! It was a lot mellower than I thought and after a few more hits I was getting some nice presses and a frontside 3 across it!

The Big John Wayne was so much! After that session everybody stoke level was so high and we all talked about pulling it out again the next day but I was thinking there was a small chance of that happening... but it did and then again the day after as well! 3 killer days of slider riding with friends in the backyard at REAL, couldn't ask for anything more on 3 straight days with no wind.

Today though the wind is back on and there is no sign of stopping it for the next week or so! Today were going to go hit up a surf session at the Lighthouse then head over to Kite Point for a flatwater session. Tomorrow it swings back around SW so the slick will be going off and hopefully so will the crew!

Liquid Force Utah Snowkite Tour and Superfly Open 2010 2'nd Place Finish!

2010-03-24T06:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I was able to update my blog... so this is going to be a big one! My computer crashed the first day of the trip and so I havent been able to do the updates I've wanted but everything is sorted out now! Utah was a crazy expierience with some gnarly conditions and exciting adventures!

I headed out to Utah to shoot photos with the LF Crew for the 2011 Liquid Force/Decosse Custom Snowboards and the new 2011 kite lineup! The Superfly Open was going down at Powder Mountain and were planning on hittin' up that as well!

The trip started out with some warm up kite sessions with Brandon Scheid, Jason Slezak, Julien Fillion and Arla Funk in Park City! We scored wind three days in a row at a spot called "desperations." We also hit up the Canyons for some back country and park snowboarding which was a lot of fun! I've never been snowboarding out of Ontario so this was an eye opener for me. These mountains are massive and at around 10,000 feet not very forgiving and makes you feel like your ridiculously out of shape.

Julien Fillion - www.julienfillion.com...LF designer on a secret kite!

Jason Slezak - www.jasonslezak.com - grabbing indy in Park City!

Brandon Scheid - brandonscheid.blogspot - throwing a huge BS3!

Friday was day 4 and the Superfly Open was schedueled to kick off! The Superfly attracts top snow kiters from all over North America and Europe some coming from as far away as Austria! The LF crew got signed up and headed over to the event site to start getting all the new 2010 kites and boards set uo for demo. The wind was still a little light so we met up with Best Kiteboarding and O'neil Team Rider Sam Medysky to help set up the rails for the event. After a few Monster Energy drinks that was done and we were ready to ride. Not a lot of wind but the grunt of the 13m HiFi Comp and 14m Havoc was enough for a short session. The wind wasn't the strongest so the crew took advantage of the event being help at Powder Mountain and we dipped out for a bunch of park runs!

The second day at the Superfly had some gnarly conditions. It was snowing hard, blowing 30+ knots and we had minimal visibility due to the heavy fog at the top of the peak. It was kind of a right off for a snowkiting event but some people managed to ride on small kites that they couldn't even see in front of them...nuts! Although we were a little bummed that we wernt' going to be able to kite we again took advantage of our surroundings and went snowboarding all afternoon taking some epic pow runs in the fresh snow.

The next Day we awoke to the new Liquid Force Team RV in the chalet parking lot and Team Manager Tekko had arrived all the way from Hood River, OR! We all piled into the new RV cranked the music up and headed up the mountain in style for the last day of the Superfly Open! This was a sick ride... I could get used to living in this thing! We arrived to foggy conditions again and the outlook was not looking to favorable for the final day. We waited around all morning chillin' in the RV wondering what was going to happen. It looked like they were going to have to call the event but around noon the fog started clearing, the sun broke through and the wind started filling it. It was on! We headed out to the event site to get things cracking! I pumped up a 14m Havoc and grabbed a 159 Decosse/LF Custom and I was lit up! Almost thought of going in for a 12m Havoc but figured I could use the extra power on the kickers!

The warm ups started and things were going good. I wasn't expecting to do that well in the event and was just focusing on bagging some decent photos and some video and hopefully getting my name out there a little more. But I started feeling more and more confident each hit and started thinking getting out to Utah early to ride with the LF Crew was goint to help out. Brandon Scheid (Liquid Force, REAL, O'Neill and Dragon) was going off and I was just trying to keep up with him. By the time the judges came out and we were told we had 5 hits regular foot and 5 hits goofy off the kicker! I managed to land some 3's both ways and a switch 313 on regular tack! Then for my last hit I went for a Raley to Blind and stomped it but while riding away I still had a bunch of power in the kite and managed to throw a manual to wrapped. I was happy with how I rode and I thought that was the end of it.

The event was wrapped up and the awards started. Huh? I couldn't believe the results... I grabbed 2'nd place in Pro Freestyle!!!
Even better was the rest of the results... my team mate Brandon Scheid took 1'st and my good friend from Canada Sam Medysky took 3'rd! So stoked... it was a good day for LF Snow and the Canadaian kiteboard scene!

The rest of time spent in Utah was driving all over the state looking for prime conditions to shoot photos for the 2011 Liquid Force Gear. We didn't have a ton of wind but we had some amazing scenery and the crew managed to bang out some good shots!

Now that the snow season is over and this trip is wrapped up I'm focused on getting back in the water asap! April 2'nd we roll out to Cape Hatteras, NC for the month to ride some flatwater and waves...

GET LOOSE - 2009 SEASON WRAP UP VID

2010-03-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

So I've been sitting in the airport all morning waiting for my flight to Utah for the Superfly Event and I managed to finish my final edit from 2009!

CHECK IT OUT!!!

http://www.vimeo.com/10017566

SBC Kiteboard Mag- 2010 Buyers Guide

2010-03-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

The new SBC Kiteboard just dropped and I scored a 2 page article on my trip to Cuba last February! Wish I could have made it back this year. Heading to Utah though on Tuesday morning and then to Cape Hatteras for the month of April!

Interview With LocalKiteSpots.com

2010-02-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

www.localkitespots.com just published an interview I did with them! Click on the link to view the full interview!

http://localkitespots.com/cunningham.htm

Von Zipper Sponsorship for 2010 Season!

2010-02-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

I'm really stoked to announce that I'll be riding for Von Zipper starting in March! VZ is so legit and has some of the best shapes and styles in the game. Super happy they're going to help me out this year and I'm excited to help promote them within the kite industry! 2010 is going to be a huge year with Von Zipper jumping on board with me Liquid Force and Rip Curl!

www.vonzipper.com

SBC Kiteboard Trick Tips

2010-02-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

I have been doing a series of trick tips for SBC Kiteboard Magazine with my good friend Dan Steiner (Naish). Check out the link and you just might learn something new. This weeks trick is the S-Bend to Blind!

www.sbckiteboard.com/kiteboarding_videos/video:1956/S-Bend-to-Blind

KiteRoam.com Interview

2010-02-09T13:10:00.001-08:00

Just finished an interview with KiteRoam.com!

Check it out... www.kiteroam.com/community/upcoming_kiteboarder/50-Craig_Cunningham

The Kiteboarder Magazine - December 2009

2010-02-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

I'm really stoked on my first shot in The Kiteboarder Magazines December 2009 issue! The caption says the shot was taken in Cape Hatteras but was actually snapped in the slicks at my home spot Long Point, Ontario! Check it out!