On the Road... Russia, Florida, Hood River, Great Lakes and Back to Brazil!

Last few months have been pretty hectic.  Super busy with lots of stops and lots of flights... 

I flew out to Russia which turned out to be quite the adventure... I had a nightmare of a time trying to get in and out of the country but the time spent there on the Black Sea was pretty well insane!  Who would've thought that Russia would have the best kiteboarding park in the world and a kite community and a park riding level from the locals like I've never seen before...  I was there for the Rail Masters contest and managed to win my first two heats but then ended up in 4'th out of the 6 man final behind Aaron Hadlow, Sam Light and Tom Court.  I could go on and on about this trip but I'd spoil the feature coming out in the new issue of the Kiteboarder Magazine.

After Russia I was home for a few days and then straight to Florida for the Surf Expo and some laps at the OWC cable park.  I was nominated for AWSI Kiteboarder of the year and North had a booth where we would release most of our 2014 line to North America.  Surf Expo took what I thought a trade show would be like and flipped it upside down.  The US always seems to do things big but this place was pretty crazy with a stand up paddle lake, skatepark, shapers booths, media centre ext.  Every major surf, skate, wake, kite, stand up paddle company was being represented and the booths were off the charts! It was definitely a good time and fun talking shop with all the clients and consumers coming by to check out the North Kiteboarding booth!

Craig Cunningham - AWSI Kiteboarder of the Year from Craig Cunningham on Vimeo.

After Surf Expo I headed out to Hood River for some shred sessions with some of the NA Blend crew as well as a friends wedding so that was fun, we built some tubes, we sessioned, we partied and then I went home to the Great Lakes.  This was much needed two week stop in Port Dover to get my life sorted for the upcoming winter travels... sorting contracts, visas, , meetings and catching up with family and friends! 

Also managed to grab the front page of the local newspaper!  The time flew by and before I knew it, it was time to head back out for another season in Taiba, Brazil!  Back on the grind in kite paradise...