New SBC Kiteboard - Florida Spot Check

Scored a few small shots in the Florida "Spot Check" section that Matt Sexton wrote in the new SBC Kiteboard magazine...

Magdaline Islands Trip in Stance Magazine

Stance just ran an 8 page article on my trip to the Magdaline Islands in both the English and French versions of the mag.  Full on Canadian crew of Julien Fillion and Felix Gourdeau with Vincent Bergeron doing all the media!  Turned out great... super productive trip with lots of coverage coming out as well as an ad for North!   Can't wait to go back to the Isles!

Kicking Off 2013 in Florida

Was pretty excited to make it through my Brazil trip this year without any injuries and some new tricks in the bag... until the last week of filming. I had a pretty gnarly crash that left me with some torn ligaments in my left ankle and a bunch of tricks left to film.  So it was home to do some physio therapy at Great Lakes Pysio... pretty disappointing.

After a month of physio I made the choice to skip Cape Town's high wind conditions and head to Florida to try to work on some slider progression figuring it would be pretty low impact for my ankle .  North International Team Rider Colleen Carroll was planning on being in the Keys as well as some other friends so it seemed like a good idea!

The first day at OWC cable park I quickly realized I was getting way ahead of myself and my ankle was still going to need a good amount of time before I really tried to ride so it was back to the sidelines for another few weeks.  Watching your friends ride is not the easiest thing to do but I tried to stay busy spending the majority of my time watching youtube tutorials on video editing and shooting the crew.

Matt Sexton and Alex Fox from Otherside Boardsports had set up a kicker and slider one day in the Florida Keys and it was no longer possible to just watch... I knew I had to stay away from the kicker but I just couldn't sit around any longer.  I needed to go hit that slider, have some fun and try to bang out a few shots!  My ankle surprisingly felt pretty good and we all had a great day of shredding.  After that my spirits were up and I thought it was just a matter of keeping it moving.  We spent a bunch of time riding at the Keys Cable Park and mucking around in the Keys until once again a slightly sketchy landing sent me back a few weeks... pretty frustrating.

So it was time to party and we had a pretty crazy night MERCA style... opening beers with a chainsaw, bob cat scoop rides with beanbags, heavy grilling and it all ended with some nude cable rides and a set of broken ribs for my friend Alex B.

I managed to get a few more short sessions in trying to get a couple clips but nothing really panned out and it was time to head back to the city, a little disappointed but definitely eager to come back to this spot healthy and ready to ride.  The Keys are a unique place with lots more than just kiteboarding to offer and the riding locations are endless!

So it was off to the airport in Orlando but not without a quick stop at OWC once again.  Feeling a bit better than the last time I was there I couldn't leave without hitting the UNIT pool gap.  I'd watched all the videos from OWC and I needed to get down on it... Amaaaaazing!  So much FUN!  We need something like this for kiting ASAP!

Well, all in all Florida was a pretty cool place with lots of good spots, good friends and some good times for sure!  Wish I could've been healthy and shredded way harder but it's definitely leaving me wanting to come back and has me more motivated than ever to get back on the water 110%.

NITRO CITY, PANAMA... here I come!!!

Kitespain Issue 2.6 Interview

The latest Kitespain Magazine is out with a full 6 page interview...

Thanks to Vincent Bergeron for being awesome and taking all of these photos!

Stance US and Stance France Coverage!

The new issue of Stance just dropped in the North American format.  The Canadian Contingent scored an 8 page article on our trip throughout Asia!  The same article was also ran in Stance France so nice to get some love on both sides of the pond!  The Ro Sham Throwdown event article made it in to this issue and I had a nice wipeout photo and some results!  If you dont have Stance around you can check out the English version online here... http://www.stanceplanet.com/en/

CANADIAN CONTINGENT IN ASIA

RO SHAM THROWDOWN 2012

Taiba Brazil 2012

This was my third time heading out to the sleepy little fishing village of Taiba, Brazil.  Although the town may be quiet, it's windy!  This year Sam Medysky, Eric Rienstra, Sam Light and myself had the perfect set up... a 4 bedroom ocean front house 500m upwind of the lagoon!  We rode a lot and partied hard... and this is our first edit from the trip!

Shapes from Sam Medysky on Vimeo.

After we finished up this edit we managed to get a single barrel incline hand rail built and shot a bunch of media with this as well... so stay tuned for another edit and some coverage featuring this project!

Isles de la Madaleine (Magdaline Islands)

I've been holding out on posting stuff about this trip for a few reasons but since I've been in Brazil now for over a month I figured I should post a few shots and write a bit about the trip.

Julien Fillion and I had been talking about doing this trip for almost 4 years now and this was the first time we were actually able to line it up.  I had just switched to North and needed some media on my new kit to get things rolling and Julien had already lined up Vincent Bergeron for a photographer.  I had never worked with him before but Vincent is super hungry to get good shots and is very passionate about his work... couldn't have asked for more!  Vinny is definitely on it and I'm looking forward to doing some more trips with him in the future.

With a super motivated photographer and one of the most picturesque places I've ever visited, this made our 10 day trip one of the most productive I've ever been on.  Julien banged out lots of great wave shots and Vinny and I worked in the flat water with some random features.  We had wind everyday and rode somewhere new session (sometimes 2 or 3 different spots) as well!  If you haven't heard of the Magdaline Islands you should check it out for sure.  I know I'll definitely be going back next year!  Sorry for not posting any action... but I dont want to spoil any of the shots we have coming out!  Look for lots of coverage on this trip in all of your fovorite mags next issues!

'the view from our ferry"

 "our house"

 "the crew"

 "the beauty of Magdaline"

"living on the edge ha" 

"putting size into perspective"

"can't ask for a much more picturesque than this"

"one of the many epic flat water spots"