Kitespain Issue #15 Coverage

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!

"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

"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!

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

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!

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

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