Features

The 2024 Olympics

Historically, when a free sport elects to become ‘Olympicized’ for some die-hard roots participants, we’re entering dodgy ground. Take snowboarding as an example… Off the bat, the pathway to get kiting to the Olympics has been a tumultuous one politically. For the common or garden kiter, it’s a long way from what you’ll experience on the beach with its hyper-expensive and technical foil kites, but there’s no denial that hydrofoil racing has helped finance and turbocharge foil development. This has already trickled down to what we use for freeriding on a day-to-day basis. Colin is trying to convince us to take notice, and it’s undoubtedly an area of the sport that is perhaps an unsung hero currently. But will it ever become more relatable to the mass market…?

The Last Frontier

Ever wondered what it’s like to kite in front of a 100-meter wall of ice? Duotone team riders Liam Whaley, Matchu Lopes and Reno Romeu headed to Alaska to find out. They spent hours on the road, on the hunt for some unique kiting in mind-blowing scenery. Despite the icy water, or perhaps because of it, they were rewarded with unforgettable memories and these insane shots…

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Two Smoking Barrels

Big wave rider Nuno “Stru” Figueiredo loves getting barrels at the renowned Portuguese spot Supertubes. But when this winter only brought one decent session – as snapped by Heidi Hansen – he headed to a secret, not for the faint-hearted spot in Cape Verde that provided him with some epic barrels and us lucky lot with some envy-inducing photos from Antonio Herrera Trujillo.

Flower Power

When these colorful photos dropped into our inbox we must say we were pretty intrigued. Hannah Whiteley likes to think outside the box and have fun when it comes to content creation, and a photoshoot in the Netherland’s famous tulip fields sounded like a perfect Hannah plan. The police weren’t as impressed as we were however…

Follow the Current

Stig Hoefnagel and Helena Brochocka were invited by Prolimit to join their photoshoot in the Cape, South Africa. But the trip wasn’t just about kiting and photos. It also had a deeper objective – to learn more about the relationship between ocean currents and climate. We’ll let their Head of Marketing, Linda van Lakwijk, and Stig explain…

Tangled Lines Legend: Sam Light

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Sam Light’s kiting journey, so it seemed a good time to put him to the Tangled Lines interrogation. Growing up sailing on the south coast of the UK, Sam then got into wakeboarding and kiteboarding, becoming a master of stylish slider hits and dominating the podium at park events. He has worked for Slingshot for many years in different roles, is handy behind and in front of the camera, and can now be considered a true legend of the sport…

Lunar Lander

Head into the mighty Andes in western Argentina and you’ll find a dam where the wind funnels down the mountains creating conditions for high-wind antics in a lunar-like landscape. Jett Bradshaw recently orbited round the globe to compete there for the second time at Cuesta del Viento Big Air, and this time bagged himself a podium place, and some lifelong friends.

Tangled Lines Legends: Florian Gruber

Hailing from Bavaria, Germany, Florian Gruber can be found honing his foil skills on the lakes there. He is very competitive and has been part of the racing scene since the beginning, placing on the podium numerous times both on the water and at snowkite events. He is hoping to qualify for next year’s Olympics and thus end his racing career on a high!

The Mission: Hold Your Nerve

Leo Verrecchia tells us what it takes to remain calm and composed when competing in your first ever international competition. His experience at the GKA Freestyle Kite World Cup in Brazil, where he got through to the quarterfinals – an impressive achievement when you’re going up against some of the best in the business – helped him go on to win the Freestyle Nationals in his home country of Australia in January.