Stand Up Paddleboarding, kitesurfing, windsurfing, shipwreck tours, adventures and snowkiting on Lake Champlain. Based in Burlington, VT 802.578-6120
Kitestorm 2006
Kitestorm Photo Contest Winners: Congrats to the winners (click on photos to enlarge). They all won some great prizes from the partners above.
Action Winner: Dmitry Avramenko's shot of PJ from Peter Lynn
Action 2nd Place: Dave Cota's no horizon to the mountains
Action 3rd place: Dan Olson's photo of a rider and his dog
Happy People Winner: Kiley McEvoy's excellent shot of Kitestorm volunteer Ellen Morris making new snowkiters
Happy People 2nd Place: Dave Cota finding color and a sense of the temperature
Happy People 3rd place: Dmitry Avramenko catching Seth Merriam after a sweet jump session
Event Vibe Winner: Dave Cota catching lots of people and lots of kites at the Kitestorm
Event Vibe 2nd Place: Dmitry Avramenko getting down at snow level to catch riders and the mountains (and the new snow)
Event Vibe 3rd Place: Andy Yager catching kites, colors, riders, dogs, the red Bull tent and more.
Honorable Mention: Sally Smith took this one and sent the caption, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." Yes that is an ATV, SUV, golfcart and 2 big wind toys.
Pro Winner: The shot seen around the world. VT photographer, Rob Swanson, took this one of Blake Pelton and it went out on the AP Wire all over the US and the World. To contact Rob for professional photography call his cell 802-355-1929
Honorable Mention: This picture from Kiley McEvoy defied category - we just like it.
The 3rd Annual Stormboarding Kitestorm featured everything the first 2 had: free intro and first ride clinics for literally hundreds of new riders, jump clinics, the most delicious chocolatechip cookies hand delivered all over the ice, enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers ready to help with a launch, fun contests, heaps of prizes just for showing up and a great, relaxed Vermont vibe. In addition, in order to serve the growing numbers of experienced riders, this year we invited more kite companies to join Peter Lynn and Ozone to show off and demo kites. Another 6 companies made the trip and braved the cold: HQ Kites, Slingshot, EH Kites, Best, Flysurfer and Paraski Flex.
Conditions-wise we were riding from the Thursday before right through the big gusts of Sunday afternoon. Snow fell Saturday with a building breeze for people to check out the big kites and Sunday was all about rigging smaller and smaller as wind approached the mid-20's by the afternoon. We provided some safety cover in the form of an ATV helping to bring kites and riders back from downwind and kept the trainer kites small.
The Monkey Bar hosted the saturday night After-Party with some sweet snowkite action on the big screen and Red Bull breaking out the 'Frenzy' and 'Venom' Red Bull drink specials. Ozone, Peter Lynn, Slingshot, HQ, Dakine, Ultra Nectar, Himaya, Backcountry Magazine, Antigravity and Sugarbush teamed up with Stormboarding to hook people up with sweet goodies given out by Rachael. Among the many categories were: drove the farthest, women dragged here by men and for the men who dragged them, person who tested each type of kite and more. Everyone who attended walked away with some gear.
The speed contest which took place over the entire weekend, as expected, was hotly contested with the top prize of a Venom 13 kite going to Chris Krug of New Hampshire who found a good blast with his skis and hit 48.6mph.
Local rider Gary Kjelleren won the snowboard division with 39.2 mph. The results are below:
Overall/skis:
Chris Krug: 48.6; Steve Stanley 47.7; Paul Morse: 46.5
Snowboard:
Gary Kjelleren: 39.2; Jake Buzianis: 36.8; Seth Merriam: 34.3
Under 18:
Gavin Ewing: 40.5; Peter Conway: 34.5
Woman:
Molly Savard: 25.8
We would like to thank the following companies for coming out, braving the cold and occasional congestion to put kites in riders hands:
Ozone: showing off the 06 Frenzy and Access
Peter Lynn: with their sweet and stable Venoms and a Vortex
HQ Kites: Demoing the solid Beamer and Montana kites
EH Kites: for the rocking BBQ and Wave kites
Slingshot: Octane and Turbo Diesel demos
Flysurfer: Had the Cools and Speeds out
Best: Giving people rides on the Waroos
Paraski Flex: with their funky design cruising kites
And HUGE thank yous to:
Dakine and Ultra Nectar: for highly sought after and abundant goodies
Himaya: for loads of sunscreen and cold protection (very relevant)
Pete's RV: for keeping our registration volunteers warm
92.1 Kiss FM for spreading the word and braving the cold
Sugarbush: great prizes and support
Best Western and Thrifty: for rooms, cars and prizes
Rhino Foods: for the most delicious choc chip cookies
Red Bull: for the tent, excellent support and product
Monkey Bar: for hosting the after party and letting us take over
Ski Rack: for ice back-up: pads and astro-turf
Moonlit Alpaca Farm: for the incredibly useful ATV
Anti-Gravity Snowboards: for the goodies
and finally but by no means any less importantly: mom, Josh, Barclay, Ellen, Ernie, Doug, Jay, John, Keith, Chris, Dan, Sally, Holly, Mystelle, Don, Shirley, Paul, Bruce and Linda for literally standing out in the cold for us all weekend to help riders, solve problems and offer a cookie when someone looked like that is what they needed.
It was great to see so many riders from the year's past and meet new riders from all over. Thank you all for coming. We hope that you enjoyed yourselves, learned, had fun and are psyched to keep snowkiting and come back for Kitestorm 2007.
If you have been mulling over your weekend and rides and are interested in any of the kites you demoed, give us a call. We also have some excellent open cell trainer kites ready to go.
Partner links:
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: Best Western/Windjammer Inn
Thrifty Car Rental
Check out the 2005 Kitestorm report and pics by clicking here or on the link at the top of this page.
For more information, to book a lesson/camp or order gear, please call Stormboarding at 802.578.6120 or e-mail: [email protected]
