Kiteboarding 4 Cancer delivered an amazing day of generosity, community and great weather, not to mention all of the new 2008 Havocs being demo’d! This was hands down one of the best kiteboarding events I’ve been to! I’m a little biased because I was the organizer, but it really was something special. Here’s the full press release on KB4C on Kiteforum.

Liquid Force stepped up as a big sponsor at the first annual Kiteboarding 4 Cancer (KB4C), having donated three boards, a new Havoc kite, swag, and the Liquid Force party islands for the derby buoys.

LF awarded Paul Porter a new Recoil 127 for best Expression Session during the KB4C derby. His big laid out unhooked maneuvers were impressive to the crowd and the judges. Here’s Paul with his new Recoil…announcer Neil and Liquid rep Gregg Gnecco in the background.

Then, Liquid Force gave away a Mission 138 to a very happy Lance Koudele, who took second place in overall KB4C fundraising, having raised over $3000 for cancer awareness and research.

Finally, the grand Liquid Force prize of the day was for the Top Female Finisher for distance in the KB4C kiteboarding derby. The winning package of a new LF Havoc 8m kite, an LF Women’s Aura 127 board, and a Dakine Women’s Wahine harness went to Carol Bolstad, of Stevenson, Washington. Carol kited 23 laps in the 7 hour derby to place as top finisher for the ladies. Gregg hands out Carol’s monster prize package….

Thanks to all the participants and Liquid Force for all the killer gear!

Yes, yes, I know… it’s been awhile since the last post here at NWLiquid.com. Gregg’s been working on the new Havoc release video, helping the NW dealers promote end-of-season product deals, and then getting ready for Surf Expo, which is happening right now!! So I’m taking over as guest blogger to fill in here on what’s happening in Liquidland.

Unfortunately, Gregg didn’t get to post about the new 2008 Havoc before leaving for Surf Expo, and there’s a lot to talk about with the new kite. However, I’m going to skip out on posting the marketing on the new Havoc here. If you want to check out the official LF marketing on the new Havoc, get it here on Kiteforum. Or, check out the 2008 Havoc Video on LiquidForceKites.com. That’s the video Gregg has been working on day and night that kept him from posting here.

I’ll give you my experience on the new Havoc from going out and riding it… over AND over AND over again in the chaotic conditions that we’ve had here in the Gorge the last week. Let me just give you a visual:

Windy? Yes. Steady? No. In fact, it was right about 4pm when I went out on the Havoc 8m… see that gust and then the big lull right after it? I was in it. And as everyone came in off the water, I kept riding on that 8m, able to depower in the gusts and ride fine through the lulls. I was actually having a blast and had no problem being the only one out on the water!! Then, Friday….

Still gusty, but “decent” in Gorge circles. Again, went out on the 8m Havoc. I was pretty powered most of the time, with my below-the-bar sheeting strap pulled in about 7 inches. A side note to all the women riders out there… you absolutely must have the below-the-bar trim strap that the Liquid Force control bar offers. With many other bars, we have to reach up on our tippy toes just in order to slap the trim handle, let alone grab it. Not only is that annoying and painful, it’s a pretty big safety issue if you need to depower that strap and you can’t reach it. So, I’m pretty happy that Liquid Force put out a friendly, accessible trim strap that requires no reaching or jumping.

When you’re depowered 7 inches on the trim strap (that’s a lot!), usually a kite doesn’t perform or turn efficiently. But this is where the new 2008 Liquid Force Havoc really shines… it turns solid and smooth, with no flutter, or loss of bar feel even when it’s depowered that much. I can downloop it, or do a regular transition, without any slack or loss of power. It’s steady and consistent through the wind window. Love that!

So, I’m out riding having a blast and then it hit: The 6 o’clock drop. The wind takes a dive, and as I continue to ride, I see people drop their kites left and right. The weird thing is that there is still wind, so one should still be able to relaunch their kite. Looking around, I notice that most of the kiters down can’t relaunch their kites. Pulling, pushing, swimming, and yanking on bars and lines…. come on people, it shouldn’t be that difficult. I continue to ride and try to execute (and land…ha!) a Blind Judge when I drop the kite, depowering it completely. Watching everyone else struggle to relaunch their kite, I think to myself, “This will be the test!” I go to grab the bar, pull it in, hook in, pull one side of the bar, and the kite rolls on one wingtip and takes off. Perfect. Love that Havoc relaunch system!! It’s so easy!!

Here’s me smiling from that day. Henry Rico took this pic. He’s a solid rider from Portland, who happens to be an awesome photographer from the water.

For all the gals out there, stay informed on upcoming Liquid Force Maven kiteboarding clinics for women at WomensKiteboarding.com. We’re going to have beginner, intermediate, and freestyle camps this winter!! And don’t forget to join The Women of Kiteboarding group on Facebook. This is a great networking opportunity for riding and travel with other women who kiteboard.

Thanks for reading!! See you on the water soon!

~ Tonia

Liquid Force Kiteboarding presents www.liquidforcekiteboarding.TV !!

We’re rolling out a whole new fun feature from Liquid Force for your kiteboarding video needs: Liquid Force Kiteboarding TV!!

Starting with the action seen first here on NWLiquid.COM with the Liquid Force International Team, we present the teaser and Episode #1 of Liquid Force Kiteboarding . TV

What’s the best way to see free kiteboarding videos without ever missing an Episode??

SUBSRIBE IN iTUNES NOW!!! CLICK THIS LINK!!!!

Itunes allows you to flawlessly and automatically receive any and all Liquid Force Kiteboarding TV Episodes.. as they are released bi-weekly for your plreasure. Once you subscribe, you computer will always be searching for the latest episode, downloading it into your library.

Once subscribed, use itunes to synch up you kiteboarding video’s to your new iphone, or video ipod. Or if you’re ahead of the online video curve, stream directly to your appleTV, and watch kiteboarding, kite-surfing, wakeboarding, wakesurfing, wake skating, snowboarding and more, on your HD tv, from your couch!

Don’t have itunes?? Why not?? It’s Free!!!
GET iTUNES HERE

Want to watch the video’s without itunes?? Download them directly from WWW.LiquidForceKiteboarding.TV!!

Using a different feed reader?? Here is the feed- http://feeds.feedburner.com/liquidforcekiteboardingtv

Following what turned out to be one of the most epic kite sessions that the Hood River Sandbar has ever seen, the NW Liquid Crew and made the journey to PDX late at night to fetch Liquid Force International Team Rider Moehau Goold. Moe arrived into Portland under the cover of darkness, having surfed his local break in Tahiti, Teahupoo , 2 days before and spending one night back in Maui, before landing in the Northwest…

Whats up everyone, this is Da Goose bringing you the skoops from the NW Liquid Tour! Just got off the plane sunday night from Tahiti.. then Hawaii and now I’m in Oregon. I got in at night so didn’t know what to expect from Oregon…

So i woke up to see a mountain full of snow…I was like “WOW!”. Its a whole lot different from waking up to coconut trees and white sand beaches. So after we got up we drove 5 hours to Seattle. We met up with Bill Gates, Jason and Katie from Seattle Kiteboarding Center and Jetty Island Kite and Skim which was located a minute from Jetty Island- Which is Seattle’s best kite beach.

Jason Slezak and Davey Blair Hangin at Jetty Island Kite and Skim before the session.

They had the craziest set up we’ve ever seen. Its not a typical spot where you just show up, pump up and ride… It’s a mission to ride there! After cruzin at the shop for a lil, we all drove to the jetty. Once there, we were stunned by how many inflatable kayaks there was in the parking lot. So we were like: “what da hell!? are they pumping up kayaks?”. I thought this was kite beach not kayak beach. So they were actually getting ready to paddle across a freezing cold channel to jetty island and once you get there, you have to walk across the island to the kite spot… Then you pump up your kite and ride.

Hands down. respect to the Seattle crew.

Fortunatly, we didnt have to paddle across the channel. We had a house boat waittin for us at the jetty with a cooler full of booze and women thanks to Jetty Island Kite and Skim shop and Seattle KiteBoarding Center school.

The Goose- making the hike along the jetty beach.

But we still had to walk across the island to set up our demo and ride. They had a sick set up. Perfect for rails and kickers. We only had one afternoon this trip, but for sure we’ll be back with the crew to setup some shit and session this place.

Setting up for the Jetty Demo… Hard to get any of the gear in the photos because it was all out on the water being demoed all day!

Moe sessions the Jetty Island on his Liquid Force 6′ Surf Board

Jason Slezak- Jetty Island Nuclear Grab on his signature model Mission 144 Kiteboard!

Jetty Regular/SKBC Coach Brad Gordon rocking his LF Recoil and Union bindings in a fat Jetty Kiteloop!

Jetty Local Steven Sibborn- rocking a Jetty Indy

Slezak- S Bend over Jetty

Davey Blair- Jetty Indy Glide over Everett and the Snow Capped Cascades

After we sessioned Seattle- Jetty Island kite beach, it was time to grind…”Davey take it from here”…

Moe steps away and leaves it to Davey Blair to finish up…

“Whats up my playas”, this is D to the A to the V to the E to the Y chucktizzle my nizzle…
So after the LF demo at jetty island, we headded to Flyin Pigs restaurant for $4 quesidillas. We were hungary!! So.. we ordered more then we could eat. So we offered $100 to whoever could eat a 6 inch thick quesidilla sandwich with fries, chicken strips and all the other Flying Pig Happy Hour yummies… So Brad Gordon took the offer and went home with $100!!! Pause.…………NOT!!

The Liquid Force / Seattle Kiteboarding Center Crews rocking the Flying Pig. Brad Gordon goes for the $100 leftover bite!

After stuffin our faces with 20 quesidillas and washed it down with a shot of Jager each, we headded to Jason and Katies home in Seattle, where we hung out around a bonfire of magnesium…. After gettin blinded from the magensium bondfire, we all crashed. Thanks Jason and Katie for letting us crash at your pad!!!

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Clockwise From Left- Jason Slezak, Juaqine, Mauricio Abreu, Moe Goold, Davey Blair, Katie and Jason Clack, Axl- Morning after at the clack residence.

And just like that the boys were out for the night. Tired and weary the next day the crew headed back towards the Gorge for more riding and the 2nd Wind Party….

The Liquid Force Team is in town and in Classic LF Style has been stepping it up, with the creation of the LF 4×4 Kite-Slider Mobile!

Catch full slideshow and video presentation from the LF Northwest Trip as well as other Gorge kiteboarding photos and videos!!

Where / When:
River City Saloon, Hood River - 9pm

More Info:
2nd Wind Sports - 541-386-4464

Here’s what’s been happening in the Hood!
The Words of Liquid Force International Team Rider : Davey Blair

Jason Slezak, Mauricio Abreu, and Davey Blair from Liquid Force rocked up to the Gorge in Style.. We had Ruben’s old 4×4 subie for the week and turned it into a mobile slider… Fresh paint and a solid plan the boys were off to make history..

The CGKA (Columbia Gorge Kite Association) rallied together for the Delta cleanup and and got a permit from the port to drive on the sandbar. This was needed to clean up all the debris from the flooding and glacial outburst of Mt Hood and the Hood River last fall. The melt caused hundreds of ancient logs to converge all across the sand bar… This allowed permitted vehicle access and one 3 day window when the mobile slider car could work…

Friday the action started. Most the good o’ boys showed up in there monster tucks and started the clean up process. The Liquid Force crew took there freshly painted 4×4 mobile slider down to the waters edge to begin the action.. the session started out with some sick riding.. Everyone was throwing down..

Local boy Dylan Thompson showed us his snow skills and jibed every way possible across the liquid force slider car.

Moris killed it with smooth style, his gap to blind over the car was like a tony hawk video game..

I was geting hungry watching all the action so busted a nose press pretzel to blind.

Local boy and NW Regional LF Rider Joby Cook gapped over the car spinning a solid flat three stomping it with authority! This guy rips anything he gets his hands on..

By the end of the session Morris had put his ass thru the windshield. The same time our geotto slider fell apart ending our session.. I cranked the car up and drove home to tekkos Labortory..

The rest of the pics coming first thing in the am. Too late.. time to sleep

“For real, this is the easiest slider I have ever set up”. Drive right to where you want it and turn the car off. Thats it.. Every trick in the book was being thrown by the crew of guys assembled.. This was day one witch set the pass for the next couple days..

Back at Tekkos labortory The crew repainted and gave the car some much needed TLC.. The next day the boys re invented the slider car by adding in a gap to the roof.. Wait a minute this was built with in an hour , and was not the prettyest thing.. The up ramp was two 2×4s with pvc piping up the hood.. This created a gap over the windshield to an old windsurf board we srewed to the roof.. Jason Slezak arrived the night before and was ready to ride.

Fresh off the plane Slezy set up his 138 mission with some union bindings. This guy was so charged. He was pressing every angle of that board with some solid weight on top.. I was amazed his board didnt break…Slezy is no small dude. As the session progressed our getto, up ramp, broke and so did the wind surfer.

This caused some Crazy action, I’m so stoked no one got hurt hitting our getto gap. I mean I’ve seen some getto gaps in my time but damn…. Just like the day before when the session was over I simply got in the car started it up and drove off.. thats it, no man power, no huge crew needed to lift..

After spending 2 valueable access days with ghetto crap ramps, the whole crew, was sick of this sh@t falling apart. The next morning we all assembled and went to work on the Liquid Force subie slider…. We didnt mess around this time. 200 bucks later we had 30 ft of trek. and enough lumber to build a house..Trek is the stuff we use to slide on.. you can buy it at your local hardwear store..

Joby being the sick contracter he is, scribled a plan on a table napkin.. the plan looked good so we got to work.. A couple hours later we had some legit shit going down.. No getto windsurfer, no getto up ramp.. We had a 3 trek wide up ramp. With the smotthest angle ever.. We put a 3 trek wide 20ft slide box on top of the car. These angles made for some sick action..

The car evolved from Rubens beat up whip to LF’s newest moble slider.. Sunday was the day.. We pimped the car out so hard.. No way was it going to break.. It was solid… sunday was a day for rekoning.. We placed the Liquid force slider car in positioin and started sessioning..

The up ramp was so solid. It was smooth as butter, like night and day compared to the other two days..The tricks were twice as big and twice as smooth.. Now after two days of building and painting the car evolved to something from a furturistic world.. a mobile slider.. “got doooawg thats pimp”!!!!..

The last and final day, sunday, will always be stuck in my mind.. We sessioned till dark and the slider was still strong..

We created something sick in the last three days. This last week in the Gorge has made history in the kiteboarding world. It has been one of the best trips of my life.. I love it here in hood river.. this place rocks.. The whole crew will be around all week and can’t wait to meet and session with you.. Thanks to everyone involved with the evolution of kiteboarding.. mad respect… } -DB

The Hood River Sandbar kite spot at the spit in Hood River has been delivering the goods! Locals and visiting pros alike are getting epic sessions and stepping up the progression across the board!

From Dylan Thompson’s ‘ghetto rail’ PVC slider to Shawn Richmond going HUGE… the sandbar has been a happening place the past few days.

We’re only stepping it up from here!

The Liquid Force Team is assembling in the Hood!!!

Davey Blair- Been here almost a week
Mauricio Abreu- arrived thurs, sessioned sandbar friday
Jason Slezak- Arrived late fri- sessioned River City
Moe Goold- The Goose- Arrives sun pm.

Stay tuned to find out about sessions, demo’s and photo ops with the NW Liquid Crew!!

Davey Blair laying it out over Hospital Hill

Shawn Richmond- bringing big air back to the Gorge

The NWLiquid Crew and LF International Team Riders will be heading to Sauvie’s Island for a casual session and demo on Wed 6/20!!

Come meet and ride with LF teamriders Julie Simsar and Davey Blair and session all the 2007 Liquid Force Kiteboarding gear.

We’ve got the Assault 16 and 19m, so if it even just barely feels like it’ll blow… we’ll have LF gear in the air!!

Summer is here… and so is the Liquid Force Team!!

Yesterday was a great day to get out and riding. Liquid Force Teamriders Julie Simsar and Davey Blair had a great day out on the river in Lyle and at the Sandbar.

Julie lays it out at Lyle showing off her hot new Liquid Force Aura

Wanna see the next frame with the grab?? Buy the Magazine! Davey Blair- Recoil 136

Check out that HOT pink board! Julie pulling into a kiteloop.

Gorge Local Laura Maher getting her unhooked style on!

Julie with an unhooked grabbed front! Yeah Girl!!

Local Gorge LF rider Joby Cook- WAKE style

Inept_To Blind

Stay tuned, as NWLiquid continues to bring you daily updates and pics from the LF team visits and demos!!

… Ok.. The rumors are True and we are confirmed!!

NWLiquid Welcomes the Liquid Force Kiteboarding International Team to the Northwest!!!

To support our growing network of Liquid Force Kite Dealers and to give more and more people the opportunity to try out all of the new 2007 Liquid Force Kites and Boards the Liquid Force Team will be in the Gorge and the Northwest for the next couple of weeks.

Ever see a girl huck a kiteloop handle pass?? LF Teamrider Julie Simsar arrived late last week and will be in town all week riding, filming and getting to know the local crew.

Chucktown superstar Davey Blair arrived last night after hucking it at the REAL Triple-S Invitational. Davey is stoked to check out our new NW sliders and COLD North Pacific bombs.

Kiteboarding legend Mauricio Abreu and my good friend Jason Slezak arrive later this week, so stay tuned.. as it’s going to go off!!

NW Liquid is stoked to welcome our newest partner to the NWLiquid network of good people…

Brian’s Windsurfing/Kiteboarding in Hood River, Oregon will be teaching beginner through advanced kiteboarding lessons throughout the summer in the Gorge on Liquid Force Kiteboarding Gear!!

Brian Schurton of Brian’s Windsurfing has been part of the Hood River wind scene for decades- and Brian’s Windsurfing is well known and respected for it’s natural vibe and personal service. Brian’s also brings with it a location unlike any other in the Gorge!

Goodbye dirty sand Lot—- Hello lush green grass and shade!!!!

Brian’s Windsurfing- Kite Lessons will meet at the Hood River Marina at the Brian’s Windsurfing House. The FIRST and one of the only permits of it’s kind in the Gorge. Students will meet here, get geared up and then depart directly to the outer sandbar where they will be away from the mainstream sandbar traffic and able to focus on high quality, personal kiteboarding instruction.

Brian’s Kiteboarding Crew: Brett Newcomb, Vanessa Geddis and Brian Schurton, Locked and Loaded with Liquid Force Kiteboarding 2007!

While Brian is no stranger around a kite himself, he knows that a solid kite program requires a kiteboarding dedicated and focused leader.

NWLiquid rider and experienced PASA Kiteboarding Instructor- Brett Newcomb will head up the kiteboarding program for Brian’s Windsurfing and will be providing kiteboarding lessons from the Hood River Marina- Brian’s Windsurfing- Resort-like location.

Brett has been a fixture in the Gorge kite scene for a number of years and has taught 100’s of kiteboarding lessons in Hood River. Long dedicated to the quality and performance of Liquid Force Kites and Kiteboards, Brett is stoked to be leading the program at Brian’s this year with all new 2007 Liquid Force Kiteboarding Gear!!

Brian’s Windsurfing is outfitted with the latest Liquid Force Havoc and Assault2 Kites, as well as a variety of Proof 151, Recoil and Mission Kiteboards. Brian’s Kiteboarding student’s will be learning in STYLE as they protect themselves and enjoy the comfort of the new Liquid Force Luxury Harnesses and Liquid Force Impact Vests!

For More information or to book your Kiteboarding Lessons Contact:
Brett Newcomb-
brett AT NWLiquid.com
541-490-6872

Brian’s Windsurfing / Kiteboarding Bookings:
541-490-2047
www.brianswindsurfing.com