Slider Project Heli Session

A couple from da chopper. I'll post up a few others soon of other riders who ripped it including Dylan Thompsan, Aaron Hadlow, Matias "Dibu" Ricci. 

By the way... if you are in a heli with the door off, make sure you duct tape the seatbelt buckle closed. I leaned out of the copter to find my seatbelt had come undone- twice. Switching camera bodies somehow unbuckled the damn thing.

The view coming back....

War wound #13

Like I've said before, a good photo requires a little blood. Shooting in the water this week in the Columbia gave me a nice souvenir. Too busy to deal with it at the time I broke out the duct tape to finish the last 2 days of a 7 day shoot. 

When the project was over and the duct tape removed my doctor told me I needed 15 stitches, but that there is only an 8 hour window for getting them.  I showed up about 40 hours too late. 

I think the stitches would have just slowed me down anyways.

Sherman Island Shots

Wow what a cool spot. Such a mellow kite scene- people leaving their gear, kites and boards pumped up on the beach all weekend. No fear of theft at all. 

That's the way it should be. Not like what's going on here lately in the gorge. 

Here are some random shots of our two days there. The rest are in the hands of clients and editors.

Eric Reinstra>>

Aaron Hadlow>>

Ben Wilson

Sorry too many things going on- look for slider project heli photos soon as well as Ruben and Arron Hadlow photos to come. Off tomorrow morning with Ben Wilson to hit up the oregon coast.

Sherman Island CA

Spending the day traveling to NorCal to meet up with Aaron Hadlow, Ruben Lenten and Slingshot rep Chris Shcey. This is going to be interesting, shooting with Ruben has always produced incredible imagery. To travel and shoot with Aaron- the 5 time PKRA world champion should up the level of riding too. We'll be spending the next 6 days traveling the coastline back through NorCal to Hood River, timing our arriving  perfectly for the Sliderfest (see below).

Slider Project Boys in Action

Slider Jam

Been working with The Slider Project to produce 2 new features for next weeks Slider Jam. Got paint all over me. Over the course of the winter we raised $9k for the construction of these monsters. A crew of 5 have been busting their butts full time the last month plus to make it a reality. It's going to be a good show with heavy hitters Ruben Lenten, Jason Slezak, Aaron Hadlow, Dylan Thompson (whoa), Davey Blair (mr chucktown), Eric Reinstra (damn), and many more coming into town- possibly even Dre.

Here's a peek at the creations making a debut June 13. 

Layover in Denver

Got stuck in D-town recently, here's what I saw with my G9.

Is isn't winter but

Sorting shots and came across this one in the trash. Love it when you find nuggets like that. Regina finds a mouthfull in the lower Wolverine Cirque of Little Cottonwood.

Joby and Dylan

Local kiters Joby Cook and Dylan Thompson are out in Hatteras this week in the Triple S event. Definitely the super bowl of the kiteboarding world, the event pushes the progression of kiting further and further every year. 

Getting some feedback that the boys are representing the Gorge well- Joby has been pushing wakestyle movement since I've known him back in 2003. Dylan is a phenom who grew up in the Gorge as a young rat watching his dad windsurf and kite, spending every day all day at the sandbar.  It's no wonder he grew up to be such a powerful rider- Joby made sure if the kid was gonna ride he was going to do it right.

Outer Keys

Another shot relating to yesterday's post published in the latest Kiteboarding Magazine. Even though we did this shoot back in October I just got to fly the new RPM kite myself this weekend for the first time. Amazing power and stability. Selling my quiver of REV's to update now. So totally stoked.

It's amazing how far kite design has come. Each year the improvements dramatic- 7 years ago when I began kiting each session started with butterflies of uncertainty, not sure how it would end. Would you dump your kite and have to self rescue in front of an oncoming barge, get dragged 20 yards underwater while your kite death spiraled above... even perhaps just loose the kite entirely due to the bar or line snapping? I think those early days really made all kiteboarders a family- having to deal with the consequences and unknowns of a dangerous sport in it's infancy. Everyone really respected one another. I think that as much as the adrenaline rush that kept me coming back day after day, smack-down after beat-down.

Kiting has certainly become alot easier but hell you won't see me complaining. I'm too busy wondering how this whole thing will end up. Like the early years and the uncertainty to a session finish, there is a wonder in me to see how far it goes, where people individually take it. The progression to me really is the driving force now. Progression in style both from the riders perspective, and the photography. 

Coffee's gone time to wrap it up. Peace.