words and photos by Lance Koudele
The golden dreadlocks are unmistakable. They mingle amongst the local tribes as one who belongs... the sandbar of Hood River, Lanes at Maui, the slicks of Hatteras, peaks of the Sierras. If it’s kite, surf, snowboard or wake it doesn’t matter. People respect the laid-back, determined focus and distinct style that follows the traveler named Eric Rienstra.
When talking with Eric there is a distinct Rasta ethos surrounding him that could easily fool you into thinking he is just another beach slacker. As a confessed couch surfer and ramen lover it isn’t until you see him in motion on the water do you see his complete commitment to the moment and the quest of perfection of it that defines who he is.
I’ve seen Eric kite late into the evening amongst impossibly light wind, everyone else had come in, yet he stays and waits. Hungry for the opportune gust to work in just one more pass. There exists a thirst in Eric to become better, a fire within to improve each session.
Growing up in Tahoe, Eric started kiting on Sherman Island soon after Corey Roeseler pulled the reel off the kiteski. Eric’s initial stoke was the freedom that kiting provided, to this day it’s the trick progression of the wakestyle movement. “I want wakeboarders to see that kiters can do all they do, and much more,” he says.
Keeping diversity fresh in his bag of board skills, Eric has chosen to return this winter to his snowboarding roots up at Northstar in Tahoe. Fine-tuning his rail steeze much like Dylan Thompson in Utah, Eric is aware that the payoff will come when the kites come out in the spring as he travels to Baja and Maui. The eventual goal he says is an invitation to compete in the Triple-S in Hatteras.
Eric keenly understands the relationship between cause and effect having studied history and philosophy. “By focusing on the past can you make informed decisions at the present to bring about a more favorable future,” he says.
With this kind of irie thinking and hard work there is no doubt Eric will achieve whatever goals he chooses in life.
