2ND ANNUAL US KITEFREEZE ...PLAYIN IN THE SUN!

[Tighe]

The Second Annual US KITEFREEZE was blessed with great conditions, incredible local support and vivid talent. The local riders had been riding hard all year very stoked for the competition. We were all very psyched when The USSNOWKITE team decided to stay stateside and ride with us. The scene was set.

The days were picture perfect. The sun was shining, sky scattered with clouds for visual backdrop, and the flags were always standing straight out ( well almost always). The USSNOWKITE team of Aaron Sales, Alex Peterson, Renee Hanks, Joe Levins, and Matt Zanetti, set the pace for rest. The style and grace of this team is phenomenal. Each with their own style and always wearing a smile, they made every sick move they did, look so easy. And, I have to say, the local talent rose to the challenge. Denis, Mike and Matt K, were hucking big, going inverted, spinnin’ till dizzy and sticking them, over and over. Very nice guys. Peter Hill was landing really nice 720s. Dave Rothman, Mark Kedrowski, Eric Stone, Rob Evans, and more were all pushing themselves like never before. And then there’s Vojta. “Pushing it” doesn’t begin to describe his drive. On a kite smaller than anyone elses he was the powerhouse of the day. More than once hucking himself so hard that his skis couldn’t keep up and would rocket into space. Quite a show!

Mika from Canada was so strong right off the bat, giving kitesnowboard master Aaron Sales a run for his money. Karl gave us a taste of the talent from Mad Town, looking gooooood.

The greatest addition to this year’s event was the juniors. Weston, Hunter, Jeremy, Jacob, Justin, and Hunter A. you guys rock! Just watching you guys ride brings the kid out in all of us and reminds us that we gotta keep pushing or you’ll be stealing the podium soon.

The other great thing about this event was that almost everyone registered and rode. Showing up, riding, having fun and sharing the stoke, that is what the Kitefreeze will always be about. It will always be an event for everyone.

This event exists because we have shops here locally and around the state that sponsored the event. Scuba Center, The Shack and KiteCentral are retailers committed to the support of the kiting community. If we buy mail order, they will cease to exist and so will events like these. BUY LOCAL.

In addition to their sponsorship money, the local sponsors also totally took care of us. Scot Alden from the Shack in Mound spent 4+ hours plowing a new road just before the event. When the Chili that Woody was bringing down from Canada got stopped at the border, Larry from Scuba Center worked with Mike Fox and Billy’s Lighthouse to get us another 5 gallons. Very tasty. The food and drink just kept coming at Dailey’s on Saturday night. The Shack and Dailey’s provided beer and pizza for all. Todd Hanson from Kite Central had some of his shots from the event…wow, very nice. Can’t wait to see the rest.

Eric Spotke and Mike Fye did a incredible job judging. Professional and humorous these guys made the tough choices when they needed to and spent many hours behind the scenes organizing everything. Thanks guys.

In the excitement of the moment yesterday, I forgot to give credit where credit is clearly due. The backbone of this event and the expertise behind the scoring came from one very experienced man, Mike Fox. Mike has over 250 events under his belt, including 20+ years running the Mille Lacs crossing, his expertise was very helpful, thanks Mike…and sorry for the oversight.

We’d like to thank the following:
Scuba Center, The Shack and KiteCentral who sponsored the event and donated time and prizes to make this happen.
SlingshotKiteboarding- Providing prizes, and for helpingto equip the Junior Team.
Ultra Nectar- providing prizes and working with us to get the event Beenies
Dakine, Windwing, and NSI - for providing product for awards
Woody for attempting to smuggle some Chili into the states. Nice try dude.
Dailey’s Pub- for hosting the party on Sat. Night
Billy’s Lighthouse- for making the Chili
Pat Flemming and kids for their shuttle service with a smile.
Peter, and Mike, and everyone who assisted Vojta in setting up and taking down the event site.
Anna Levins for those awesome cookies
All the volunteers who helped out.
VOJTA- I hope it didn’t get missed that Vojta made this event come to life. He has put in endless hours, getting permits, making the mounds, putting up the tent, etc etc.

And for all the spectators that came out to watch us play. Your support energizes us.




The Results are as Follows:

KiteSkiing
(1) Alex Peterson, Team USSNOWKITE, Wipika
(2) Joe Levins, Team USSNOWKITE, Slingshot
(3) Vojta Cervenka, Naish

Kitesnowboarding
(1) Aaron Sales, Team USSNOWKITE, Windwing
(2) Mika, Airrush
(3) Mike Brockwell, Slingshot

Womens:
(1) Renee Hanks, Team USSNOWKITE, Wipika

Juniors:
(1)Weston Will-14, Slingshot
(1)Hunter Wells-11, Slingshot
(1) Jeremy Jones-8, Ozone
(1) Jacob Jones-10, Ozone
(1) Justin Specht-15, Ozone

Photos:
From Mark Kedrowski: http://www.usa35.com/gallery/FridayKitefreeze/

From Professional Sports Photographer John Pederson;
http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prs ... t=30DD000Y
http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prs ... t=0000&r=0
http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prs ... t=0000&r=0

From Denis Foo Kune:
http://www.windancing.com/temp/Denisphotos/Desktop.html



Until next year...

[Karl B]

I want to thank everyone who made the event happen. I had a great time and it was totally worth the 4+ drive from the Mad town. Will be back next year for sure and hopefully I can bring a few more cats with me. The water should be opeing up here in a few weeks so if anyone comes around Madison and wants to ride let me know. We have decent launches for every wind direction.

Karl
(608) 829-0272
karl.bzdusek@philips.com

[Woody]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

What a great time we had at the Freeze this year!! All of you are really good people, with so much stoke. We are still buzzing from the past days...

Major Kudos to all who helped out during the event

See you guys soon.

Woody

[Professor Robae']

What a great time we all had at the kitefreeze! It was obvious how much work went into making this happen on such a grand level! All the details really added up to make this an unforgetable event. To everyone that made it happen, You guys ROCK!!! The stoke has never been higher!

[Airinsails]

Awesome event!!! Thanks to the whole crew in Minnesota for putting on another great competition. See you all next year.

US Snowkite Team

[Pavel]

My spirit is still so stoked from hanging with y'all!!! Thankyou for all the hard work everybody put into the event !!!

-Pavel (riding shotgun in the Chili smugglin')
Next year we're going vegetarian