August 2018
Excited to be a Brand Ambassador for Core Kites. I’ve worked on my kite art steadily since purchasing my quiver and it’s been a very satisfying and rewarding experience. Thank you Team Core for all your support with this endeavor. https://corekites.com/us
January 2018
Super awesome to be on the Tkb Testride team once again
team/https://www.thekiteboarder.com/2018/01/meet-the-2018-freeride-testing-team/
October 2017
I am super stoked to have completed iko Instructor 1 Kitesurf Instructor certification down in South Padre Island, Texas with Prokite. I am really looking forward to teaching internationally. My interest is to help women and girls develop in the sport as well as provide some community service to disadvantage youth
Kitesurfing is an amazing self esteem strengthening sport. It develops further independence, problem solving, teamwork, enthusiasm and building positive relationships with like minded people.
International Kiteboarding Organization
February 2017:
The article about my adventure with a bunch of super awesome kiters has been posted on the website. A dozen of us were selected to test ride 2017 gear and write reviews. It was an awesome experience and it’s fun to read about all our gear reviews as they post.
Kiteboarding has changed my life in the most positive way imaginable. An introduction to a couple of Professional Kiteboarding women on a Northern California beach in August 2014 by an acquaintance, got me started in an activity that has opened up doors of immense pleasure, personal growth and of feeling like part of a family for the first time in my life.
Kiteboarding is a rewarding sport that challenges me physically and mentally as I fly across the water feeling the power of the wind. A small investment in lessons and equipment has been one of the best things I have ever done for myself. Kiting is independence, problem solving, team work and camaraderie all at the same time.
I remember meeting one of my mentors who helped me on my first downwinder. He was so enthusiastic to be a part of this monumental moment. He specifically told me “your life is going to change.” He was so right and I know what he meant. Each time I go out to kite, I am excited, thrilled, happy and very focused. When the day is good, I know that if everything goes well, I will have a lot of fun. It’s a personal challenge. I love to get better at my turns, or staying with the board as I go over big swells in the ocean that is so powerful, moving and mesmerizing. I truly get lost in the moment and sometimes I know I should tack back to shore but I love riding out to the open ocean over wave after wave.
When the winds are high and I am at new location, I feel a lot of anticipation and I feel challenged. Can I handle the kite? How powerful will it be? Will I be able to problem solve when the kite gets out of control or will I get yanked over the board? Can I make it back to the launch? Where are my bailout locations? What if something goes wrong? I set goals for myself. “just make it out for a couple of tacks and back in for a positive experience.” Kiting is challenging in this way and it enables me to grow and to feel successful.
To be a kiter, you have to be bold and willing to take a thrashing. It’s not easy to learn and it’s a level playing field when it comes to men and women. I still laugh when a man kiter tells me how scared he was to learn to fly or do a new trick. Only in this sport do I meet real men willing to share their feelings and vulnerability. I find it so powerful to see women excel in Kiteboarding. I am in awe of the advanced kiters and how good they are at what they do, making it look so graceful an effortless. Some don’t even know that they are my role models and that I am awestruck by them.
(Click below to take a look at Kiteskating, using a small kite with a skateboard. When the wind isn’t strong or you’d just like to try something different.)
Kiteboarders travel the world following the wind. It’s such a healthy lifestyle. No gas for motorboats, no ongoing expenses as in other sports. Just you, the kite, the water and the wind.
If you want to learn, my advice and what worked for me, take lots of lessons and have your mishaps under instruction. Practicing bad habits entrenches them in your muscle memory and makes it more difficult to overcome if you discover you’ve been doing something wrong. I gave myself every opportunity to have a safe, enjoyable experience. Kiting is an E-ticket ride. We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t love it.
