The REAL Team Adventure to the Gorge was amazing. The first part of the Trip was dedicated to the Kiteboarding 4 Cancer event held at the Sand Bar in Hood River, Oregon. Jason Slezak, Chris Stuckey, Sensi Grave and Dominique Granger held strong for the REAL Team and placed 3rd and helped the event to raise over $71,000.
A couple days after the event the crew got a call that the coast was going to fire! Everyone was in the car ready for the 4 hour drive west. Through the mist and haze were 10ft waves at 12 seconds and 20 knots of wind. The crew jumped out of the car rigged and were on the water for the last few hours of light.
After scoring great waves all evening everyone passed out fast in hopes of scoring again the following day. The waves were a bit smaller and the fog laid in thick! We waited about an hour for the wind to pick up and the haze to burn off and then it was game time. Tekko, Julien Fillion, Brandon Scheid and Slezy all had some amazing waves.
Sensei and Dom headed back to Cape Hatteras and Lulu Vroman, Sam Bell and Brian BCS Smith made their way into town for the Ro-Sham-Throw Down in Hood River, OR. The event style was heavy in park riding with sliders, fun boxes and kickers. The heats were determined by rock, paper, scissors and then it was on!
Most of the best park riders in the world were there including 13 Triple-S Competitors. The conditions were ok at best. With a 15-25 knot difference between the gusts and the lulls, made it difficult to be on the right size kite. But the riding was still top notch. The REAL Team placed and rode well. Brandon Schied took 2nd place to World Champion Aaron Hadlow, and Lulu took home 1st for the Ladies.