How To Snowkite
Volume 1

New snowkite video from Morten Gjerstad comes new up-to-date snowkiting instructional DVD. Like his action DVDs, this one is filmed in stunning hi-definition. Volume 1 is an incredibly thorough introduction to snowkiting with chapters on terminology, equipment, kite flying, foil kite instruction, tube kite instruction, riding basics (edging, turning, upwind), back country riding, expedition kiting, kite repair, and basic jumping - 2 hours in all. Volume 2, when it comes out, will go beyond the basic jump and introduce all the trick jumps and other specialized snowkiting skills. A bit pricey, but all in all the cheapest way to learn to snowkite safely.

New kiteboarding video from Alexis Bilderback Add it all up and this is video rocks. There is a great cast of characters, none of whom is taking themselves too seriously. There are truly insane waveriding locations, and a great flat water section in Cape Hatteras. The emphasis is definitely on waves though, and aside from the unfortunate fact that the waves are mostly lefts (can you tell I'm regular foot?), there is a great mix of strapped, strapless, hooked, and unhooked riding, with no particular emphasis on one over the others. I'm calling this by far the most progressive and entertaining surf footage ever. And it's about time with all the coverage riding surfboards gets in the mags. I don't know whether that's a long-term trend or not but this video isn't doing that image any harm. Great soundtrack, great length at about 1 hour 20 minutes with the bonus stuff just tacked on at the end, and a great soul/surf video feel. Unless Elliot Leboe gets his act together and releases his new video Future This, nothing is going to challenge this DVD for a while.

Ben Wilson has followed up his new action kiteboard video The Unknown Road (which we also have, with a surf instructional DVD. Ben is known for his hardcore strapless and unhooked riding so our first concern was that this would be all about riding strapless and unhooked, which is not the way most people ride. But fortunately it caters to both hooked and unhooked riding, although the word "strap" is rarely mentioned throughout the video. My take is that it's a very good video and very well done, but suffers slightly from "the guy who's teaching rips" syndrome, meaning that it has a pretty high-end emphasis. Some of the feedback about the Real Surf DVD is that it's very basic, and truth be told, that's the way all the Real DVDs are...on purpose. This one is at the other end of the spectrum. That said, there are sections on basic stuff like board and kite selection, safety, basics skill requirements, getting out through the surf, etc. etc. However, it progresses through all that stuff very rapidly. In fact, just about every single topic receives around the exact same explanation time, i.e. short. This keeps the video moving along rapidly and at no time does it become a boring instructional. Smack really starts to shine once Ben gets to the maneuver sections. He breaks down very subtle differences in board turns into different specific moves, and explains how to do them both frontside and backside, which is nice.

Morten Gjerstad rocked the world with the release of snowkite videos like Entropy last year. He pretty much made every other DVD look bad after he filmed the first kite DVD in high definition (the clear mountain air doesn't hurt either) and then hit it out of the park with breakthrough performances in snowkiting combined with fantastic editing. Something Stronger is the sequel so this is the one to get for winter 2008. Take a journey to the frontier of snowkiting in the snowdeserts of Norway, the windblown peaks of the Alps, and the bottomless powder of North America. Another hi-def film that fires on all cylinders.

New from snowkite video pioneer Paul Macaj. Once again Fuze Films raises the kites to bring you 20/10. From the deep champagne powder and natural terrain of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah to the rails and kickers of Colorado this one will have you trashing your lift tickets this year. 20/10 has new camera angles which include the truly nosebleed view of Chasta's helmet-cam. From freestyle to big mountain riding, backed with a sick soundtrack, 20/10 is sure to deliver. Featuring the riding of Guillaume "Chasta" Chastagnol, Dave Tyburski, James Brown, Paul "Motz" Macaj, Remi Meum and more.

Airborne

Airborne in the Red Triangle - Santa Cruz kiteboarding video action. Red Triangle is a high energy, inside look at the extreme sport of kitesurfing in Northern California. The documentary uses interview-style filming inter-cut with hardcore kite action to produce an exciting 60 minutes of cold water entertainment. The film also has the classic "surf movie" action montages cut with music from Paul DeLisle of Smash Mouth, "Run" from Key to Arson, "Dim Memory" by Soul Circle, and "Fallen" by Drist.

Elliot Leboe, producer of some of the best kite videos in the business, like Ten 4 and Autofocus, brings us the best multisport Maui video ever. Want to see Maui’s waves and wind at their best? Want the epic days of surfing, towsurfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing all captured on one video? This is it, ALL MAUI....ONE DVD, EPIC MAUI SESSIONS! NeilPryde Maui presents the best footage of all the groundbreaking days featuring Maui’s top water athletes surfing, towsurfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, foilboarding, strapsurfing and more! All the best days Maui has to offer, professionally shot on hi-res digital video and captured on one timeless DVD.

Early Intermediate Level Kite Camp from Real Kiteboarding. Evolution goes into detail about riding both ways - regular and switch, the stop, slide, heelside, and toeside transitions, sheeting and safety systems, riding stance, and finally, the holy grail of kiteboarding - riding upwind. And just like Zero to Hero, the bonus sections are extensive. There is an Evolution level Coaches Tips sections where all the Real coaches share their kiteboarding learning and teaching experiences, giving you several different perspectives. There's massive tech sections on both kites and boards, which will be very helpful as you get to the point in your riding where you can understand the differences in equipment. The kite tech section is especially helpful as it lays out the differences and similarities between 4-line, 5-line, and bow or SLE kites. It teaches you how each are rigged, tuned, and relaunched from the water. At the moment, Evolution is the only kiteboarding DVD that addresses and utilized the new bow kites.

Intermediate Level Kite Camp from Real Kiteboarding:Aggressive Riding, Turning, & Jumping. Welcome to the thrid installment in what will be a 5 DVD instructional kiteboarding video series from Real Kiteboarding - Everyone loves to jump. It certainly is the main draw that gets people into kiteboarding in the first place. But before Joyride jumps into jumping, you'll reinforce techniques like proper stance, which in turn lead to doing more powerful turns, downlooping the kite, riding faster with more power, riding in control, and riding in a crowd - all things you'll need to know first before hucking your first successful 20 foot air. In the jumping section you'll learn the mechanics of jumping, progressive edge (kind of teching out with that one but it's key), load and pop jumps, boosting jumps, air transitions, and, of course, troubleshooting. Then it's on to the tricks - boosting grabs, load and pop grabs, hooked in front and back rolls and spins, and an intro to unhooked tricks. Finally, there's tips for your continued education in kiteboarding. Finally, that is, except for the huge bonus section. There's the Joyride stage Coaches Tips section, the sure to be popular Sleazy-J Grab Tutorial, Gear Tuning, BVI Action, etc., etc., etc.. No effort was spared in bringing on the bonus sections..

PKRA World Tour 2004 - Tronolone mixes the perfect compliment of lifestyle and action footage in this World Tour highlight kiteboarding video:

-Witness all the covert opps from the 2004 PKRA World Domination Tour.

-Watch Aaron Hadlow lead the youth movement and dominate all enemy forces in his line of fire.

-See Cindy Mosey three-peat, taking home her third consecutive championship title.

-Realize that the most progressive freestyle kiteboarding on Earth is happening at PKRA (Professional Kite Riders Association) event locations featured in this DVD; Austria, Belgium, Cabarete, Germany, Fuerte Ventura, and Brazil.

The first new kiteboarding video DVD from Tronolone Productions since Unhooked 2. It's been a while but definitely worth the wait. NEXT is sure to please everyone with everything from killer flat water and slider action from Hatteras to strapped and unstrapped waveriding from Maui and elsewhere.

Fat Sand Productions has teamed up with 4 times Kitesurfing World Champion, Aaron Hadlow, to open up the world of powered freestyle kitesurfing to us all.

PROGRESSION PROFESSIONAL builds on the unhooked techniques taught in our Advanced DVD and aims to help everyone understand the high level freestyle tricks that are at the core of competitive kitesurfing.

We aim to help you understand, differentiate and land these tricks with style and power. Whether you are an aspiring world champion, looking to add more tricks to your repertoire; or simply trying to understand and appreciate the complexities of high level freestyle kitesurfing . . . PROGRESSION PROFESSIONAL delivers!

This DVD covers 23 tricks, across 7 different families of tricks, and as always we break down each one into easily understood and replicated stages. All of this is carried out using our legendary instructional methods and stunning photography that captures Aaron at his best. Due to the interactive structure of our Progression series, you can choose which tricks you learn and when.
PROGRESSION KITEBOARDING PROFESSIONAL

Fat Sand completes the trilogy with their third in the series - Progression Advanced. You'll get the same top-level instruction on advanced tricks such as kite loops, board-offs, riding blind, unhooked kiteloops, raleys, s-bends, plus surface, dangling, and powered handlepasses. A good way to avoid some bruises. Shot in Egypt with top British pros Lewis Crathern, Neil Hilder and Jo Wilson.

Professional kiteboarders show each step of the learning process in a clear, concise, and easily replicated way. From setting up the kite to your first jump, Progression: Beginner safely demonstrates easy-to-learn ways to master kitesurfing. Progression: Beginner will enhance the learning process, being the perfect companion to professional instruction. Narration in the following languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Portuguese.

Subjects covered in Progression: Beginner include: Location and Conditions, Equipment and Terminology, Kite Setup, Launching and Landing, Kite Flying, Body Dragging, Re-launch and Self Rescue, Waterstart, Riding and Staying Upwind, Change of Direction, Jumping.

 Progression Intermediate

Price $24.99 - List Price $34.95

 Progression Intermediate Vol. 2

Price $24.99 - List Price $34.95

 Surf Advanced Kite Camp

Price $24.45 - List Price $29.95

This is the fifth and final DVD in Real's instructional kiteboarding video series, and this one is a bit different. Instead of a full-blown instructional you get the best of both worlds. On side one, if you will, you get all the crazy action that went down during this year's Real Kiteboarding Triple 'S' invitational contest. And I use the word 'contest' loosely. Instead it's more like a week-long excuse to cut loose and take kiteboarding to the next level. SSS stands for Surf, Slicks, and Sliders, with the event taking advantage of a flexible format, riding the sliders, or flat water moves in the slick, or surf sessions (with or without a kite), and even skateboarding as conditions warrented. The motto of the event became, "The world is not ready.", as the riding was off the scale. Some of this year's invitees included Andy Hurdman, Jason Slezak, Andre Phillip, Davey Blair, Greg Norman, Suzi Mai, Moehao Goold, Shannon Best, Sam Bell, Thomas Kogut, Jon Modica, Dimitri Maramenides, Aimee Rabee, and Evan Netsch. Convinced yet?

Well, if you're not, let's talk about the back-side of the DVD. It is an instructional series, after all, and all the riders give their tips on handling a multitude of high-end kiteboarding maneuvers. Subjects include, getting better pop for powered flat-water moves, tips for unhooked riding, handlepasses, kite loops, board-offs, riding blind, and hitting sliders. And after all that there's an nice bonus section of the unbelieveable surf kiting that went down during hurricane Florence in late summer in Cape Hatteras. Quite an exclamation point to the end of the 5 DVD series.