Once a quiet fishing town in Oregon, Hood River has transformed over the last decade into North America’s premier windsports destination. This year, history was made as the Qatar Airways GKA Kite World Tour teamed up with the Kite Park League to host the inaugural Qatar Airways GKA Kite Park League World Championships right here in Hood River. Witness the crowning of the first-ever World Champions in this thrilling mini-documentary. Don’t miss out—watch now to discover the story behind this epic event!
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KPL NEWS
On the last day of the Qatar Airways GKA Kite Park League World Championship, the Columbia River Gorge threw everything it had at our top 7 riders for the start of the Final. 30+ mph gusts cranked down the corridor, a stark contrast to the dreamy conditions in the previous round, but there was no more time to postpone. Despite the challenging conditions, the riders put on what will go down as one of the greatest finals to date!
In the Women's Final it was defending KPL Champion Katie Potter dominating from the start, taking the top score on every feature! Her best score's came from her toeside front flip and Backside Lip slide 270. Lauren Holman followed in 2nd landing a Heelside Backside Boardslide on the corrugated and a Heelside Frontside 180 off the kicker. Completing the women's podium was Kristin Cooper who also landed a Heelside Backside Boardslide as well as a Toeside Stalefish Grab.
As the Men's Final took to the water the wind only seemed to be increasing. In a tragic turn of events, 2023 KPL Vice World Champion Noe Font suffered a separated rib while warming up on the Duotone Step Down. Being the warrior he is, he tried to charge on, stomping an amazing hit on the Duotone Step Down, but as the kite regained tension the pain was just too much and he was forced to withdraw from the event. Now with only 6 riders left, Ewan Jaspan took the first lead with the best hit on the giving him a 0.85 lead over Ramiro Gallart in 2nd, with Sam Light in 3rd by another 0.15.
Then on the North XL Kicker, Ewan extended his lead with a toeside backside 720, while Jack Rieder made up some ground nailing the highest scoring trick of the event, a Heelside Frontside 900. Eric Rienstra and Brendan Kerr followed up with similar scores for a KGB and Crowmobe.
Things got interesting on the Box to Corrugated. Ewan struggled to get a clean hit, leaving room for Ramiro to drop the highest score and take the lead by 0.75. Jack had the next best hit, moving him into 3rd Place by 0.6 points ahead of Sam in 4th.
The pressure was on as the podium and the championship were still up for grabs entering the last round on the Naish Kicker. Brendan wasn't able to land his Toeside Backside 540 so Eric was able to take 5th place with a clean G Spot. Jack stomped a Heelside Backside 720 to secure 3rd Place ahead of Sam who's Moby Dick left him 0.3 points short of the podium. Ramiro was hungry to dethrone the defending champion and put down a nice Toeside Backside 720 on his last attempt, but it wouldn't be quite enough as Ewan rode away from a KGB 540 to take the win by a mere 0.05 points!
After 6 days of action, the final day of the event came to an end with everyone celebrating the success of the event with a BBQ at the Marina. The entire KPL would like to thank all the judges and media crew that made this event possible! Especially Noe Font for organising the whole event! With the new partnership with the GKA, the future of the Kite Park League is is here. Congratulations to all the riders for your stellar performances this week!
Stay tuned to @kiteparkleague and @gkawordtour for updates and announcements for next year's tour and as always ride hard and send it!
The Columbia River Gorge continued hurling challenging conditions for the start of the Men's Semi-Final at the 2024 Qatar Airways GKA Kite Park League World Championships. An offshore angle combined with 40 mph gusts kept the riders on their toes as they battled for the last few spots in the Final here at the Hood River Sand Spit.
Things kicked off with the Box to Corrugated going Port Tack. 2023 Vice KPL Champion Noe Font made a statement on his first hit with a Cab 270 Frontside Boardslide 450, the highest score of the heat, giving him the lead by a wapping 1.95 points over Brenden Kerr in 2nd, with Chase Hasch sitting in 3rd. Then on the Naish Kicker, Chris Bobyrk dropped the best score with a Backmobe. This moved him into 2nd, 2.55 points behind Noe, and 0.65 ahead of Brendan. After Feature 2 the event went on hold because the offshore wind direction wasn't filling in enough for riders to get hits on the Starboard side.
The next morning hot temperatures and glassy water kept the event on hold, but those in the know, know that these are the days that park dreams are made of in the Gorge. By afternoon a smooth, mid teens thermal wind broke through the heat and the second half of the Men's Semi-Final was able to commence.
Feature 3 was the Duotone Step Down. Noe started things by putting nails in the coffin, once again putting down the best rail hit with a Frontside 180 Frontside 50-50 to 270 Backside Boardslide Pretzel 270. That propelled him to a 3.8 point lead over Brendan in 2nd. Chase was close behind in 3rd by 0.6, narrowly ahead of Chris and Tim Walsh by just 0.1 for the last advancement spot! Andy Cain scored his best hit of the heat scoring just 0.15 behind Noe's and pushing him within 1.35 points of 3rd Place. It would all come down to the North XL Kicker on Starboard Tack! Noe and Brendan would drop equal scores with back to back Melan Crowmobes to secure their spots in the final in 1st and 2nd. Chase would struggle to perform his Double Tantrum clean in the lighter winds, dropping him to 5th behind Tim in 4th who scored 0.45 higher with a Heelside Backside 540. Making a comeback to take 3rd, with the highest score on Feature 4, was Eric Rienstra! Needing to make up a 1.75 point deficit, he put down an insanely executed KGB to not only tie with Tim, but grant him the higher single score to win the tie breaker!
What a battle!!! That must have been the most hotly contested Semi-Final in Kite Park League history! Now the stage is set and the Finalists have been chosen. Tune in Friday as the action continues here in North America's Kiteboarding Mecca.
Follow @kiteparkleague x @gkakiteworldtour for all the updates and content from the event
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