Day 7 - The checkered flag is out.

Well, well, well, here we are. Congratulations and a sincere thank you to our loyal fans who have been supporting us and following along on perhaps the greatest endeavor to take place in kiteboarding history. The finale: day seven has come and gone and will serve as the final resting place for some efforts, as well as the commemoration of a wide variety of achievements. As we look back on the days that led up to the finale, conditions were not as dreamy as one would hope, but the reality is not always as pristine as the vision. However, even with less than ideal conditions, the teams and each and every rider seized every last puff of breeze that could be found in the Slider Projects' immaculate park.

In typical contest fashion, everything came down to the wire, especially the wind that didn't make its presence known until about five in the evening. In a mad dash to continue filming, nearly every rider from all five teams rode until the moon rose, and the light slipped behind the mountains for darkness to intervene. Very infrequently does Hood River experience late evening/nighttime wind, but in true serendipitous form, the Team Battle was graced with this unaccustomed pleasure. The evening light radiated orange and purple and was the most quintessential conclusion.

While the evening session acted as the final piece of the puzzle the teams were looking for, the real work was only just beginning. With only a few mere hours left in the day before the midnight submission deadline, the teams shifted their focus solely towards the editing portion of the contests and implemented any last-minute shots from the evening. As the teams dissect and finalize their footage, the main objective will be to showcase quality over quantity because anything less than the best is a far cry from the objective.

The checkered flag is out, and the riding portion of the 2022 Team Battle is now behind us and chronicled on hard drives. The awards are tomorrow evening, and the anticipation is high. Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats; the show is about to begin.

Day 6 - All the cards are on the table.

When all the conditions align, park riding thrives, and for day six of the Team Battle, the Slider Project was the host of this perfect storm. In an ideal scenario, every day of the contest would have been this pristine. Nonetheless, kiteboarding’s fundamental reliance is that of wind, and sometimes it is less abundant than would be desired. In standard Hood River fashion, the morning was absent of this essential resource, which allowed teams to congregate, sort footage, and begin constructing their timelines. In a race against time, as soon as the leaves on the trees began to rustle, all Team Battle riders, filmers, and event staff hustled to the Slider Project park in an effort to capture and showcase the preeminent potential of park riding. As the teams circled through the park like a merry-go-round at a fair, the level of riding and creativity continually increased. Some of the most notable riding was displayed by Team Tan and Team blue, who have made their presence amongst the other teams and their park riding aptitude unmistakably prominent. However, the efforts of Team Yellow, Team Green, and Team Burgundy are not to be dismissed as they, too, have been strategically positioning themselves.

Along with the principal award for best overall team video, there are a plethora of distinguished awards that will be presented to those who showcase mastery in different specific aspects of the event. For example, there will be awards given for the best kicker hit, best line (consecutively linking together tricks on multiple features), best rail hit, best rookie, best overall male rider, and best overall female rider. These awards, along with others, will be presented on the evening of the third following the premiere of each team’s video. The white flag is out for the second to last lap of the Team Battle. Tomorrow is the last attempt. All the cards are on the table. Day six is a wrap. To the respective teams - may the odds be ever in your favor; day 7 is the nail in the coffin…