This event was made possible by our amazing sponsors and athlete volunteers. Thank you for all your energy, passion, and support!
Day 1 of the 2017 Spornado Hood Jam welcomed 33 Riders from more than 10 countries to a bright sunny day at the Slider Project Kite Park in Hood River, USA.
The morning started early with sliders being carried across the beach, and refinished with new decals. With the temperatures being especially hot, the wind didn’t fill in till late afternoon for the riders to have a jam session with the media team at full attention.
Riders like Ewan Jaspan were holding nothing back from the beginning and gave a sneak peak of what was to come.
Day 2 started the preliminary heats. After watching the wind increase steadily throughout the morning, the first men’s heat started in the early afternoon with some gnarly 15 knot gusts.
The kicker hits were the entertainment of the day as the riders made their way through the left and right kicker preliminaries in the late afternoon.
Rich Sabo gave a solid performance, landing a Heal Back 540, Toe Front 720, and Heal Front 720 to round out his day.
Annelous Lammerts stayed strong and consistent throughout the day, stomping a Toe Front 540 and a Heal Front 540 to close out the hectic afternoon of competition.
After a lay day on day 3, day 4 provided a long beautiful day at the beach for all the riders and their die hard fans, with winds gradually increasing throughout the day. The competition started with the final feature round of the Preliminary Elimination.
Quickly after, the judges tallied up the scores to see which 6 men and 4 women would advance straight to the Final and which 9 men and 5 women would have to battle in the Dingle Elimination for the last 3 men and 1 women spots.
Eric Rienstra, Craig Cunningham, and Rich Sabo claimed the top spots in the Dingle Elimination along with Katie Potter.
Day 5 rained down Finals day madness with winds varied between 15 and 32 mph. The competitors took to the water at noon to set their strategies and test out the wind conditions of the day.
The women constantly switched between 7m and 9m kites while the men were on 9m and 11m throughout the day depending on the length and style of feature.
The final day of the Spornado Hood Jam 2017 came to a close with a ceremony to top them all. The suspense has been mounting for a few days to see the scores and celebrate the winners. With the strong gusty wind this week, it was incredible to watch riders pull off some very technical tricks.
Brandon Scheid took the cake for the men as many had guessed after watching his heat. His amplitude was massive while keeping himself under full composer.
The girls were a surprise on their own as they all went out to ride in some pretty gnarly conditions. Karolina Winkowska was able to take the win in the end.
The Spornado Hood Jam 2017 was indeed a success with many excited riders already thinking towards next year. Thanks for tuning in and see you next year for more excitement!
After the 3rd event of the KPL season, the current ranking sees Ewan Jaspan, Brandon Scheid, Sam Light, Colleen Carroll, Karolina Winkowska, and Annelous Lammerts all with an event victory this year, meaning with 2 events left anyone could still take the 2017 KPL Championship.
Stay tuned to the Kite Park League here and on facebook.com/kiteparkleague for coverage of our next event. the Urla Surf House Kick n' Slide, in Urla, Turkey.