Jump Around

Ok...Today wasn't the windiest day of the year, but it was the right direction for some super big boosts. I thinks I hit the 35ft mark on a double bounce jump. If you don't know what a double bounce is...here is a MKBR definition: 1: A double bounce is when you boost above the pro pool trees hitting a second pocket of wind giving you an elevator bounce up an extra five to ten feet resulting in a tingling sensation in your testicles. Doubles bounces occur thirty feet or higher. 2: Jumping extra big and top looping to stop your jumps regression and double bouncing back up. I was riding and jumping with Toast today, and here is a vid of him jumping 72 feet....I wonder where my testicles would end up after 50 feet? Aloha and Good Luck.

Miracle Lip

Hey, Hey, Hey

Everyone wants to do the big trick. A couple of days ago Chuck tried to hammer out Shawn Richman's Miracle Whip...Hand-dragger with back roll transition with an additional back flip. Chuck looked like he had this one wired but came up short. He got a board in the lip and three stitches. I love in commercials when they say, " Don't try this at home." Well, Chuck tried and actually rode out of a few...but this one got him in the lip. The general rule is you have to do the trick 90 times before it is natural. Only 86 more to go...Aloha and good luck

Next Maui Mini Movie coming soon..The boys from Naish came to town...Naish em' up Derby

10 Secret Signs of Kite Addiction

1. Quantity control: Over time, a higher tolerance to kites and kiting leads people with addiction problems to increase the quantity and frequency of kiting without showing signs of being out of control.
2. Hide-and-seek: Over time, kiting addicts develop a network of hiding places to stash their kites and boards from their loved ones. There may even be a sense that the family member is "guarding" their kites. Outbursts of temper may ensue if someone disturbs the private territory.
3. The disappearing act: When it comes to kite addiction and buying the latest kites, items don't so much appear around the house as disappear. The need for money and the desperation of addiction make anything fair game. They'll sell anything belonging to family and friends to get money to buy kites.
4. A head start: Kiting alone before going out with friends is a big red flag, experts say. Kiters want to appear to be just like their friends in public, but their tolerance is much higher, so they have to kite a lot more.
5. Tricks and manipulations: Hiding a kite addiction leads to constant subterfuge. Kiters will often kite before and/or after a social event: graduations, weddings and funerals just to name a few.
6. The money magnet: Just about any unusual money behavior can tip families off to kiting abuse, experts say. Bills may pile up unopened, or someone might suddenly start selling possessions on eBay when he or she has never done so before. The manic periods of elation from kiting can send people on buying sprees. Other tip-offs: Asking friends for loans or using a family member's credit card without asking.
7. A narrower world: As kite addiction takes hold, it tends to block out other interests and activities that used to be important sources of pleasure and fulfillment.
8. Missing in action: Becoming unreliable and secretive is a trademark of the kite addict. They start to forget appointments, miss important events, roll in late to work or school.
9. The storyteller: Would it surprise you to know that someone who proclaims dramatically that he hasn't done a new trick in two weeks is probably a kite addict? It shouldn't; telling stories to yourself and others is a natural reaction for someone who can't admit he has a kiting problem. Even more frustrating, he may not even know they're stories; so rather than confess to a missed trick, he makes up a story about it.
10. The blame game: The craziness that overtakes beaches when a kite addict is riding too much can feel like a contagious disease. The reason? The need to deny the addiction leads to an epidemic of blame. The blame game ups the conflict level at the beach; a formerly peaceful beach can begin to feel like a war zone. But the conflicts are always the fault of someone who is better.
Aloha and Good Luck

Under the Sea

Merman

I am not there yet. Last Maui Mini Movie I learned. The idea of video in the water and for that matter right in the line-up, true to the action. It was an amazing experience and I would love to do it again. I am learning. So, I am saving. It may not be tomorrow, but it will happen, oh yes it will happen. Everything, started with a Go-Pro. If you have one get creative, and go out and get some shots. Aloha and Good Luck

Erik Hjermstad-InnerViews from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.

Maui Mini Movie: Alien vs Predator

This was probably the funnest movie to shoot. I got some really gnarly days that turned out to be really extreme. The water housing was really neat to use. I really think I could be addicted to the housing. Could I swim one of those bad-boys out to lanes on a big day....we shall see. Aloha and Good Luck

Swells well

Ok windies...looks super fun for the am...we have some foreshadow swell rolling in..and its blowing pretty good. Small to medium kites will be the order of the day. Bring those surfboards cause it's gonna get big. Aloha and good luck

The Big Picture

Get your lines ready!!!?

This morning I got two new kite magazines to peruse for my morning routine. Just as usual, I was looking at all the pictures, read some of the articles and laugh at the gear reviews. I got a little deeper and saw subject that has been passed around kite beach: group kiting. The idea that there has a be a big event to draw thousands of kiters to kite together for some race, event or charity is ludicrous. I was talking my buddy Kacey yesterday and the BVI kite jam came up. According to him, there is a small number of kiters on the island. Real Kiteboarding shows up at their doorstep with 300 hundred kiters. Can you imagine trying to get a session in at your local break. Then, I was looking at the La Ventana crossing, and was amazed by all the kites jamming out to the island and back. This recent trend is disturbing. The most laughable "kite party" is someone is trying to organize a world record kite crossing here on Maui. Let's not forget the Mai-Tai event in May. Sad, but true.

Realistically, these are all good in spirit, but reality do nothing for the local kiter or community at large. I come from a surfing background and the main objective was to escape from the crowds, not join them. All these clinics, jams, events seem to always be put on by outsiders trying to cash in, whether through straight-up money or indirect advertising. For me, I always love to take to on the lone wolf, ready for action to do some lessons, not the masses flapping like locusts devouring the countryside.

If you need me, I'll be downwind, in front of the harbour...by myself or with a friend or two...Aloha and Good Luck