Recent News

Richman Slomo - Trixtor Test from Jon McCabe on Vimeo.

Shawn Richman vs. Jesse Richman! The top 2 kiteboarders in the world battling it out like brothers should in a slow motion twixtor test. Who is your favorite?

 

This shows my riding from Late January until the end of March of this year. I traveled all over the US, from Wyoming to Montana to Utah to Colorado.  Endless adventures along the way from seeing zebras to catching epic snow conditions along the way.  Presented by the BigMt Snowkite Freeride. Life if good!

3D Playground from Jon McCabe on Vimeo.

 

Big thanks to Wayne Phillips, Pascal Joubert, William Taggart, Cassidy & Shaun Radley for hosting me at their homes along the way.  As well as the some of the guys in the video: Jacob Buzianis, Luke Orton, Ken Lucas, Daryl Drown, Patrick Nedele, Colleen Carroll for being at the right place at the right time to be a part my favorite edit so far, 3D Playground

Snowkiting in Paradise - New Zealand

Snowkite Paradise - Freeride Snowkiting in New Zealand from Jon McCabe on Vimeo.

 

Snowkiting in Paradise.... New Zealand's Southern Alps offer some insane places for adventure. Featuring riding from the biggest snow storm in 50 years. After the snow let up a 10 day freeride event, Wanakite, kicked off for some good times exploring the endless terrain and locations with great friends all sharing the stoke of this sport.

Music: M83 - Midnight City
Bright Eyes meets Bon Iver

Sweet As Bro!

 

Traveling in New Zealand

After working in the states, saving money, I have been able to fund my dream trip to New Zealand and after spending the last two weeks exploring the beautiful islands I am now able to share some experiences of adjusting to the kiwi ways.  First off,  you must use a few words/phases regularly or be ousted like every other tourist: "heaps = tons, mates = friends, good on you = good job, G'day = greeting, knackered= tired, cheers = self explanatory, keen=your in, sweet as = great (my personal favorite), skuxx=dressed up/pretty boy flirt.  "Good on you" took me a while to process and repsond to because I was confused on what to say back. After replying with "you too" a few times in confusion I was corrected by my mate and Colorado converted kiwi Shane Fleming that the correct response is "Cheers".  So when in doubt just say cheers and you will fit in better.  The next step is driving on the left side of the road which took me a while to adjust to cars coming at you from the right.  Also having all this excess car on the left side is wierd....yes it was awkward in Auckland with all the bloody(another key word) traffic and confusion but such a nice city with some of the best sushi I have ever had.

Auckland was great but the wave spots and coastal towns are pretty epic and I had the opportunity to surf or should I say join the polar bear club at an awesome spot called Piha.  In the middle of the winter, the brain freeze from the water entering your ears is unreal.  After getting worked for a while by the waves I decided that the beach and being dry sounded way better plus I was able to take some great shots once I got my camera out.  This was just one of many surf spots but I was told they go all up and down the west coast and I will try to see before I leave.  After the surf trip, the first snow(more like hail/rain on my standards) Auckland has seen in 70 years came through the next day and I was apart of the coldest temp ever recorded as well.  This was not very pleasant coming from summer in Colorado where suns out guns out was the only way to cruise because of the heat.   Either way I survived and bought the first flight I could get to the South Island for the record snowfall that had hit with the storms.  

Turned out to be a great move and Jon Imhoof of Border Patrol got me in touch with my new mate Gavin, whom is a true snowkite pioneer of NZ.  He took me up into the Hector Range by ski-doo for some of the best snowkiting I have ever done and we had a wind direction that wasn't that common which allowed us to get into the steepest and deepest chutes imaginable while exploring the Garveys as well which had not seen snowkiters before us.  I ended up staying in a backcountry hut without heat or insulation for a couple of nights which was a good way to adjust to winter and switch to survival mode and then went on to Queenstown.  My good mate from Colorado, Jon Delk hosted me in his place when I needed a place to crash and introduced me to the Fergburger (best burger on the south island).  After finding Queenstown to be a bit fancy/urban/touristy for your everyday ski town, I ventured to Wanaka which has a way more laid back feel.  This is more of a local spot with easier access to skiing and snowkiting plus it will be the base for the Wanakite event over the next week.  I now have 3 flatmates and a house I am renting which has been great to finally settle into after driving all over and living out of my car.  Plus I just started teaching snowkiting again!  

Here are some pictures I have taken along the way which should not disappoint your eyes. Video in the works after I get some footage with Chasta and the Ozone boys....

Cheers!

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