Best Kiteboarding hosted the 4th annual 2011 SuperFly Open February 18-21st, 2011. The event took place at Strawberry Reservoir in central Utah. Now I won’t go on and on about the virtues of kiteboarding but I will say this, this sport rocks, sailing, surfing and flying all at once. Best Kiteboarding used one of my photos for their website banner, see above. Being a windsurfer from way back I can attest to the other worldly expertise exhibited by these incredible athletes.

Pro Ski Race

1. #5 Jon McCabe
2. #55 Ken Lucas
TIE #54 Tyler Brown, #60 Sean Haag
5. #44 Luke Orton
6. #46 Daryl Drown
7. #42 Chris Nester

Pro Board

1. #53 Billy Bordy
2. #43 Jacob Buzianis
3. #8 Juan Carlos
4. #51 Aaron Sales
5. #49 Matt Thames
6. #50 Ryan Allen
7. #1 Oliver Palmers
8. #52 Tom Hoskins
9. #45 Cole Russell
10. #3 Sam Medysky (DNF)

Am Men Ski

1. #39 Mark Johnson
2. #25 Bob Legault
3. #34 Ravil Muslyumov
4. #30 Derek Brown

Am Men Board

1. #23 Joaquin Hubbard

Womens

1. #65 Jen Milton
2. #62 Melissa Cronin
3. #63 Trisha Smith
4. #68 Francis Cronin
5. Victoria Stevens

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Freestyle Pro Ski

1. #44 Luke Orton
2. #54 Tyler Brown
3. #5 Jon McCabe
4. #55 Ken Lucas
5. #42 Chris Nester

Freestyle Pro Board

1. #49 Matt Thames
2. #51 Aaron Sales
3. #3 Sam Medysky
4. #1 Oliver Palmers
5. #43 Jacob Buzianis
6. #53 Billy Bordy
7. #52 Tom Hoskins
8. #9 Matt Sexton
9. #8 Juan Carlos

Tom Reynolds, renaissance man, skier, sailer, kite boarder, artist, photographer and pilot is riding the bleeding edge of technology and sports like few people on this planet. Tom literally flies like a bird, floating through the air on anything that will carry him, whether its parasailing, or kit board sail. Recently Tom posted a video on YouTube he took him self with his helmet mounted camera that will blow your mind. It is just another Monday of skiing in the mountains of Utah for Tom. He parasails down the mountain on a brightly colored parasail, with no breeze, only the fall of the mountain to provide loft, he skies/flies down the side of the mountain, skillfully gliding through trees and even skimming his skis on the tops of the tops of huge pine trees. On a another video in Europe he flies off the Alps skimming through rock cliffs with the same ease. Watch these videos by clicking on this link http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=328385753975

I was around the North shore of Strawberry Reservoir on Highway 40 (called Stawbs) between Salt Lake City and Northeastern Utah one sunny winter day when I saw bright colors blazing across the white winter landscape, “Kite Boarders!” I said to myself, I had always wanted to see this stuff up close and in person. Being a former major wind junkie in my windsurfing days I know what a stiff 30 knot wind can do to the pulse and adrenal gland.

Tom was screaming back and forth across the frozen snow covered lake at speeds near 50 m.p.h and effortlessly jumping/flying at will, catching air that only that I could not believe, hundreds of yards in length and 50 – 100 feet above the ground.

The landings were gentle and controlled, no big slap back to earth like in most sports that include catching major air. No Tom lands with the force you might encounter stepping off the curb, never slowing except to carve a big beautiful Tele turn, dropping one knee like a dancer.

I still remember think how lame I thought “Drop Knee Boping” was back in my downhill skiing days, and now in front of me was a man going twice as fast as I have ever skied, on the flats, being propelled by only the wind.

His body is the linkage between the pull of the sail and his skis, he feels every gust, all the power must flow through his body, arms and legs taking up the slack like high performance shock absorbers. I felt those tingles run down my spine as the hair on the back of my neck sensed the changing wind gusts just like they had years before, the rush from the wind was instantly back and I was only watching.

You can see me in his goggles if you look close. He was flying directly over me at 40 mph!

Just another jump with huge hang time.

The fact that there wasn’t much snow made no difference, he moved gracefully through the bushes that had not been covered by snow.

How do you spell cool?

Love the ice fish men in the background on this one.

Tom mention an upcoming Masters competition so I made the drive and caught up with Tom among his peers at the 2010 Masters Kite Boarding Competition in Skyline Utah. No one was catching air like Tom, the man is in a class by himself. See him in action below on the first day of the races, the wind was moderate and Tom has going for massive air.

Flying around Skyine.

Power turns.

Big air.

High speed runs, drop knee bopping?

Houston we are ready to land.

Skyline styling.

Big Air time.

I can’t even get a shot of an smiling fan without him jumping in the picture.

Tom Reynolds.

The downwind leg of the race course.

Day two of the races saw the wind at gale force. This was kite boarding for experts only, less big air but my God were they going fast.

The best way to get a feel for the speed and excitement of Kite Board racing is to watch a sequence of photos, here is a 12 shot sequence of a start of a race.

View Full Album

If you have come to this site looking for photos of the 6th Annual Kiteborading Masters please follow this link to the Flickr sets. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonzoshots/sets/72157623544482380/. Above is Master Tom Reynolds flying high over Skyline.

The following photos are from February 27, 2010. Saturdays photos will be up later tonight.