Kiteboarder Jack Rieder has some wind in his sails, after claiming a podium finish in the first-ever official world championship for park riding.
With some jaw-dropping jumps in his runs – including the highest-scoring trick in the tournament – the West Vancouver-raised athlete took bronze at the Qatar Airways GKA Kite Park League World Championships, held Aug. 3 to 10 in Hood River, Oregon.
Leading up to the competition, 24-year-old Rieder arrived a few days before the week-long waiting period to practice. Conditions were favourable at first, but then kiters had to sit on the sidelines for nearly four days without wind.
When wind picked up toward the tail end of the tournament, it was very strong – with gusts up to 30 or 35 knots.
It’s a lot harder to control your kiteboarding set up when the wind is that powerful, Rieder said.
“Because you have to ride a lot smaller of a kite that’s more sensitive, as a result, the level is a little bit less technical and more about execution,” he said. “So the key to success, I would say, was basically just trying to do something that you need to land really well that would look clean.”
In the championship course, there are two rails and two jumps [kickers] that competitors have to hit. Rieder’s strong suit is in the air.
“I knew that if I scored quite well on those [kickers] then it offset that I wasn’t quite as technical on the rails,” he said.
Rieder’s best trick, and what likely secured his medal finish, was a frontside 900 – two and a half rotations off a jump.
“I just tried to play it clean and safe with the rest of the hits,” he said. “We had some pretty sketchy condition for the final … so it was more of a matter of putting down some clean scores than it was about going crazy technical.”
Inaugural world championship a big moment for kiteboarding, Rieder says
Rieder said it was pretty exciting to make it on the podium in the inaugural world championships of his sport. Last year, the community held an unofficial event in Brazil, where he came third as well.
“I was really hoping to manage to see my way onto the podium again this year for the official one, and I was quite proud of it,” he said.
The park kiteboarding community has constantly been working to build up the sport, and everyone was promoting the world championships in the run-up to the tourney, Rieder said.
“I felt like this was kind of a big, successful moment, where it’s been recognized as an international event, and all the hard work has paid off to make it something legitimate,” he said.
Next up for the young athlete is a trip back to Hood River for the Kite Park League Team Battle in October. Then, he’ll fly to Brazil in November for the GKA Freestyle World Cup.
When Rieder isn’t kiting abroad, you can find him helping fellow boarders by boat in Squamish, where he manages the Squamish Windsports Society.
