It's on.
http://redbullkingoftheair.com/live-feed/
I love when south african commentators say ice cream 
Can't believe Hadlow took it out, i must have been watching a different final, disappointing result.
I had jesse or kevin 1st and aaron 3rd. Aaron only had one better move than kevin or Jesse the kiteloop kgb and that was it. Kevin went huge and Jesse had some awesome unhooked tricks. Seems like with kevin coming third the judges were rewarding unhooked moves. Maybe next year a few other kiters might try the kiteloop kgb, although ozzy tried it this year and destroyed himself.
Pretty crazy what happened to lewis induced comma and second degree drowning. Hope he has a speedy recovery.
Yeah was a pretty bad stack, vid from the beach.
www.facebook.com/donovan.oneale/videos/10154639562902627/?pnref=story:
Latest news on Lew according to his mum: "induced coma for another 24 hours still sucking up sea water form his lungs and worried about his breathing but all other signs are doing ok no broken bones or internal injuries". Really upsetting, my homespot is Goring in the UK where Lew is from so see him out all the time. Hope he gets better soon.
Select to expand quotesaltydawg said..
I had jesse or kevin 1st and aaron 3rd. Aaron only had one better move than kevin or Jesse the kiteloop kgb and that was it. Kevin went huge and Jesse had some awesome unhooked tricks. Seems like with kevin coming third the judges were rewarding unhooked moves. Maybe next year a few other kiters might try the kiteloop kgb, although ozzy tried it this year and destroyed himself.
Pretty crazy what happened to lewis induced comma and second degree drowning. Hope he has a speedy recovery.
Completely agree with you on placings. Kevin for height, style execution, Jesse for variation and Aaron...well his megaloops were no better than the 4th placed Brazilian. He just pulled out his signature move and that was it, albeit one hell of a move of course.
Where the judges watching the same final, Hadlow was third by a long way. He had one move and was not consistent or high. Kevin smashed it and tweaked it. Jesse tried way more and although fell of a few had way more variations than Hadlow.
Maybe its the camera angle but Hadlow stuff is technical but not as Extreme as the other 2.
Its funny I see the same thing in skate comps the guy who has all of the style gets pipped by the guy that does one inverted hard flip (technical trick). The guy that has way more balls does not get rewarded.
The live broadcast missed hadlow's first 2 tricks that were by all accounts worthy enough of taking out the win..
ah okay fair enough...there could be footage we don't see. Ideally they would have a number of cameras and while crew are getting back upwind, do some action replays of moves the main footage didn't capture. There is a lot of dead-time having to listen to those commentators dribble about nothing in between the moves.
King of the Goose, it wont be long until someone dies for nothing I fear.
What Lewis was doing wasn't even technical (or that difficult usually), he just got really unlucky with a gust and lull, it's a shame to see people pushed into that situation. All the best to Lewis, he's a top bloke and I hope he comes out of it all alright.
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..
King of the Goose, it wont be long until someone dies for nothing I fear.
What Lewis was doing wasn't even technical (or that difficult usually), he just got really unlucky with a gust and lull, it's a shame to see people pushed into that situation. All the best to Lewis, he's a top bloke and I hope he comes out of it all alright.
I thought you would have been all for KOTA.
Events like these are progressing the sport. I see a lot of parallels with pro mountain bike downhill.
Select to expand quoteUnderoath said..
sir ROWDY said..
King of the Goose, it wont be long until someone dies for nothing I fear.
What Lewis was doing wasn't even technical (or that difficult usually), he just got really unlucky with a gust and lull, it's a shame to see people pushed into that situation. All the best to Lewis, he's a top bloke and I hope he comes out of it all alright.
I thought you would have been all for KOTA.
Events like these are progressing the sport. I see a lot of parallels with pro mountain bike downhill.
Why would you think that?
Big air has it's merit, I don't particularly enjoy it much personally, but I can see why some people enjoy it. I think it's cool to show this side of the sport, overall though I think it's a pretty stupid thing to run a competition for. Look at all the injuries over the years, it's always someone getting unlucky and just falling out of the sky, usually because they are forced to push themselves in a heat when they likely know they shouldn't have...
I don't blame Redbull as it's up to the riders what they do, but I'd hate to put myself out for a year just because I got unlucky doing a simple jump or kiteloop, all for a very small prize purse and small amount of recognition. Riders have a choice, but I know a lot of them are pretty desperate and will push it beyond their limits to try and get some recognition and end up injured (or dead), which is kind of silly when you're basically just rolling a dice as to whether it happens or not.
Each to their own I guess, it's ultimately up to them.
p.s.
To compare it to Downhill or FMX - it would be like running an FMX stop in super windy, gusty, rainy conditions where the riders are mostly just trying to do their easy tricks, but in these conditions a few of them get seriously injured. FMX is controlled, a Kiteboarding comp like this never will be, you will always have these crazy variables.
The wind there is super gusty, Where would you hold the KOTA event Rowdy?
Kite at 12 wind drops.
Select to expand quoteHappyG said..
Where the judges watching the same final, Hadlow was third by a long way. He had one move and was not consistent or high. Kevin smashed it and tweaked it. Jesse tried way more and although fell of a few had way more variations than Hadlow.
Maybe its the camera angle but Hadlow stuff is technical but not as Extreme as the other 2.
Its funny I see the same thing in skate comps the guy who has all of the style gets pipped by the guy that does one inverted hard flip (technical trick). The guy that has way more balls does not get rewarded.
How was Aaron not the dude being the most extreme? Kevin didn't unhook once, yes he was going big, but wasn't showing any variation. Also if you look at the Judging criteria you will see Aaron stuck to it and rode the smartest. Also pulled his Loop KGB, which no one else does, showing its the hardest trick (and by far the ballsiest) in the competition. The live stream apparently missed 2 of Aarons tricks, but I think the judges got the order pretty spot on!
Jesse also threw gnarly tricks, but his handle pass tricks weren't super high so I guess thats where he missed out on first, although he did some pretty insane jumps as well!
and what variation did aaron show apart from his big ticket move? None as far as I can see. Extremity (which has a technical aspect)is only worth apparently 30% of the criteria. He won that hands down. The other 70 percent he wasnt even close to Kevin as far as I can see. Suppose just shows you how subjective it is...
Rowdy you big stick in the mud...Plenty of more injuries I'm sure on the spider monkey "pretend im on a wakeboarder tour'.
To me it showcases what is entirely unique to our sport...I cannot comprehend why this is not understood.
And what will follow is the usual predictable responses I predict..
^^^^^Aaron jumped on both tacks, he rode smart, even stopping on the beach to get his breath back and regain composure. He showed variety with all his tricks. He landed all his tricks smooth.
Kevin's riding was definately a crowd pleaser. Jessie ripped, Reno ripped but too little variation for me.
Hard to judge something properly on the internet.....
Select to expand quoteUnderoath said..
I'll answer....Back Beach Geraldton.
Agreed, I think Backers would be a top spot for an Oz KOTA. It would be good for competitors and spectators and has some top infrastructure with the SLSC clubhouse close by too.
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
Plenty of more injuries I'm sure on the spider monkey "pretend im on a wakeboarder tour'.
There isn't actually and nothing in kiting is unique (not even pretending to be a paraglider/ motorcross rider 
).
Big air has it's place, I'm merely pointing out how sketchy a comp like this is as some people don't really know. This can be easily backed up by the injury statistics from the last two years alone (which total far more than two years of pretending to be a wakeboarder, possibly even the last 10) and all for what?
I'm sure you already know this though.
And if I didn't im sure you would tell me
ah come on man take ya gob of the lemons and enjoy the spectacle. Grumpy bastard.
Correct and I just did.
It's all fun and games until someone dies, both guys were pretty lucky this time, Lewis is still in a coma... I guess you just get a different perspective when you actually know the people involved. Let the roulette continue .
Rowdy the general public don't care at all about the flicky spinny tour, it is only like 0.001% of the population who are actually awesome technical kiters.
Whilst we understand the difficulty and training required to land unhooked flicky spinny tricks, everyone would much rather watch a bunch of drunk blokes from Geraldton or Capetown going HUGE in 40 knots, even if they weren't doing any tricks - it is just so great to watch.
Select to expand quotewishy said..
Rowdy the general public don't care at all about the flicky spinny tour, it is only like 0.001% of the population who are actually awesome technical kiters.
Whilst we understand the difficulty and training required to land unhooked flicky spinny tricks, everyone would much rather watch a bunch of drunk blokes from Geraldton or Capetown going HUGE in 40 knots, even if they weren't doing any tricks - it is just so great to watch.
Sorry, I wasn't aware we were having this conversation... I couldn't give a toss about flicky spiny tricks neither.
I will tell you what people who don't kite find impressive - Nothing kite related... wiggly waveriding, flicky spiny tricks, or dangle wangle boosts, they couldn't give a toss either way.
www.facebook.com/gillsberry/videos/vb.862125600465464/1158910020787019/?type=2&theater¬if_t=comment_mention
Select to expand quoteUnderoath said...
And Hospital
Public and private hospitals both 5 minutes away. Though i hope not needed.
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said...
Correct and I just did.
It's all fun and games until someone dies, both guys were pretty lucky this time, Lewis is still in a coma... I guess you just get a different perspective when you actually know the people involved. Let the roulette continue .
Yep will give you that regarding knowing Lewis personally that's a fair enough comment man.
But he's a grown man making his own decisions to ride in the competition or to be a pro rider for that matter. Every professional athlete pushes themselves to the edge that's what required to live that lifestyle and indeed live and sometimes die in battle.
Lewis is a legend and you should be proud of him not moaning about what is the amazing demonstration of strength, skill and courage. If that kite handnt stalled that would have been the best loop bar none. That's what people driven at the edge do and that's his decision and his decision alone in the end.
... And even if only us kiters know how amazing these performances are so be it. Those men and the event are inspirational not a vehicle to bitch and moan about.
Select to expand quotedave...... said...
Hard to judge something properly on the internet.....
Isn't judging other people the whole point of the Internet? Or am I doing it wrong?
