In addition to the top seated 16 men and 8 women on the Kite Park League tour, 12 spots remain for the upcoming Spornado Hood Jam happening July 22nd – 28th in the Slider Project park in Hood River, Oregon. Entries came in from all corners of the globe in hopes to claim one of the coveted spots and in effect earn themselves a chance to compete with the worlds best in park kiteboarding.
Judging criteria for the wildcard submissions focused on execution, variety, style and overall impression. The Slider Project & Hood Jam organizers would like to sincerely thank all of the entrants for participating in the wildcard competition.
The first three winners in the men’s contest come as no surprise as all of them are locals to the Slider Project park and effortlessly show that they are ready to compete with the best of them, each showcasing some of the most technical riding with a wide variety of tricks on both sliders and kickers. Congrats to Rich Sabo, Brendan Kerr and Blaine Baker. Another standout was young rider Mark Cafero who earnednhimself a spot in the event with solid riding across the board.
Nicolas Gilomen is a name to be remembered. He competed in the first stop of the tour, the Blue Palawan Kite Open and impressed the KPL judges with his variety and progression.
Kellen Hall who, as of late, has been quiet on the kite park scene yet in years past has turned heads at events like the Triple-S Invitational also eaned a spot and Lukas “Spud” Arsenault, fresh off his freestyle win at Kite Clash claimed one of the remaining spots for the men’s competition.
It was a close call in the end but rounding out the field for the 2017 Spornado Hood Jam Men’s competition will be David Tonijuan from Spain. Although Tonijuan’s video did not actually showcase any features, he showed an incredibly high level of wave kicker tricks and impressed the judging panel who are eager to see what he can do in the park.
For the women’s competition, 2016 Hood Jam third place winner, Lindsay McClure impressed the judges with her crowmobe and a variety of technical hits to land herself a wildcard slot.
Previous Hood Jam competitor, Katie Potter also earned herself a coveted spot in the main event as well as Marylous Lacroix and Argentina’s Rocio Campos.
Congrats to all the winners and if your video wasn’t chosen, hit the park and the judges look forward to your entries for next year!