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35th Parallel News/Blog

News and articles about adventure travel, kitesurfing, snowkiting, skiing/snowboarding, things we like, what's going on and anything else we feel like sharing!

Ryland is a well known ripper in the surf in WA and has featured on many of Ben Wilson's movies.  Here's a great short video that Ryland's put together from some recent missions to the south coast of Western Australia.


Everyone loves free stuff... so together with Slingshot and BenWilsonSurf, we've put together a great competition giving you the chance to win a free Slingshot Octane kite - any size of your choice!  The competition is only open for a limited time, so get your entry in today!


After the success of our 2009 snowkiting camps in New Zealand, we're very happy to announce that we're doing it again in 2010!  Not only that, but Chasta has confirmed he's coming again and we've made some improvements...


It only takes a quick glance at the globe to see that the Southern hemisphere has far less land than the northern hemisphere and therefore far fewer places to snowkite.  A look at our earth from the poles is even more revealing.  The land masses of the Northern Hemisphere extend much further north while in the southern hemisphere there is the Antarctic in the polar region but the temperate zone is covered mostly by the oceans. Your choices are South America, Australia or New Zealand. If you're thinking of a snowkiting trip to New Zeland, then here's all the info you need.


If you are looking for a winter escape to get some wind, sunshine, waves, great food and more fun than you had on your last bucks night then a winter trip to Bali could be just what the doctor ordered. On the surface Bali looks like a great holiday destination but it does have underlying problems which can ruin your trip. After spending a few weeks there each winter for the last three years, we thought we’d share what we have learnt so far.


Handling your kite properly in the waves could lead you to more aggressive turns, flow and maybe even a barrel. Kite positioning when riding the waves is one of the most important and tricky skills to learn for successful wave riding. Putting your kite in the wrong spot can wreck your wave and even your session. Trying to control two forms of power (wave power and kite power) can be very overwhelming and daunting, especially in bigger waves. Each wind direction has its rightful formula to make it all come together. Here are some tips to help you pull it all together...


The recent 10 page article in 'kiteboarding' magazine in the US by Brian Wheeler featured 20 tips for kitesurfing wave-riding excellence.  These are the tips he learnt on our recent Bali Kitesurfing Wave Camp with Ben Wilson.


The January 2010 edition of the USA publication 'kiteboarding' has just hit news stands and has a 10 page article on our recent Bali Wave Kitesurfing Camp with Ben Wilson!  Not only that, but Ben is featured on the front cover riding an Aviso board!  


Due to the huge success of our Bali kitesurfing wave camp, we're now stoked to offer another wave camp in Barbados!


 

Ben Wilson has just released a free online movie called Shades of Green.  This film is Ben's way of giving a little something back to the kitesurfing community.  Shades of Green has some epic footage of surf kiting with plenty of barrels!


AfriKen is laying down the gauntlet to all kitesurfers... are you up for it?  January 2010 marks the first AfriKen Kite Surfing Surfari in South Africa - this is not your average kitesurfing trip.  Throw in the wilds of Africa, consistent wind, incredible waves, a beautiful coastline, a great crew of people, a well equipped road trip and a couple of pro kitesurfers and you've got the makings of an incredible 2 weeks!


During last months Felix Pivec worked with Firewire Surfboards on the development of the Felix Pivec Pro model.

About 4 months ago we (Firewire) were approached by Felix Pivec, one of the world’s best kite surfers. We did not know that Felix had been riding our boards for some time and was interested in making some small adjustments for the demands of kite surfing. We jumped at the chance.


Ben's got the life - more than a month after finishing our kitesurfing camp in Bali, he's still cruising around Indo surfing and kitesurfing his brains out!

"I just had a few fun days kiting in Indonesia with my new Octane kites, they're working really well and I'm stoked on them so I thought I'd make a quick flick! Enjoy..." Ben.


Chasta has been hangin in New Zealand's South Island for the last couple months tearing up the Southern Alps!  He's been snowkiting on our NZ Snowkite Camps and also testing the latest kites for Ozone.

Check out Chasta's short video:


Kitesurfers Ben Morrison-Jack and James Weight left Cape Grim near Stanley on Tasmania's North West tip just after 7am yesterday morning and arrived on dry land in South West Victoria just short of 12 hours later!

Ben & James have been friends since high school and whilst Ben has considerable ocean sailing experience (including America's Cup challenges and Sydney to Hobart races), James is a total newcomer to ocean crossings.


We have just returned from running our second wave camp in Bali. We had a great crew including Brian Wheeler from Kiteboarder Usa mag. Also there is a travel feature on Bali in the latest edition of KBmag which is out next week. So with all that press next years trip are going to fill up fast. If you have any questions about the camps just post them here. Cheers
Bruce BWS coaching co ordinator


John Omohundro (founder/owner Aviso boards) flew to Bali to join me for this year's Bali Kitesurf Wave camp and hand deliver the first 5'8 Celaritas out of the tool to me. This is the first day of surfing it and kiting it, the waves aren't epic, but fun enough to get me hooked on the board as it's super light, alive and if his theory of "it will last forever" is correct then potentially one the best constructed and feeling boards I have ridden.

Check out the video...


Here's a short video put together by Chasta on our second New Zealand Snowkite Camp.  This trip has some experienced snowkiters on it, along with some novices.  I'm sure you'll enjoy the footage!  If these trips interest you, get into our community and join the NZ Snowkite groups and you can be kept in the loop on future trips!


The June 2009 edition of Australian Kiteboarder magazine has a great 4 page article on our snowkiting trips in New Zealand.  The article has plenty of information on the locations we snowkite in New Zealand, as well as equipment tips, travel to New Zealand and more.  Here's a copy of the article for you to read.


On Wednesday this week, 35th Parallel's trips were featured on the Western Australian radio show, "Not The Footy Show" in a live interview.  We discussed the recent Ben Wilson Bali Kitesurfing Camp as well as our snowkiting trips in New Zealand and the new 35th Parallel website and concept.


The Cove - must see movie

Site Admin

Posted by: Site Admin

Tagged in: News , Conservation

Anyone who plays in the ocean has a "dolphin story"... that time they shared the water with dolphins, perhaps surfing, snorkelling, diving or swimming.  For anyone this has happened to, it leaves an impression which lasts a lifetime.  Dolphins truly are amazing creatures and bring joy to people the world over.

I saw "The Cove" movie last night and am still in shock.  It exposes one of the most shocking things I've seen in many years.  In a small town in South Eastern Japan called Taiji an estimated 23,000 dolphins are sold and killed from September to March each year.  Here's the trailer so you can see what it's all about. 


Slingshot officially announced their partnership with Aviso Surf this week.  Aviso are the leaders in carbon fibre surfboards in the US.  After spending a week in Bali recently with John from Aviso and seeing Ben Wilson stoked on his boards, I'm confident carbon fibre boards are going to be popular with kiters... not to mention the fact they look sick!


Ben Wilson is soon to be releasing his latest DVD, "Coming Together".  Starring Ben Wilson, John Amundson, Bertrand Fleury, Ryland Blakeney Mauricio Abreu, Jake Gordon, Grant Baker, Josh Mulcoy, Reo Stevens, Marc Ramseier, Martin Vari.


When you’re ready to pick up the phone to your travel agent, you’ll get a much better deal if you know the right questions to ask.  Don’t be afraid to nudge and prod your travel agent or airline representative to be sure you’re getting information on all available airfares.


Ben Wilson Kitesurf Accelerator Wave Camps35th Parallel is very excited to announce that we will be running a very limited number of Ben Wilson Accelerator Wave Camps in Bali in Jully 09!  This is a very unique opportunity to learn one-on-one from arguably the #1 wave kitesurfer in the world!


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