Duotone NOW Magazine No.03 2022

Different riders from around the globe share a common passion: the need to be on the water kiteboarding no matter what the conditions throw at them. Lasse Walker and Pippa van Iersel from the Netherlands and Artem Garashchenko from Russia share their personal experiences of the inner drive and hustle required to brave the elements in cold and challenging weather. H ENDLES SE SON ArtemGarashchenko In 2003 my dad let me hold a kite for the first time. I was 9 years old and way too small to handle its’ power. After many failed sessions the season ended and we decided to wait until our lake froze so we could try snowkiting. In my hometown Yekaterinburg, Russia, we have very long winters and snowkiting is a huge part of our lives, locals ride on snowmore than water. It is also easier to learn because the snow surface is solid and more stable than water. That winter when I took the kite in my hands I began to ride instantly. I had a 3 m foil kite and soon was able to ride in any condition. I never quit, since then spending half the year snowkiting and the other half kiteboarding.   One of my dreams for over 10 years was to catch the moment when the ice had melted enough and began to crack so I could combine snowkiting with kitesurfing. This phenomenon I was searching for happens for just 1 or 2 days per year and then comes the difficult part, to have that correspond with a windy day. In the winter of 20/21 I finally got lucky. Mid of April the ice of Pleshcheevo lake near Moscow cracked and started to move. I wasn’t sure which board would suit the surface better so I took two boards: the most durable park riding and wakestyle board I have, the Duotone Gambler 142, and my snowboard. In the beginning, I tried to ride the Gambler but near the shore, the ice was still too solid. The kiteboard turned out to be too wide and round for the icy surface, so I switched tomy snowboard.  It was an insane feeling to ride and slide fast across the icy surface and when slowing down feel the softness of the breaking ice, only to finally sink underwater when stopping. My favourite part was when ice flows started breaking under my board. I rode in the small channels between the flows, jumped from one to the other and made presses and slides over the icy islands. New ice channels and opportunities opened up every 5 minutes and I couldn’t get enough of riding in this continuously changing playground! In Russia, we have a joke that the Siberian is not the one who doesn’t freeze, but it’s the one who dresses warmly. I took this to heart and when choosing between wetsuit and snowboard gear or a combination of both I decided to go for a 5 mmwetsuit with a neoprene jacket and gloves instead of a thick warm jacket. It turned out to be the right decision. The only freezing part of my body was my feet because snowboard boots don‘t really keep you warmwhen they are completely soaked. I rode for a few hours and it was one of the most memorable and fun sessions of my life! These moments when the lines between snowkiting and kitesurfing started to blur, will be some I will remember forever. It is yet more proof of how amazing and diverse this sport is and that you can create whatever you want, no matter the conditions. Photo Oleg Cherkashin E N D L E S S S E A S O N 57 E N A B L I N G D R E A M S 56 E N A B L I N G D R E A M S