Michael Schitzhofer, representing Austria in the PKRA

Morocco and Germany

mike — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:00:57 +0000

So after not updating my homepage for quite a time I found some minutes to catch up.

The last weeks have been very exciting and stressfull. After a weekend at home I went to Morocco for the Pkra tourstop there. The event was in Essouira and everything was pretty small. The conditions have been very hard with gusty, nuking wind every day. In the singlelemination I could get up to the 4th place which made me really happy. Later in the doubleelemination I had to go against Andy Yates and he kicked me to the 5th place. But still an awesome result for me and I’m super stoked!

After my time in Africa I flew home to Austria for two days to wash my clothes and to pick up my girlfriend to go to germany for the next worldcup. It was time for the biggest event this year and it was held in St. Peter Ording like every year. Carina and I had a great time up in the north and the weather was unexpected good this year. The wind was blowing almost every day and there have been thousends of spectators to watch the show on the water. At the concert on the second weekend when Jan Delay was preforming they counted 43000 people on the beach!!! The comp itself did not go to well for me. I hurted my ankle befor the event and still felt some pain in my heats. In the end I got a 9th place.

Now Carina and I drove further up north to visit Denmark. In the moment we stay in Hvide Sande and the place is nice and the spots are looking sick!!!

Back home after DR

mike — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:09:48 +0000

So the Pkra tourstop in Cabarete is over. It wasn’t an easy competition. The wind was pretty light most of the time and the locals ripped it really hard. In the singles I could win against Bobo Corniel in the first round but in the second round I lost in a close decision against Tom Hebert from New Caledonia. In the doubles I could beat two local rider again but In the fight fort he 7th place against Jesse I struggled with the very light wind and lost. There was no way to go upwind on my 13 and then it gets really hard to preform good freestyle! So in the end I got a 9th place. Top ten again but for sure I want better results soon. After the comp the wind left and for 4 days I had to rest… Also I got foodpoisoned which wasn’t funny at all!!! On my last day I had a nice session at La Boca with Tom Hebert. After my journey home which took over a day I was happy to be back in Austria. The wind was waiting allready at the lake and on my first day home I had a sick day in Podersdorf with wind fort he 9 all day long.

Next week I’m going to Morocco fort he next Pkra Tourstop. I’ll keep you up to date about whats happening there.

Tarifa, home and DR

mike — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 13:03:02 +0000

The last days have been a bit stressfull but I had good kitesessions and trained a lot. May was one of the best month I ever had on the lake Neusiedlersee. Wind blew almost everyday and I never had so much time on the water in one month. When the forecast started to look bad my girlfriend Carina and I decided to fly to Tarifa for a week and we have been pretty lucky with the wind there. From 6 possible days we had 6 days of wind! It was great fun to be in Tarifa again and the kiteing was really nice. I still have an evening session at Playa Los Lances with only 3 or 4 people on the water in my mind… Unforgetable! After this trip, when we arrived at home, southeasterly wind kicked in at the lake and it had 32 degrees so I took my stuff out of the bag for an awesome session in Breitenbrunn. One day later I packed my stuff again for my flight to the Dominican Republic. And here I am now to train a bit and to compete at the 3rd PKRA tourstop this year. Lets hope for good wind and a good competition…

KTE Podersdorf

mike — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:19:19 +0000

Last weekend we had the 1st stop of the Kitetoureurope at my homespot Podersdorf. I was super motivated and excited for this competion. The wind was perfect on the first day of the event and we ran the whole singleelemination on that day. I had some great heats and could beat good guys like Stefan Permien and Mario Rodwald. So I made it to the final in which I had to go against Alberto Rondina. I know that he is a really good rider so I gave everything to win this heat but in the end with a close 3:2 desicion he won the heat and the Final. Unfortunatly the wind was gone for the rest of the competition and so we chilled a lot in Podersdorf and could enjoy the awesome parties there.

So with the 2nd place I’m very happy. To make it on the podium was my aim for this event and so I did. Now I’m at home for a while and hope for some wind.

Back in Austria after Pkra France

mike — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:02:48 +0000

The last week I have been in Leucate for the 2nd tourstop of the Pkra Worldtour. Unfortunatly we had really bad luck with the wind this year. All the past years the Tramontana was blowing almost every contestday. But this year we had only one day with wind and so we could only do a singleelemination. In the first round I was up against Jessy Richman from Hawaii. He was doing great in the difficult conditions and I struggled with my quickrelease which opend during my heat and made me swim around in the competitionarea for about one and a half minute… Jesse won the heat.

For the rest of the week everybody was waiting for the wind which never arrived in Leucate.

Now I’m back at home and hope for some good conditions on the lake Neusiedlersee to have fun and to train for the Kitetoureurope event which will be held at my homespot in beginning on 5th of May.

Spring kicks in at lake Neusiedlersee!

mike — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:43:32 +0000

Slowly its getting warmer in Austria. After my trip to Thailand, where it had up to 43 degrees it was kind of a shock being back home but fortunatly spring is coming and it gets warmer and warmer. The last week I could train a lot on the lake with great conditions! Wind from 18 to 35 knots, arround 20 degrees and sunshine most of the time. And what can I say… I just love it to be back on the lake. To kite with my girlfriend and my friends on my homespot is so amazing!!!

Next week I’m going to France for the 2nd PKRA tourstop this year. For sure it will be super cold and super windy there. Like every year...

Kra Thailand is over. Bad doubles…

mike — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:34:53 +0000

So today it was the last they of the Kra Tourstop here in Thailand. There was some wind coming in and so they finished the doubles. Unfortunatly it all went wrong for me. It was almost not enough wind on the water but ok to go with my new 14 Prima Donna 4. I could not go upwind but ok at least I was not going downwind to fast. I had a good heat and I was pretty confident about it. Back on the beach they told me that the judges messed something up and that they have to rerun my heat. I was pretty pissed because I think when you want to be a profesionell kitetour the judges have to know who is out there and who they have to judge. Anyway… when I went back on the water I felt that the wind droped a bit. But a little bit less wind made a big difference for me. There was no way for me to stay in the competitionarea. After to tacks I had to run upwind on the beach. Two tacks later I was on the bottom on the box again and I coulnd’t do to much tricks because there was just no wind for me. So I lost, got 9th place and I’m really pissed now… Hope its getting better soon. I don’t want to spend all my money and train so hard for getting fucked in the competitions…

Thailand Singels…

mike — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:34:29 +0000

So yesterday was the first day of the Pkra competition and we allready had good enough wind to start the singels. 25 men registered for the freestyle. The level was really high and the heats have been good to watch them so far. I got a lokal rider in the first round which was a good warm up. He was riding well but I had a good heat and could beat him. In the second round I was up against Alberto Rondina from Italy. He is an really good rider and so I knew I had to pull out some difficult tricks. To the normal stuff I did an double S-bend pass an double Backroll pass a kiteloop-slim and a Blindjuge 5. I was pretty happy with that heat and it also was good enough to win. My 3 round heat was against Youri Zoon. With Kevin he is one of the best kiters in the world in the moment and so I had nothing to lose. I had a good heat which made my happy but still he was kicking my as out of the singles…

The last four men still have to compete against each other and then we will go for the double-elemination. I hope I can improve a little bit there.

First days in Thailand

mike — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:10:30 +0000

I’m allready 4 days here in Hua Hin and I just love it. Its my first time in Thailand and its so impressive. The food, the people, the lifestyle and so on. I rented a sooter for my stay to do some sightseeing and to get around.

I could kite everyday allready. Indeed in light winds but still its an awesome place to kite. The water and the wind are so warm that you are almost sweating on the water. The condiotions are similar to Bozobeach in Cabarete without the shorebreak. Not total what I like but its ok…

The organizers did a great job on the beach and I think the event will be pretty big. With a big tribune for the spectators and lots of eating-places and so on.

Today we have the registration and tomorrow the competition starts. So wish me luck and I’ll keep you up to date!

Back from SA and almost in Thailand…

mike — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:24:09 +0000

Finally my training in Southafrica is over. I had a absolute great time and I just can’t get enough of this amazing country. The last two weeks my girlfriend joined me and we had a beautiful time with perfect windconditions. We also had a pretty bad experience when somebody broke into our car and stole some stuff out of it…

Now I’m at home. Today I had a nice and long interview at an austrian radiostation and a fotoshooting for a teenagermagazine from Austria, called “MISS”…

Next week I will go to Thailand for the first PKRA worldtourstop in Hua Hin. I hope they have wind there and that we will have a good cometition there. I’ll keep you updated!!!

Southafrica update…

mike — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:52:09 +0000

The last week the wind got a bit tricky here in Capetown. The typical southeaster was not coming through and so we had to drive a lot arround here. Still I had some awesome sessions. On lake Brandvlei we made some sick pictures with perfect light. The next day we drove to Witsand which is a river that disembogues into the sea. The water is super flat there and its just perfect for training. Ok maybe a bit sharky but you can’t have everything. Three days ago we have been lucky and catched one of the rare days in the Milnerton lagune. The wind was unbelievable constant and flat water all over the place. Today its raining and kind of freecing but lets see what happens…

My days in Capetown

mike — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:41:18 +0000

Time is flying… I’m here in Southafrica for more than one week allready. The wind was really good these days and I could also catch some awesome waves. So far the wind is not to strong and I was riding my Prima Donna 9 a lot.
Training is running good and I am very happy so far. Yesterday I had an fantastic freestylesession with onshore wind at Sunsetbeach, the day bevor I was kiting at Shark’s Bay in Langebaan and two days ago I learnd to surf the wave frontside at Dolphinbeach. Was a hard lesson in the beginning but now it rocks to ride like this.
Today I take a day off and try some paddelsurfing but for the following days my plan is to train hard and enjoy my stay here as good as possible.