2012 North Vegas Photo
Its inevitable, the first photo of the 2012 vegas has found its way to the public eye. Although this could just be a prototype and the actual colors are yet to be determined
Kiteboarding Exercises
It's that time of year again, time to get yourself back into kiting shape. Getting in shape before the season starts is the best way to prevent injury and to increases the length of your sessions. But what can I do that's kiteboarding specific you ask? The guys at kiteboardingexercises.com have laid it all out for you. Whether it is prehab, style specific workouts, or rehab that you need, they have it dialed.
So get yourself ready for the season by heading to their website:
http://www.kiteboardingexercises.com/
and don't forget to stop in the shop or head to our webpage to get yourself the gear or lessons you need to start the season.
Kiteboarding to be included in Olympic sailing
NYTimes: Olympic Sailing Looks to Go Extreme
Kiteboarding’s in, and the International Sailing Federation’s proposed slate of classes for the 2016 Olympics may leave the image of the proper yachtsman high and dry.
View full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/sports/10sailing.html
Island Riders End of Season party Joins With Support The Kid Fundraiser
Fellow Island Rider and longtime friend Nick Wolber needs our help! This Saturday after you're done riding come to the Park Bench in Stony Brook as we Join Forces with the Support the Kid Foundation to help Nick win the battle against Cancer and ride again. Please take a moment to read the details of Nick's story below and Join us on Saturday for good times and a great cause!
Goal:
We are a group of friends and family working on behalf of Nicholas Wolber. We are organizing a charitable campaign to give financial assistance to Nicholas
for the benefit of his rehabilitation. Below are additional details about Nick’s story, his current physical condition and needs, including the financial issues
facing Nicholas and the critical need for your generosity.
Nick’s Story:
Nicholas Wolber was diagnosed with Synovial sarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue cancer in December of 2005 at the age of 22. He had surgery to remove
the cancer from his leg and spent months receiving Chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The radiation therapy was so strong that it caused an open wound
to develop in Nick’s leg and rendered him unable to walk. Nick went through three more painful surgeries on his leg, including a final 16 hour surgery in
which they took muscle and skin grafts from his back and leg to rebuild his knee. Following this surgery, Nick spent a month in a hospital bed healing.
After this battle with cancer, Nick was cancer free for almost 5 years. In those years, Nick completed his college degree, got his real estate license and had
several sales jobs before finally making it to the big league when he started working for Penn Mutual on Park Avenue as a financial advisor. Against the
odds, he fought hard and began snowboarding again.
However, this April, Nick went to the hospital after coughing up blood. He had tests done showing the cancer was terminal and had come back not only in
his leg, but also in his chest. The tumor in his chest was the size of his heart, and attached to his lungs and heart. Many of the doctors Nick went to see
told him the tumor in his chest was too large and inoperable. The prognosis was grim,
chemotherapy and radiation had also been shown to have little effect on this cancer. Nick
received a grant from the Mary Crowley Cancer Foundation of Dallas Texas to perform a clinical
trial for a new cancer vaccine. He found a specialist at Sloan Kettering who reluctantly agreed to
operate, but told Nick that the surgery was extremely dangerous and life threatening. The surgery
was successful, and 98% of the tumor was removed.
The tumor in Nick’s leg continued to grow at a rapid pace and caused him extreme pain. On
August 17th, Nick had his leg removed above the knee. He is currently receiving physical therapy
and is continuing his vaccine therapy treatment in Texas. He is hoping the vaccine will kill the
remaining cancer in his chest and stop the cancer from coming back. Nick has a long road ahead
of him of physical therapy and will need to receive a prosthetic leg in order to walk again. His
dream is to be able to snowboard again with the help of a prosthetic.
During Nicholas time receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments, he was placed in the
children’s cancer ward at Schneider’s Children’s Hospital. He saw first hand the effects of cancer on children and was deeply touched. Nick and his friends
started a charitable organization to help raise money to distribute to children with cancer to help them pay for the cost of experimental vaccine treatments andto provide financial resources for travel, lodging and meals to be able to obtain the treatments. Nick has been very selfless throughout this entire battle.Heis always concerned for his family, friends and raising money for his charity. However, he has had to stop working for the last five months, and will have tocontinue to remain unemployed while receiving his cancer treatments and physical therapy. His medical bills have also started to add up. He has to pay large co pays for many of his treatments and especially physical therapy. Most importantly, Nicholas has a
dream to snowboard again; he is extremely motivated to work toward that goal. However, the cost of
prosthetics is very large, and he cannot afford to buy the prosthetic he needs to accomplish his goal.
Our hope is to help Nick to raise enough funds to cover the costs associated with his treatments that are
not covered by insurance, particularly physical therapy and prosthetics, and to help Nick achieve his
goals to walk down the aisle at his wedding next year, be able to snowboard again, and to beat cancer!
Nicholas Wolber Fundraiser Flyer
http://www.supportthekid.com/
I hope you will consider making a donation.
If you are unable to attend and would like to make a donation, please send to
Nicholas Wolber at 11 Paul Street Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776
*Please make checks payable to Nicholas Wolber or cash donations.
3rd Annual End of Season Garage sale and Gear Swap
Saturday and Sunday October 30th and 31st we will have the 3rd Annual End of Season Garage Sale and Gear Swap at the Island Riders Great South Bay Kiteboarding Center. There will be great deals on new and used kiteboarding, wakeboarding, surfing and stand up paddle gear as well as wetsuits and all the accessories. There is a huge selection of used and demo gear to be had at great prices.....37 kites and counting ranging from $100-$700!! Also not to be missed deals on everything in the shop including winter wetsuits and all 2011 gear currently in stock! We have a full selection of O'Neill wetsuits and drysuits, NPX wetsuits, and 2011 North and Cabrinha kite gear ready to get you on the water now.
With sunny skies, SW winds in the 20's and temps in the 60's it's going to be a beautiful weekend, come out and end the season with one last session. Boats will be running to the bay for kiteboarding all day and the sale will run from 10-5 Saturday and Sunday.
Swell has been all time on Long Island
What is Wave Riding?Recently the Island Riders crew has been sneaking off at every possible chance to get some ocean riding in the waves. From small 2 ft on shore days to epic Hurricane Earl 15 ft blowing side off at 30 mph, we have been getting it all. The conditions have been amazing and though the ocean has claimed a few boards we have all made it back.
In one of our latest down winders we had the experience of riding with 2 of the best wave riders around, Jon Modica and Sky Solbach. After finishing up at the KB4 Girls event out in Napeague the crew along with Sky, Jon, and a few locals ran off to drop the cars for an ocean side down winder. the wind seemed light when we got to the beach but when you got on the water you realized quickly that your eyes can play tricks on you.
Riding with the pros is something else. it is easy to get distracted while you watch these guys tear apart wave after wave. at one point i forgot i was kiting and a wave peaked up and reminded me the hard way. after that experience i paid less attention to the pros and more attention to the chunky waves in front of me that were just waiting to be slayed.
The sesh was so fun a few guys forgot to come in where the car was and had a nice pricey taxi ride back and some explaining as to why they were late to dinner.
i have found that getting out in the waves on my strapless surfboard is the only way i want to ride. if you haven't tried it i strongly recommend the next time your in the shop you rent a surfboard and give it a try out in the slicks. if you want to get in the ocean we offer wave lessons with a surfboard for advanced riders.
hope to see you all on a wave soon,
Jake
KB4 Girls is a huge success at Napeague
On Saturday and Sunday September 25th and 26th Island Riders participated in the KB4 Girls Kiteboarding clinic and fundraiser with Kristin Boese at Napeague in East Hampton, NY. The event was amazing as there was wind both days and a great turnout of girls for the clinic, pro riders like Laurel Eastman, Sky Solbach, Jon Modica and others as well as many spectators who enjoyed watching from the beach. The beach area was packed with sponsor tents and lots of fun activities and delicious food while at the same time the water was packed with action as everyone took advantage of the beautiful day and perfect conditions. There were over 20 beginner kiteboarding students who were introduced to the sport and a dozen or more of our local girls joined by a few visitors from out of town participated in the advanced clinic. Island Riders was there with several instructors helping out with both beginner lessons and boat support on the water to ensure a full safety net for all kiters, Congratulations to the KB4 Girls organizers for putting on such a great event and thanks to all those who participated! See you again next year!
Island Riders Blog is Here!
Welcome to the new Island Riders Blog! Here you'll find updates about weather, wind, special deals, photos videos and more! Check back often for updates...