Freestylin' the Gorge

EpicSessions team rider Bryan Metcaf-Perez shows you how freestyle / wave sailing is done in the Columbia Gorge.

EpicSessions in Pozo with Red Bull Rockets and more!

In addition to doing the Red Bull Rockets event when we were in Pozo, we also did some rider testing with some of the guys after the event. Enjoy!



And here's the vimeo link for the folks in Europe.

RB Rockets Pozo video by Red Bull Media

Here's the latest from Red Bull Media on the RB Rockets event last Friday. Stay tuned for EpicSessions' full trip video with Rockets plus the guys as they train for the upcoming PWA event in Pozo.

Red Bull Rockets results!

Congratulations to Dario Ojeda (pictured here) for boosting a 36.28ft jump and taking home 3,500 Euros cash for highest air in RedBull Rockets!

Spectators flocked to the shores of Las Salinas de Pozo to watch as 16 windsurfers set out to defy the laws of gravity for biggest air, best trick, and hardest wipeout. Split into two groups and equipped motion tracking devices provided by EpicSessions.tv, the riders hit the water for three different sessions throughout the day. On 5.0s and 5.4s the riders put on an incredible show, launching dry double forwards, tweaked pushloops, lofty backs, one-footed one-handed forwards, and more in 15-25mph of wind.

In the end, it was Ojeda who lined up the ramp, sheeted in and boosted an impressive 36.28ft jump to claim highest air of the day. Close on his heels was Ricardo Campello, Philip Koester and John Skye. Philip proved his incredible ability for aerial acrobatics by stomping a high, fast, clean double usually only seen in much stronger winds to take home Best Trick. No surprise was crazy aerial talent Ricardo Campello, going for broke, literally breaking his board, to take home best wipeout. (note - the riders in the last (black) heat were treated to the best wind and wave conditions and benefited as a result)

Props to all the riders who went out and put on one hell of a show, and the sponsors RedBull, Cutre Boardshop, Ayuntamiento Santa Lucia, Asociacion Espanola Funboard for supporting this new era of free-form competition for action sports!

The future is in Motion!

Top Jumps by Rider (height in feet)

Dario Ojeda - 36.28
Ricardo Campello - 35.74
Philip Koester - 34.44
John Skye - 33.10
Robby Swift - 27.23
Aleix Sanllehy - 25.73
Elezar Alonso - 25.27
Danny Bruch - 24.56
Marcillio Browne - 24.22
Jonas Ceballos - 23.21
Klaas Voget - 22.84
Yannick Anton - 22.63
Marcos Perez - 21.38
Kai Lenny - 20.87
Victor Fernandez - 20.35
Bryan Metcalf-Perez - 19.97

The full video and more photos for Red Bull Rockets will be released soon! Stay tuned!

CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF!

Red Bull Rockets is cleared for take off in Pozo! The winds are blasting, the waves are jacking up nicely and everyone is stoked to get it on today!

Some details are still being worked on - namely live video. Even if we're unable to get the interwebs working here on the dark side of the moon, you'll be seeing video from us and Red Bull Media in short order regardless.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Red Bull Rockets Update!

Windsurfing's craziest jumpers and the EpicSessions.tv crew are headed to Gran Canaria at the end of the week. They're gonna boost, we're going to measure how high. On the best day between June 24- 30, the rider with the highest stock air, best trick, and epic wipeout will win cash. Get ready for RedBull Rockets!

Often times the best conditions are in the most remote of locations. Developing innovative ways to make it easier for people to see and appreciate the raw talent of athletes, regardless of location, is what we’re about at EpicSessions. A few years back we were the first to live-stream action from Jaws, Hookipa and the Gorge. Now almost every major surf event in the world is live-streamed. Today we have the ability to track riders in 3D live. When a rider boosts during RedBull Rockets, their jump heights will be immediately broadcasted to the judges as a factor for best trick, to spectators at the beach, and to the web for anyone, anywhere to check in on the action.

The extended forecast for Pozo looks sick. The tech is tested and ready to go. The riders are ready, the format set, and 10,000 euros are up for grabs. Check the EpicSessions.tv facebook page and website for updates as we get ready for the big event!

Riders:
Philip Köster
Víctor Fernández
Kauli Seadi
Jonás Ceballos
Darío Ojeda
Kai Lenny
Eleazar Alonso
Marcilio Browne
Ricardo Campello
Yannick Anton
Danny Bruch
Klaas Voget
Robby Swift
Josep Pons
Marcos Pérez
Bryan Metcalf Pérez

Format:

16 Riders. 4 Sessions, split into 2 groups, 8 riders each

Each group gets 20 minutes on the water per session, with a 10-minute transition in between.
In order for a jump to count the rider must still be in control of their rig when they hit the water. A mid-air bailout will not count. However, if the rider lands soaked, but is able to keep the sail somewhat up and quickly sail away, the jump will count.

Highest Air will go to the rider who lands the biggest jump of the day, measured with realtime 3D motion tracking technology provided by EpicSessions. 3,500 euros

Best Trick will go to the rider whose tweak and style at maximum amplitude leaves the best impression with the panel of judges at the end of the day. 1st - 3,000 euros. 2nd - 2,000 euros and 3rd will take home 1,000 euros

Best Wipeout will go to the guy who eats it the hardest going big and tweaking it just beyond the point of control, as decided by the panel of judges. 500 euros

The final preps for the Red Bull Rockets contest are coming together and in 48 hours the EpicSessons.tv team will jet over to Pozo where we'll commence the 7 day holding period for the contest. The location for the event is just around the corner from the beach that the PWA wave event is held at and this location was chosen to maximize the wave/wind angle to enable the competitors to get the highest jumps possible. Its a little off the beaten path from town, so infrastructure is being installed - scaffolding, stage, PA system, helicopter landing pad, etc.

Get ready for Liftoff with Red Bull Rockets and EpicSessions.tv!

Ready for LiftOff!?!

Pozo. Just the thought conjures up images of nuclear winds, out of control crashes, mind blowing jumps and arial antics.

The EpicSessions.tv crew is totally stoked to be headed to the Canary Islands - Pozo to provide Red Bull with our 3D motion recording/broadcast system to track 16 of the best Spanish national and international riders as they compete for the highest jump, best trick and best wipeout.
Red Bull "Rockets" is a winner take all Jump Off style event being held from June 24-30 ; right at the new moon, to measure just how insane the world's best sailors can push the limits in the best that Pozo can dish up. We've all seen the videos, now its time to find out just how massive those boosts are!

More information to follow soon - you can keep track of this event at RedBull.es/Rockets, on the EpicSessions.tv website and the ES Facebook page for daily updates.

Epic Maui Test

As the month long holding period for the Oxbow Ride The Sky - Presented by Naish, drew to a close, conditions didn't present themselves to hold the official event. That didn't stop the EpicSessions.tv crew on Wednesday April 27th from holding a live test of the realtime jump data system and we opened up the livestream video to the world as we let the world's best windsurfers get wired with the latest in sports motion capture technology.



The concept is simple - take the best sailors and cut them loose on the water with the goal to hit the highest jumps possible. The technical challenge is anything but simple. EpicSessions.tv had to equip the riders with technology that measures their performance in realtime and transmit the jump data to our servers back on the mainland and then world-wide to the audience online.

It was an amazing day. We were scheduled for 2 hours and ended up broadcasting for 4+ hours and the riders had a gas doing what they do best. Going big, hanging with their friends and just having fun. No worries about getting screwed by the judges. After all, if you wanna win, you gotta go bigger than anyone else. Its objective scoring at its best, and it showed as the riders were relaxed and stoked when they went big, or their buddies boosted even higher.

We have a lot more in store this summer, not only in Windsurfing, but in other amazing sports as well. We invite you to stay tuned as we venture into uncharted territories with this groundbreaking technology.

The results are as follows :

Leo- 28.2ft
Jesse- 25.3ft
Jukno- 15.7ft
Levi- 21.6ft
Brawzino- 30.9ft
Patrick- 21.76ft
Bernd- 20.51ft
Fillippi- 28.39ft
Francisco- 25.53
Ricardo- 31.32ft
Kai K.- 18.39ft
Polakow- 35.8ft
Nico- 26.58ft
Glen- 21.34ft
Diego- 24.54ft
Timo- 20.8ft

Huge props to all the riders for their patience, feedback and stoke about our little project. Their stoke feeds ours and in turns, drives us to create products that enrich their experiences and spread their stoke across the globe.

EpicSessions.tv Hookipa Livecast ALERT - Wednesday April 27

Hey folks, Oxbow's Ride The Sky is still on hold, but EpicSessions.tv is going to be livecasting tomorrow (Wednesday) from noon HST to 3pm HST of our on site testing of the realtime jump data system. To note - Jake, Casey and Dave will be on shore running the cams and the data sysem. The riders will be both pro and am riders who we're letting try out the system. This isn't the Ride The Sky event, rather this is the next stage of trials for the new EpicSessions.tv broadcast data system.

Tune in to EpicSessions.tv from 12 noon HST to 3pm HST and watch the worlds best sailors experience the EpicSessions.tv motion tracking/broadcasting system. You'll see live video from Hookipa in addition to realtime jump data from all the riders on the water. They jump, you'll watch them and when they land, you'll see their jump height pop up on the real time jump display system.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE LIVECAST PAGE

ps - this totally badass photo of Jake is from Jimmie Hepp. Thanks Jimmie!!

Oxbow Ride The Sky update!!

Ok folks, its been a looooong month, but it looks like on Wednesday, April 27 conditions will come together to hold the Oxbow Ride The Sky.

This is a preliminary alert as event officials are still evaluating the forecasts from WindGuru to make sure we have proper conditions to enable our competitors to toss 'em big.

While this is a true event to see who of these twenty sailors can jump the highest, many of the competitors have their sights set on claiming the World Record jump height - so picking the best day is of utmost importance to the event officials.

So stay tuned to EpicSessions.tv, our facebook page, Oxbow's Ride The Sky page and Continent7 for updates as we draw closer to April 27.

Ride The Sky update

Its now April 15, and we have the second half of the month left for Maui's fabled trade winds and winter swell to come together to hold the Oxbow Ride The Sky event at Hookipa. Competitors have been busy testing their gear to go big, and we'd like to give a shout out to Boujmaa and wish him a speedy recovery from his accident earlier this week.

The EpicSessions.tv crew has also been busy testing our groundbreaking realtime 3D motion tracking system - Jake and Casey have been up and down the north shore testing the system in all sorts of conditions so that when the event day happens, we'll be ready to beam realtime competitor jump heights around the world as it happens. Its pretty wicked to be 5,000 milwas away and watch the guys boosting air and when they splash down, seeing their jump height data pop into the realtime leader board moments after they land. Super cool stuff that we're stoked to share with the rest of the world with the Ride The Sky event!


For updates on the event, please sign up for our email alerts on EpicSessions.tv and stay tuned to our Facebook page. We're posting daily updates on the website and on Facebook now.

EpicSessions.tv is gonna Ride The Sky!

The crew here at EpicSessions.tv is stoked to announce that Oxbow has partnered with us to livecast the Ride The Sky event, and to also provide the on-site technical support for the jump height measurement technology. We're also going attempt to do something that's never been done before in a board sports contest...

Real time performance data broadcasting while the event is happening.

Yup, that's right. When you tune in to EpicSessions.tv to watch the livestream of the Ride The Sky contest, you'll see a leader board which is updated with jump heights IN REAL TIME during the heats. When a rider jumps, their jump data is transmitted upon landing to our servers. The leader board will be updated within seconds of the jump and you'll know who's in the hunt for the cash from Naish!

But wait, there's more...

Since we can provide realtime leader board information to the viewing audience, we can also transmit it back to the competitors so they'll know their placement in the heat. A quick glance at their personal onboard display and they'll know their rank among the nine other guys in that heat. Just imagine how hard they'll push themselves and their equipment knowing that they're not in first place or just shy of advancing to the final heat. Think about it....

There's never been anything like it before...

It is going to revolutionize windsurfing contests...

We're utilizing brand new, never seen before technology from a new company which not only measures the sailor's 3D performance much like products we used in 2010, but this new product is more accurate and also broadcasts their jump height data in realtime.

For the first time, sports performance broadcasting is coming to consumer level sports. At this time, this technology isn't available for purchase, but you can bet that it will be available soon at an online retailer or sports shop near you. We can't talk anymore in detail about the product at this time, so don't ask. Just know we've been testing the crap out of these things since we got our hot little hands on them, and Jake nailed a 57.4 foot jump while wound up on a 3.7 at lowers just the other week. ;-)

This technology is going to change many sports outside of the sport we love of windsurfing. We're stoked that the company has exclusively partnered with EpicSessions.tv and the Jump Off format that we pioneered in 2010 to showcase the possibilities and lead the charge in what will be a radical shift in how sports contests are run and sports are consumed by viewers.

Now we just need mother nature to give us some wind and epic swell!

Friend EpicSessions.tv on Facebook for updates or sign up for our email updates on the EpicSessions.tv website.

The Future is in Motion!

Amazing year

A year ago, March 31 2010, we pulled off the first ever "Jump Off" at Hookipa. The riders were stoked to give this new contest format a try even though there was no prize money on the line. They did it for the stoke and the love of the sport. Levi cranked off a 52.7 foot back loop and Boujmaa boosted to 62.3 feet on a stock air. Everyone had an awesome time and we took the show on the road to Pistol River and was amazed at the top 10 riders all being 15 INCHES in height to eachother for their jumps. (that's a heck of a statement for the consistency of the waves and wind at Pistol!)

We then cleaned the sand out of all our gear and headed to Hood River for the Team Gorge Jump Off where we gave six teams 10 days to scour the Gorge in search of the best conditions to capture video and rider data that would be judged on 10 metrics. The Gorge delivered and so did the teams.

Here and there we also did the first ever live webcasts from Hookipa, Jaws, Arlington and had an epic time in Baja at the Lord Of The Wind Showdown in Los Barrilles where we learned just how far you can run a DSL line to the beach and keep it working enough to get a decent livestream signal out to the rest of the civilized world. A little duct tape can go a long way in Baja!

Since then, we've been quiet. But we've not been idle - heck no! We've been quietly working on the next generation of Jump Off's, new livecasting and new contest broadcasting technology. While our hearts are in Windsurfing, our sights are set on changing the way not only boardsports are covered, but also how these dynamic sports are consumed by viewers worldwide. We're mindful of the sponsors, the viewers, and most importantly, the riders - both pro and am. We're tackling the issues around consumer level products and services that amplify not only ourselves as athletes, but also raise up the sports that we love so much.

I'm exited to have added Casey Hauser to the ever expanding EpicSessions.tv team and also stoked about our new relationships with our partners. 2011 is going to be another ground breaking year for us, and everyone here is soooo stoked about the plans that now we're able to begin to bring to light.

I hope that what were doing here at Epic positively impacts your life, lifestyle and your experiences in, on and high above the water that is our playground.

The future is in Motion!

David

Lord of the Wind Windsurf Freestyle

Check out the windsurf freestyle action from the Lord Of The Wind contest!

Lord Of The Wind Full Video

Check out EpicSessions.tv's full video from the Lord Of The Wind event in Los Barrilles. We had an awesome time and can't wait to return next year with more livecasting, more coverage and more tequila!

Lord Of The Wind First Days video

The wind Gods bless the Lord Of The Wind!

Yet again this morning there's a wind line on the horizon to the north as the El Norte winds begin to fill in for the sixth day in a row for the the last day of the Lord Of The Wind here in Los Barrilles. Yesterday saw Kevin Pritchard stomp the kiters in the winner take all Lord Of The Wind windsurfer v. kiter race taking home $3,500 for his effort. The Shadowbox crew finished the Kite Big Air heat with the highest jump 34.6 feet. Complete event results to come.


A big shout out to the event organizers Dan and Chris! This is their inaugural event and its been one of the best events that the EpicSessions.tv crew has been involved in. Its not easy to pull off video streaming on the beach here in Mexico but with the dedicated crew working with us for our connection, power, and literally anything else that we needed, we made it work with minimal issues.


Super special thanks to Chucky VanWormer who not only put up the bulk of the prize money, but also housed the entire EpicSessions.tv and Shadowbox crew at his resort. If you want an amazing experience in Baja, then stay at Chucky's resort. Its awesome.

Today will be full on kite/windsurf expression sessions provided we have the winds. Keep an eye on the EpicSessions.tv facebook page and/or the EpicSessions.tv livestream page.

We can't wait to come back to Los Barrilles next year!

(photo credits : Mariah Rose Photo)

Live from Baja!

Today is day two of the Lord Of The Wind Kite/Wind event in Los Barrilles Mexico. Yesterday saw raging winds for the windsurfing freestyle, the kite big air and wind/kite slalom. The mens' kiting slalom was amazing with some super close finishes and carnage on the course. The livestreaming started at 10:30am and went until 5:30pm with full day one coverage. We're doing the best we can with the limited internet speeds at the beach - and some glitches happen and we appreciate your patience as we push out our signal from south of the border.

Today will be filled with kite and wind slalom and early reports from the kite big air event have the top jumps around 35 feet! We should begin streaming around 10am MST.

You can view the livestream here. Just click on the image and the stream will fire up. Join in on the chat and enjoy the action!

If you are here at the event, please stop by our tent. We're together with the crew from Shadowbox just to the north of the center stage.

Live from the Lord Of The Wind!

We're going to be livestreaming from Los Barrilles, Mexico starting Thursday at 10am MST. Tune in for our coverage of the international kite/wind/sup AND bikini contests! We'll also be posting daily video recaps of the action.

More information to follow shortly!