Pimp Yo Kite - The Kiteboarder Magazine

Sky gets a taste of Gnarloo’s legendary, freight train left.
Lens: John Bilderback
is that by the time I reached the inside section,
my legs were burning, and I was ready for the
wave to be over. Most long waves tend to change
shape as they move across the reef. Not this
one. From start to finish, every section of this
wave was identical; turn after turn, refining each
snap as you made your way down the line.
Jaime was throwing these sick 3’s off the lip
and landing straight back down the wave. John’s
lifetime of surfing shone through in fluid carves
and vertical snaps.
The third and fourth day were equally as
rewarding as the second. We spent the mornings
surfing and hiding from the flies in the camper.
When the wind began filling the lineup we’d pad-
By the time I reached the inside section,
my legs were burning . . .
-Sky Solbach
dle in, have lunch and pump up our 9’s for the
afternoon session. Under normal circumstances
we probably would all have been freaking out
with our living conditions at this point. With no
showers, no running water, and almost nowhere
to escape the dust and wind aside from our tents
and camper, it was anything but comfortable.
The waves were just so good that suddenly none
of those things mattered anymore and we just
resigned to being salty and dirty.
Showers and Plane Rides Home
On the dawn of the fifth morning the swell was
still pumping and on the rise. Faced with a 15-
hour drive to Perth we were forced to pack up and
leave to catch our departing flights. We watched
the lines of swell slowly fade away in the rearview
mirror as we left in the early morning light. We
blazed straight through to Perth where we were
rewarded with what seemed like the best hot
showers of our lives at an airport hotel. I hopped
a 30-hour plane ride back to Portland, Oregon
that night and was sick and in bed for almost a
week from exhaustion. I didn’t care. I just know
that those waves will keep me more than stoked
for at least another year until I can go back and
do it all over again. . .
Gnarloo’s rocky terrain, shallow reef and strong current is
no place for intermediates. Lens: John Bildeback
The sun shines through the back of the wave, lighting the
way for John to get slotted. Lens: John Bilderback
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