Ryan P. Evans

New Sticks

// March 11th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

I just got back from a trip down to Puerto Rico. On my way down I stopped at the BEST Kiteboarding HQ in Delray to say whats up to the crew and grab some gear. It was great to say “Hi” to my family at BEST… I’m stoked to get to ride and promote  the brand (I’m really excited about this years gear).

Since Puerto Rico is mainly wave riding on the northside, Evan (who runs US Sales), insisted I bring down one of the new 2010 5’6″ shortstick and she was right! The board was super fun on the Puerto Rican reef breaks… the Shortstick likes to get in earlier on the wave and gives you plenty of time to setup your turn. I took out the center fin and rode it as a twin-fin… I was blown away by how fun it was. The twin-fin setup made the board super loose and great for tailslides! The best part: the BEST Surfboards are built incredibly tough!! I love to throw strapless airs, the problem I’ve had with every other board is severe heal dings and cracking through the deck… but not with the shortstick. I’m really excited to ride this board in Cape Hatteras!

Stoked on both of these boards

Also I got one of the new Balance Boards, the 137 Petr Tyushkevich model. I threw my new 2010 Ronix One bindings on it and was blown away by the POP! These boards have awesome flex for air tricks and when I took off the fins I was able to butterslide and carve like never before. If you get the chance, do yourself a favor and try one of these boards!!!

A very stellar dendrite Christmas

// December 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

I was visiting my family in Chicago for Christmas. See at my place in Cape Hatteras we don’t even have a TV… my parents, they have DirecTV on an HDTV. So when I’m home visiting I indulge in a few hours parked in front of the television. I was watching the History Channel and they we describing the ice crystal structural differences between hard pack snow and powder snow. The snow best know for backcountry powder is made up of snowflakes classified as stellar dendrite’s.

That’s pretty effin’ rad! My Christmas in Chicago wasn’t really full of powder snow… I just thought it was a cool fact too know. It was great to see my family and friends though; celebrate the holidays, and I even managed to have a good ol’ night on the town.

Lastly, I was stoked on the Christmas gift I received from REAL… it was a new Resin8 6’1″ shaped by Sam Egan. In addition I got hooked up with a Dakine Hypno traction pad, and Kelly Slater’s book, “For the Love”. Kudos to my friends at REAL and Happy New Year!!

Photo: Bryan Elkus

Aquafrolics

// November 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Just saw this wakeskate video from the Nike6.0 team. Its amazing what these guys are doing with the sport.

Fall sessions

// August 31st, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

The Fall in Cape Hatteras is considered by many to be a quintessential time to be on the island. The height of tourist season has passed, the hurricane swell has been long awaited by every surfer on the East Coast, and the Northeast wind is so consistant, you’ll think it’ll never end.

Today, my roommates and I gathered on our porch to watch the NE front move through… It was August 31st, an there couldn’t have been a more apparent embodiment of the changing seasons.

Hurricane Bill

// August 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Surfing

The first hurricane swell of the season hit the Eastern Seaboard this weekend delivering some of the biggest and best waves of the year! Hurricane Bill, which started as a tropical storm off the coast of Africa, traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to the Carribean islands and then shot straight north keeping a 750 mile distance from the U.S. mainland. The intensity of the storm coupled with its near perfect trajectory (close enough to the coast to deliver amazing waves but far enough away to cause no damage) gave every surfer on the East Coast an event to get excited for… and the waves delivered.

The waves generated from the storm started to reach the beaches of Cape Hatteras on Friday, August 21st. The wavs started in the chest high range and built through Saturday to the Double and even Triple Over-head range.

I paddled out Sunday afternoon with local ripper, Matt Lane, and caught a few waves in the head high to 1ft over-head range. These waves were big in size but somewhat crumbly and not well orgainzed. Matt and I decided to have a peanut butter/jelly party at my house in the mid-afternoon before we paddled back out around 6pm that evening.

Photo: Bryan Elkus - www.bryanelkus.com

When Matt and I arrived at our first spot on Sunday evening we saw lots of barrels, but none of the surfers in the water were able to really do much with them. We checked a few other spots before calling REAL Team Photographer, Bryan Elkus, and settling on the spot with the most barrels. To our amazment, when we returned to the spot the waves had cleaned up, organized themselves and became perfect Hatteras A-frame barrels!!!

Photo: Bryan Elkus - www.bryanelkus.com

Matt and I paddled out while Bryan swam through the breaking waves and dove under the thick lips of waves as they pubbled the water. Once we were all in the lineup it was “Game On” as Matt and I dropped into A-frame adrenaline barrels!! The shots Bryan took are amazing, but no photo can capture the intensity of thick pitching barrels and fast drops.

Photo: Bryan Elkus - www.bryanelkus.com

The Hurricane swell is forecasted to linger all week and I look forward to surfing as much as I can while it lasts!

Delivering the Goods

// July 26th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Kiteboarding, Kitesurfing, Surfing, Wakestyle

Cape Hatteras is known by surfers, kiteboarders and nature lovers worldwide for the amazing conditions this island can produce. Amazing thunderstorms, pumping surf and cranking wind are just a few of the attributes that bring people here. This week Hatteras delivered yet again… and in one lump sum!

The surf started pumping last Thursday. I got off of work and went straight to the beach. As I walked over the dune I saw a head high barrel firing down the line, it was the beginning of an epic session. I ducked under three amazing waves and once I got outside the breakers I turned to my friend Brandon Scheid and exclaimed “Its firing like P-pass out here!! Wait a second… Its firing like Hatteras is going off!”. Hatteras can deliver world class waves like anywhere else! We surfed until well past dark, taking a few closeout barrels on the head in exchange for a few perfect rides.

The swell continued into the next morning when Charlie, myself and REAL Co-Founder Trip Foreman caught a dawn surf in the glassiest water I’ve seen in the ocean!

Each evening the wind has been cranking, causing the REAL crew to session their brains out! Team photographer Bryan Elkus has been hard at work, taking shots of the Team every evening and documenting them on his website. Here are a few shots from Saturday’s session…

Lastly, today delivered cranking wind in the low 30′s… Megaloop session! Brandon Scheid, (lit on a 9m LF High-Fi), Ryan Waltz (on a 7m Hadlow Pro) and myself (on an 8m BEST Nemesis HP) pushed eachother to throw bigger and bigger kiteloops while tossing in new grabs and trying new rotations while 30ft in the air! Needless to say, we we’re all pretty exhausted after the session.

On my ride home from riding I stopped by a photo shoot where LF Pro rider and REAL Team manager Jason Slezak, along with Cabrinha Pro rider Andre Phillip, were sessioning a 25ft section of corrugated tubing. Here’s a quick clip of the action:

Getting some shots

// July 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

There are those that enjoy sleeping in on their days off… if you live on Hatteras Island, you are not of that mindset. A day off in Cape Hatteras is usually filled with sessions; whether it be surfing, kiteboarding or pulling out a slider to session behind the ski, you’re up at first light and making the most of the daytime hours.

I’m in the process of recovering from an ankle injury that occured a few weeks back. I’ve been focused on healing for the most part, but with the occasional “take it easy” session on the water. Yesterday I took an ocean downwinder on my Resin8 surfboard and was practicing my back-side strapless airs. It was a great session, I had a ton of fun and my ankle held up fairly well.

That evening I went down to Kite Point with a few of the other riders on the REAL team. With so many riders on the team constantly pushing their riding to the next level it encourages others to do the same. That mentality allows us to all progress together but it can also ultimately correlate with an injury, as is my current situation. When you get dealt that hand you have to make the most of it… the solution I choose is photography.

I shot some video with BCS, Charlie and Brandon last night. Today I took a few riding shots of Claire and was lucky enough to snap a few action shots of Brandon before the wind died out.

Keepin’ it going…

// June 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

The worlds biggest free-ride kiteboarding competition has come and gone. Every June REAL Watersports hosts the Triple-S, a competition amongst the top 25 rides in the world.

These riders compete in three disciplines of kiteboarding… kiting in the surf, kiting in flatwater slicks throwing wakestyle tricks and on sliders. The week consists of an insane amount of riding, partying and hanging out with a ton of friends you only get to see a few times of year… the common thread that unites everyone at the event “pushing the sport of kiteboarding in the direction we see it evolving”.

The event only last one week but the videos, photos and stories carry on in magazines and websites throughout the year. Now that the majority of the pro-riders have trickled out of town, it feels as though the circus has moved onto its next destination… but for the permanent residents of Cape Hatteras, we’re just trying to keep it going.

Andre Phillip, Kevin Steen and Greg Norman Jr. all ride for Cabrinha kiteboarding and have stayed after the competition for a few weeks to ride, film and hang out. During my last session with these guys we pulled out the new 80ft John Wayne Cancer Foundation slider and sessioned it for a few hours.

During the session I got to learn a ton about hitting sliders by watching Andre Phillip (Dre), who is possibly the best kiteboarder in the world when it comes to hitting sliders. During the session I got some good hits on the slider.

It wasn’t until after I got in from riding that I realized I had destroyed my trusty ol’ board on the slider… the nose started to crack apart and the bottom was delaminating.

I rebuilt the board yesterday and now I have to sand it smooth and repaint her… just keepin; it going.

REAL Team 2.0

// May 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

The new issue of Kiteboarding Magazine arrived at the shop today. This issue is full of great content for both beginner and advanced kiteboarders.

About halfway through the magazine is the new full page advertisment for the REAL Team. The photo consists of the International and National Team Riders for REAL Watersports, as well as highlighting Bryan Elkus’ photography.

From left to right: Bryan Elkus, Trevor Murchie, Sam Bell, Jason Slezak, Brandon Schied, Lulu Vroman, Ryan Evans, Brian Smith and Tommy Kogut. Check out the latest issue of Kiteboarding Magazine

Surf, Kite or Skate?

// May 2nd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

I had the past two days off. One of the many things I love about Hatteras in the Spring is your diverse choice of activities… if there are waves then you surf, if its windy then you kite, if there’s no wind then you skateboard or SUP (standup paddle) or my favorite no wind/no surf activity: hitting REAL’s sliders while wakeboarding.

Thursday Brian Smith, Nick Baines and I headed to the lighthouse to check the surf. After seeing a mushy, disorganized wave (and having little motivation to put on wetsuits) we decided to go skating at the Buxton Bowl instead.

As so often happens, we got owned at the local skate park… a local guy was destroying the bowl!! In the midst of being completely blown away by the local talent, I went to drop into the bowl (something I can usally barely pull off) and destroyed myself on the quick tansition.

After skating, Brian, Nick and I headed back up to the North side of the island. In an attempt to turn the day into a slightly producative one, we met up with Brandon, Caire and Dave Drinkwater to work on fixing up the Redbull slider from a winter of the elements.

We got the Redbull slider prepped for a session, and after waiting for the wind to switch we found a fun shoulder high wave at a local spot. We all went and grabbed a quick surf session before a tech talk from O’Neill wetsuits later in the evening.

Friday was an “All Day Riding Fest!”. It was “my” sunday (in regards to my work schedule) and I made it a point to kiteboard all day! I grabbed a solo session in the morning, then a mid-day sessions with Dave Drinkwater, followed by a high wind session with the girls, Lulu and Claire.

Stan, REAL’s Head Coach, challenged all of the coaches at REAL to kiteloop contest in highwind (a really powerful and intense kiteboarding trick). Nearly 20 of the coaches hit the water, each trying to “out-do” the next… forcing everyone to push their riding to the limit. There were a few BIG crashes, Stan nearly broke his rib on a HUGE kiteloop… and I snapped a board on a gusty kiteloop. Here’s one photo that Bryan Elkus snapped of me throwing a boosted nose grab.