Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Best: Andreas Toverud Rides With Us

Forum for snow- and landkiters
User avatar
Toby
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 50281
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2001 1:00 am
Kiting since: 2000
Weight: 95 kg
Local Beach: Cumbuco, Brazil
Barra do Cauipe, Brazil
Favorite Beaches: same
Style: Airstyle
Gear: Rebel 2015 18
Brand Affiliation: None.
Location: World (KF Admin)
Has thanked: 826 times
Been thanked: 2354 times
Contact:

Best: Andreas Toverud Rides With Us

Postby Toby » Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:11 pm

Best News:

Andreas Toverud Rides With Us

Andreas_rides_with_us.jpg
BEST proudly announces the addition of Andreas Toverud, 2012 Norwegian Snowkite Freestyle Champion to the team for 2013.

Andreas turned to snowkiting after a serious Ski Jumping accident hospitalized him when he was 16. Since then he’s dedicated himself to exploring, riding and competing in snowkite events to satisfy his insatiable need for speed and altitude induced thrills. We caught up with him as he prepared for his next trip to ask him a few questions and introduce himself in his own words.

Q. Andreas welcome to BEST, it’s great to add another crossover rider who covers snow and water to the line-up. Can you explain why you decided to come and Ride With Us?

A. I tested the GP at the end of the water season and loved them as soon as I put my hands on the bar. I have always ridden C-kites and the GP is by far the BEST I have tried so far!

Q. We like to think of ourselves as one global family here at BEST, how big a factor was the BEST family in your decision to ride for BEST?

A. I met Sam Medysky and Oliver Palmers at the Hardangervidda plateau in Norway last winter at the Red Bull Ragnarok and had a lot of fun making a snowkite video with them. Having met them was definitely a major factor in changing to BEST. I love to travel to new places and it’s nice to know that you will find friendly faces anywhere you go!

Q. What gear will you be riding in 2013, just the TS or will you be using a combination TS, GP and Kahoona for competition and training?

A. I have always ridden C kites because of the direct feel and power so I will mostly ride the GP. I find that many of my sessions are on big kites in low wind, so I have added a TSv2 15m to the quiver to be able to keep going when others wait for wind.

Q. How long do you think it will take you to feel at home on the new kites?

A. Normally it takes some time to get used to the new gear, but with the GP’s, something just clicked when I first tried it! The first session of the year on snow I was landing tricks that I struggled with at the end of last year’s winter season. I’m already itching to get more time riding with them!

Q. What is it about each kite that draws you to it?

A. I always try to push it one step further and the GP is the perfect tool! Learning new stuff usually results in a lot of hard crashes, so it’s important that the gear can take a beating and bring you home in one piece.

When I go snowkiting in the back country, I often find myself 5 miles up in the mountains in low wind conditions. The 15m TS will give me the extra low wind performance to help me get back without having to walk for hours through the snow.

Q. What are your plans for next season where are we going to see you competing and riding, what are your plans for the snow/water season?

A. First I’m going to Paje in Zanzibar over Christmas with my brother to finish off the water season and do some filming. Then I go straight to France for the snowkite world championship, Snowkite Masters. After that it’s off to Italy to ride the European Championship and back to Norway for the Red Bull Ragnarok and Norwegian Snowkite Championship. In between we’ve got some filming planned up at the Hardangervidda plateau which I’m really looking forward to! For the 2013 water season I want to go back to Prasonisi in Rhodos and maybe a trip to Spain.

Q. Have you made any plans with other members of the team yet, who are you planning to hook up with and where?

A. I have talked to Oliver Palmers and Sam Medysky about getting them over for a visit in Norway to go snowkiting like last year. Oliver is also planning to come for a visit where I live in the northern Norway. I’m also going to the states for a couple of months next summer where hopefully I can hook up with some of the other guys from BEST and go riding together.

Q. Where are you going to be training during the off season, when will we see some BEST video from you?

A. At the moment I live about 5 minutes from my snowkite spot in the middle of Bodø city. Even though we don’t have much sunlight in the winter in Norway you can go snowkiting there around the clock because of the lights from the city. We also got some really nice mountain plateaus about an hour drive from the city.

I am building myself a camera rig using the Soloshot with a DSLR camera, a Go-Pro and some lighting which will be really exciting to start testing. I also have several different film projects planned, so stay tuned!

Q. What does kiting mean to you, how did you get involved in it?

A. Before I got into kiting, I did ski jumping for 10 years and was competing at a national level. After a while I realized that it was to monotonous, so I bought some used gear online and within a half a year I competed in the Norwegian Championship and got second. After that I got picked for an invitational competition in Australia called the Great Downwinder where we kited all the way down the east coast from Brisbane to Sydney. I also managed to win the title of Australian Flat water Champion which was a huge thing for me at the time.

After that I got more and more sucked into snowkiting and all of its awesome aspects. In 2009, some friends and I got together and made a snowkite film called Whiteout, and had tons of fun doing so. Last season I won freestyle and best trick in the Norwegian Snowkite Championship. I also got 2nd in the Snowkite Masters world championship after having to fight my way all the way from 9th place in the double elimination.

Q. Other than BEST, what will be your full sponsors list for the year?

A. This year I have got a new sponsor deal with Allian snowboards after trying a couple of their boards. I prefer regular snowboards to the pure snowkite ones when riding freestyle and love the light weight and shape of the new Nirvana. I’m also been riding SP Fastec snowboard bindings for years simply because they are the best snowboard bindings for snowkiting out there! Super light and quick to get in and out of.

Q. What are you most looking forward to about riding for BEST?

A. Traveling, filming and kiting with the rest of the BEST family…I can’t wait to hook up with the guys again on the snow.

Q. If we see you on the snow or at the beach what should we say to you?

A.I love kiting and pushing for new tricks, so come over and teach me something new! If you’re just starting out, I’m happy to give advice on tricks you’re struggling with. I love the social part of kiting, so just come over and ride with me!

To find out more about Andreas, you can check out his website at www.andreastoverud.com

http://vimeo.com/42551800


User avatar
davesails7
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2220
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:36 pm
Kiting since: 2006
Weight: 75 kg
Local Beach: Virginia Beach
Style: Race
Gear: ML B3
R1V2 11. VMG 13, 15, 18
OR Mako 130x35
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: Best: Andreas Toverud Rides With Us

Postby davesails7 » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:35 pm

Is Best signing a new rider every day now? There's not going to be anyone left for the other companies! :D

No wonder the prices are going up!


Return to “Snow / Land”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 48 guests