Lines with 'Lous
Annelous Lammerts just dropped a video with the best clips from her summer spent in Hood River combining freestyle and park riding. Reason enough to catch up with the Dutch champion, talk about her gear set up and trips this year. Watch the edit and find out what's next for Annelous below.
Hi Annelous, what have you been up to this summer?
This summer I have been in the USA for almost 3 months. We had the Cabrinha Rider Academy in Sicily in May and straight from there I went to North Carolina to get ready for the Triple S. I had 10 days to warm up before the event kicked off. The wind was really good but unfortunately when we had to run the finals the weather starting changing a lot. In the end we still got a result with one kicker and one slider and I was pretty stoked to end up 3rd! After the Triple S I left to Hood River for the rest of the summer.
This is the 3rd summer you spend in Hood River, what do you like so much about this place?
Hood River is one of my favourite places I have been! The scenery is just beautiful and there is so much to do. Besides the fact that you can pretty much kite every day, you can hike to waterfalls go mountain biking, kayaking and so much more. Of course one of the main reasons I love this place is the Slider Project, which is still the only public kite park in the world. The wind might be a bit gusty, but riding every day and having the park that is always there makes up for that! I also did a little trip to Squamish in Canada, another place that I absolutely love, for the international kite competition the Kite Clash!
Now you’re back in Brazil training at your favorite spot. What is this winter’s mission?
Yes it’s great to be back at the Kite Mansion in Brazil which turned into my second home. Last year we already did a lot of work on the kite park and we learned a lot doing it. This year my main mission is to film a proper video part here in Brazil with some tricks I haven’t done before. So far we already managed to film a lot and it’s great to not only ride but also work on getting all my tricks on video from the good angles and really well executed. Filming a video really makes you look more at your riding than when you’re just competing and trying new tricks.
Kiteboarding has been your top priority since you finished High School. Were you always certain about taking this route, and was it hard to convince your family about pursuing a pro career in the sport?
When I started kiteboarding I was 16 and was following a lot of different courses so I could go any direction after high school, because I had no idea what I wanted to study. I fell in love with the sport and decided to take a gap year before going to uni to travel and kite as much as possible. I was working in a kite shop so even when I was working I was on the beach and still managed to kite a lot. I wasn’t planning to become a professional kiteboarder, I just loved to spend as much time kiting as possible and was always trying to learn the same tricks as the guys. After my first year of traveling I improved a lot and decided to try to enter some international competitions. When I became European Champion I knew that I wanted to become a pro kiteboarder and luckily my parents always supported my decisions. They saw the passion I have for the sport and knew that with my motivation I would be able to make it work. There is always plenty of time to go back to school, but competing in freestyle and park on the highest level is something I can’t do anymore when I’m old ;).
You’re a role model and inspire so many girls and women in the sport. What is the message you’re trying to send out there? What is the most important advice you have for girls that want to follow in your footsteps?
Dare to take a risk and follow your dreams. If you have a passion you should pursue it, so you will never have to ask yourself the question ‘what if?’. When I started competing I was scared to spend the money I earned working on an expensive ticket to a competition, but if I wouldn’t have tried I wouldn’t have been where I am today. Even if in the end things turn out differently than you expected, if you are passionate about something there will always be opportunities on your path.
Who inspires you?
There are a lot of different people that inspire me, from my family and friends to pro athletes. Most of all I love to see people that have a passion and put in the work to realize their dreams. Seeing my brothers and sisters succeeding in what they want to do makes me so proud and always inspires me to keep going. I also look a lot at women doing other board sports, wakeboarder Anna Nikstad, snowboarder Jamie Anderson and skateboarder Lacy Baker are just a few examples! They are all amazing at what they do and make it look so good. I love to look at their riding and it influences my riding as well!
Can you run us through the gear you use and tell us what is in your kit bag on a typical kite trip?
On a regular trip I take my 139 CBL, my FX 7m, 8m, 10m, 12m, my contra 15m and two 1X Trimlite bars. That is minimum I’m taking when I’m traveling for training or to competitions. If I have some extra place I always take my Double Agent with the Lift foil!
You’re foiling lots, what do you like about it?
It’s true that I have been foiling a lot and I never expected that I would enjoy it that much. My home spot and a lot of spots I travel to don’t often have waves to surf, so when the wind isn’t strong enough for freestyle I go foiling! When I’m at home there literally 99% or the time enough wind to foil. I am absolutely addicted to being in the water everyday and foiling gives me the opportunity to do that. I love to always have it in the car so I’m never disappointed when I drive to a spot and there is not enough wind!
Do you have any travel hacks that make life on the road easier? What are the essentials you take on every trip?
My travel hack is the classic golf bag trick, especially the Cabrinha board bag really looks like a proper golf bag and in the 7 years I travel I only got caught ones ;). I also love to use the Cabrinha Duffle bag because it ways nothing, a normal trolly ways already 4 kg which means you can take an extra kite when you use a duffle bag! My essentials are of course my kite gear, laptop, GH5, EIR natural sunscreen and some bikinis.
What advice would you give someone who wants to get into park riding?
Just give it a try, it is so much fun! Park riding will add so many new tricks and variety to your riding. For me park riding and freestyle is the perfect balance to keep me motivated and both disciplines help each other a lot. I love to switch the two disciplines and especially here in Icapui it’s just shred paradise. With the CBL I don’t need fins to do freestyle so I love to ride park and do freestyle in the same session. In my new video from Hood River you can see me doing a front to blind and without hooking back in straight going for the Cabrinha rail to corrugated tube, doing lines and combining the two disciplines is my favorite thing to do at the moment!
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