KAVU Busy Livin'

Happy Holidays from KAVU!!

 

Dream Result

KAVU Ambassador Tyler Bradt is about to launch his new KAVU sponsored film, Dream Result.

 

Check out the Trailer:

The are just finishing up the production after a big trip down in Chile.  Check out this shot of Tyler running this monster just hours after arriving:

 

Some words from Tyler:

"I have spent the last year working on our next film production "Dream Result". The objective of the film is to capture the essence of kayaking through the power of film making. Our goal; to bring the audience into the action."

This is a 40 ft crane set on a dolly with a RED camera mounted on a mechanical arm behind a lens which spins at 10,000 RPM to keep water droplets off. Should be some pretty cool footage for sure.

 

Another cool ways to get good footage.  You can see the camera mounted on the guys helmet following the other kayaker.

Tyler is always scoping the good vantage point for great new kayak shots:

 

He is definitely working both sides of the lens!

 

 Make sure to check out Dream Result after its release next spring.  For now, take a gander atTyler's Website 

 

Local Worldwide!

We've been getting reports from our KAVU Worldwide Locals non-stop hip hop for the last couple weeks.  It's great to see the KAVU vibe penetrating all corners of the globe.

 

JAPAN

KAVU Pres Barry Barr recently made the journey over to Japan with accounts manager Matt Millet.

 

Barry has been to Japan every year for a decade now.  We take Huge groups of KAVU fans out camping for a long weekend!

 

KAVU has a wide following and we have a great market over there!

 

Loads of camping activities:

 

sea kayaking

 

biking

 

good food

 

Good times were had by all!

Indonesia:  

Young Alison Teal has been living the good life at her second home in Bali for the past couple months.

 

She is working as an extra hand on a big film production over there.  She couldn't give me many details, but apparently she has been kickin it with Julia Roberts.

 

In the mean time, the surf's been up over at Uluwatu.

 

Speaking of Surf!  Simultaneously, the winds have been blowing steady over on the shore of

LAKE MICHIGAN

KAVU sales rep Bill Gange recently checked in with report of some the first fresh water surf waves to hit run ashore in years!

 

SURF UTAH

You can't beat surfin' the freshwater!  In an earlier post I'm mentioned the new sport of Stand Up Paddling.  KAVU ambassador Caroline Gleich has been working on a series for a major movie theatre chain.  Check out this video of Caroline learning to paddle board.

The Jeff's had a quick stint on GOOD MORNING AMERICA representing BIG TIME for KAVU!

KAVU ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA CHECKY THIS!

As we speak the boys are down in ECUADOR flying over the jungle.

Although, this time they are bringing home a story much different then the hang gliding porn we have been seeing from them in the past.  After several years of competing in Ecuador they got tired of literally flying over one of the most poverty stricken areas they know of.  They did a tour of the town and were astonished about some of the basic needs that kids are being deprived of.

 

They have decided to help out by pledging some of their sponsorship and personal funds to a local orphanage.

Please check out Obrien's latest blog.  It just inspires you to want to do something about something!

Obrien blog post

KAVU is being seen far and wide these days.  If you happen to be driving down Highway 49 in Mississippi near Hattiesburg you will see this billboard from the Watermelon Patch.

We have been dabbling a little with print-ads.  Check this out from one of our favorite mags Bomb Snow

 

The polarized lenses on the Perma Grins have been getting tested on some fishing trips down in West Virgina.  Yep, they work!!!

 

John Redwine, a diplomat who works over in Morocco just checked into to let us know our stuff is way suitable for camel safaris!  

In some other news:

Many of us are waiting for the snow to come!  However, Tyler Bradt skipped out on winter and headed to go paddling for the winter in Chile!

Stayed tuned for more updates!

Grand Opening Party of New KAVU Store

If you haven't checked out the specs of our new KAVU store, make sure you watch the video in the previous post.  Our Grand opening party brought all kinds of friend new and old and lasted through the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything in the store was 50% off and people were LOVING the new product!!!

 

The girls were RUNNING to keep stuff on the racks~

 

It was also the opening for KAVU graphic designer Russ Fry and his new art and furniture studio upstairs!  

 

 

 

NEXT THURSDAY!!!!

ANNOUNCING....KAVU STORE GRAND OPENING!!!

To Live is To Fly.

KAVU means Klear Above Visibility Unlimited.  It seems that more and more of our team is starting to take to the sky.  The wind is a 3-dimensional and invisible element that you can actually surf.  All thrill seekers will eventually come to appreciate the phenomenon of moving air.

We are lucky to have two of the nation's top hang gliders on the KAVU Team and proud that they love our brand enough to represent it so whole heartedly.  

This shot was taken on location during the Elements Tour.

Taken at the world championships in France.

Both Jeff Shapiro and Jeff Obrien have inspired me personally to take to the air.  I've been at it for nearly 3 years now and I'm just starting to get into the action.  I got to go to one of the best flying sites in the country last week...King Mountain.

Located in the desert of southern Idaho.  It is known for its looming mountains, rough air and big landing zones.  This was my first flight off Coyote.

Finally, my first big mountain soaring flight!  I caught waves of rising air and surfed 2000 feet above where I launched from!

That put me about 4,000 feet off the deck!

VERY COOL INDEED.  Thanks to Carl, Josh, Peter and Ken for making it happen for me.  Here is a great shot of Josh going off Coyote.

One of our other KAVU Athletes, better known for kayaking has recently taken to the sky as well.  Scott Ligare has been logging some air time in his paraglider.  He recently went on a road trip through the mighty Tetons to Salt Lake City with his bag.

More and more people are migrating away from kayaking and doing new stuff.  Old time KAVU Athlete, Dan Gavere has recently taken his expertise with the river to a new level, pretty much inventing the cool new sport of Stand Up Paddling (SUP) on the river.

It isn't a sport if you are the only one doing it.  Amazingly, the idea is so cool that people all around the world are joining the fun.  Way to bring board sports to the RIVER!!

These things are fun for the whole family, and fairly easy to maneuver. Great for ponds and lakes!!

See ya next time,

The Jeff's just got back from a HUGE comp down in Texas, both placing in the TOP 5!!! AMAZING.

Shapiro just got back and has been super busy teaching a whole sleu of new pilots here in Missoula! Yesterday he took a crew of 5 pilots up to fly 1800 feet off Plateu near Alberton, Montana.  He even got me up in the air!!

He has been designing a new competition harness with his spare time.

Benjamin Hjort has been all over the place lately.  Check out these KAVU stylin' photos he just sent over.

Tyler Bradt has announced his intention to build a sail boat and embark on a 5 year circumnavigation of the globe, including a souce to sea of the Congo river (by kayak).  If it was anyone else I probably wouldn't believe it.....

Mean while I have just started a new Kick Ball Team:

In Other News:

Good friend of KAVU Gary Soukavati has been  testing the perma Grin´s over in the Stubai Alps, Austria.

KAVU Midwest sales representative Bill Gange has been slaying some big fish!

Ruth Gordon left for Switzerland a few days ago to defend her world championship title.

Alison Teal is gearing up for a 3 month surf tour over in Indonesia!

Caroline Gleich is out getting in some surf skiing~

Jeff Obrien has been living out of his truck.

KAVU President Barry Barr has been working from the home office over in Spain.

And the KAVU Elements are leading into a new season:)  See you next time.

KAVU Resident Tyler Bradt:) The Patriot

Refusing to be pinned as an extreme kayaker, KAVU athlete Tyler Bradt has been branching out, creating such sports as "Couch Surfing"

Always wanting to take things to the extreme, he has been pushing the boundaries of the sport.

After mastering the sport of couch surfing he pursued more "recreational" versions of the sport.  At last weekend's Brodeo outside Bozeman, MT he premiered his latest craft.  A small water toy that pretty much revolutionized his own sport of couch surfing making the kayakers jealous!

......And the jealousy didn't end there.  He forgot his KAVU shorts that day, and ended up in a partial birth day suit!

The after-party was of the best KAVU quality.

The next morning was rough for sure, and Tyler awoke with a summons to put on his kayak hat and head for the big city.  He had a grand appearance on Good Morning America after a red-eye flight to New York City.  Check out the episode on ABC!!

"From there it was all kind of a blur" Tyler said modestly.  "I went back to the hotel to try and get some sleep and the phone just started ringing.

Later that day Tyler's mug and kayak appeared on the "Bill Oreilley Show."  Bill Stated " A 22-year-old extreme kayaker from Montana breaks a world record. Tyler Bradt went over Palouse Falls in Washington state. The 186-foot drop is the highest kayak descent in the books. When he landed on the bottom, Tyler sank 20 feet, but amazingly his only injury was a sprained wrist. For his daring, if not smarts, Mr. Bradt is a patriot."

Tyler responded "I don’t even know what the Bill OReiley Show is but at least he got it right ….called me a Patriot.”  Check out the show

Tyler is getting really tired of being called on by all the media for old news.  He can't understand the lack of interest that they have in his new sports like couch surfing.  Nonetheless he will continue to push the boundaries of everything he does.  The next day he had a couple quick appearances on Fox news and MSNBC.  (Check out the Fox News show here)

Tyler is back in Montana for a day then will be whisked down to Mexico for for an exotic vacation with an old swiss flame.  Who knows what the boy will do next!!! 

Team KAVU is out Terrorizin' The European Scene~

The World Championships of Hang Gliding is currently under way, and our two star athletes are out there representing for our great country!~

GO TEAM USA!!!

They say that France is lovely this time of year:)

Nice job boys.  The Hang Gliding hasn't been too bad either!  If they could only get us some good KAVU images....that would be great.  

The boys are owning it.  They are both expected to finish in the top ten.

They have had a lot of extra time on their hands to get out and enjoy the KAVU days!

Mean while Tyler Bradt and company have been out filming for their new production

Dream Result.  Their latest adventures have taken them to Norway and Iceland.

Tyler's been working on some really cool point of view angles for his new film (check out the way his camera is mounted on the back of his boat).

Iceland is really cool.  You can see in this photo how the river has cut into the diffferent layers of the flood basalt, making waterfalls between them.

Tyler stood next to this falls when he was 14 years old and watched it get the name "Flemming Falls" as Norwegian paddler Flemming Schmidt made of the the first descents off of it and swam on the Rauma River, Norway.

Things have been good around the KAVU scene in Seattle.  Pres Barry Barr has found a way to create an endless wave with his boat out on the lake.  This is really FUN....SURF Seattle.

We are all getting ready for the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market show.  For those of you who will be there, we look forward to some frosty KAVU Beverages:)  Drink up Buttercup.  For those of you won't, thanks for helping us make KAVU what it is.  Thanks For Partying!  The KAVU crew.

KAVU Elements is Back on Tour!

May 1, 2008 Wilma Theatre in Missoula, Montana

The KAVU Elements co-sponsored an event at the Wilma Theatre for a premier of the KAVU sponsored:  The Last Descent.  It was a benefit for The Max a new river enhancement project in Missoula which means more play waves and access points!  Baby had a nice parking spot as usual!

May 2, 2008:)  We headed down for the 18th annual Lochsa Rendezvous party!  We started by parking her at the Pipeline wave and caught some great whitewater action.

There were folks surfing it in every craft imaginable!

And the party was totally off the hook.  We rented a disco ball for the top of Baby!

The makings of a full KAVU Day when it looks like this late night!~

May 10-14:)  We visited 12 schools in 4 days.  A project record!

May 15:) Arrival of Gravity Free, the Japanese Artists and a big party at La Petit Bakery:)

They did this awesome mural that features Baby.  It will be displayed on the corner of one of the coolest blocks in Missoula!

May 16:)

Garden City Local Fest was one of the ALL TIME best events ever in Missoula history!

The Best in the West kayak rodeo was going on the sidelines!

Micah Wolf did a live recording of his hit single "One by One" for the Nature Propelled film.  Baby was littered with kids to help sing along!

I was the official MC for the event.

And I got to interview all kinds of interesting folks like the Mayor of Missoula and the Director of Sustainability for the University of Montana!

The entire event was "off the grid" and powered by the world's largest portable Biomass Gassifier that takes waste wood chips and converts them into 25 kilowatts of raw energy!

Performance Artists "Gravity Free were back on the scene!  They did a live painting for our new film that started with a surfer and morphed its way to a hanglider, skier......:

And ended up as a kayaker at Brennans Wave (where the event took place)

If you are a fan of Baby you gotta love this!

Joe Pinsoneault, CEO of KAVU and Shawn Carkonen Elements Tour event manager made it out to see the event!

Even local celebrity and KAVU athlete, Tyler Bradt was on the scene doing what he does best!

We will finish the 2009 KAVU Elements Tour on June 24th, 2009.  Until then we will be surfing our way to a school or event near you!