Kari Schibevaag hits the jackpot in France

The Norwegian kite girl Kari Schibevaag has for the past few years been climbing the charts in both snowkiting and kitesurfing competitions, achieving a unique position as one of the few riders out there mastering all elements and disciplines with excellence.

Kari recently hit the jackpot in the prestigious SnowKite Masters in Serre Chevalier, France, winning both the snowboard and ski discipline to kick off the 2011 season. After several days of fog and no wind, Kari was worried that the competition would fail and she’d have to return to Norway with no results, but during the last couple days in France, the weather came through and gave Kari her opportunity to defend her title from last year.
It’s the first time the 32 year old world champion enters both disciplines, after competing only with skis since her start in 2005.
- I was a bit worried about entering both disciplines, as it takes quite a bit of effort to do well in both, says Kari. I was more than confused during the heats, as the organizers kept swapping back and forth between the disciplines, but with some focus I managed to keep my focus and didn’t at all regret it after the announcement of the results. A good experience and surprisingly something I will continue doing for the next competitions, she says.

The conditions were tough, but alongside with Guillaume Chastagnol, Bjorn Kaupang and other top snowkite riders, Kari is happy with the event and the results. Kari is now getting ready for the next challenge on snow, the World championship in Italy in February, before heading out to the water for another year of battling top kitesurfers in the PKRA World Tour. Kari is aiming for more world champion titles during 2011.