PRESS RELEASE
SATURDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2005

This morning the meeting time was bright’n’early at 8.00am at the spot...rock’n’roll !

Wind from the west again and that’s not good news here, makes it very unstable.
We decide to have a round-table with a riders’ representative, a local rider, the race director and the tour organisers.

You can’t beat the elements, as we all know...but sometimes you feel like it. And that’s certainly been the case this week. Regardless, we manage to be patient up ‘til the 11.00am meeting called to see if the conditions have changed, just in case...

11.00am : event abandoned !!!!

Although we’ve spent a week waiting for conditions good enough for competition, everyone’s been able to ride a bit, to discover a new spot and make new contacts with a new set of locals.
As we all know, this is a sport with huge potential but you’ve got to learn to patient to really benefit from it...

Our next rendezvous for the Corona Extra Winter Tour will be in Norway from the 4th to the 9th April for a new and final competition round that will for sure be full of surprises !!!


PROFILE of two local riders :

2 years ago we first met Matthias Rotten, and today we met up with him again, he’s now running a school and test centre here in Simplon with Pascal Nessier.
“Both of us are trying to promote the sport generally in Switzerland :
we try to set up demo days, test days etc to show the public that the sport exists and that it’s not dangerous. The fact that the corona Extra Winter Tour has come here will help introduce more people to the spot, specially with all these TV people about. That’s really important for us because Simplon is a great combination location : ideal for snowkite and situated really centrally between Switzerland and Italy.

These days we’re very aware of how fast the sport is evolving, more and more people are asking for more and more information about snowkiting, the spot itself, the equipment, and demand for courses is building slowly but steadily. For me (Matthias) snowkiting is a sport which unites all the elements I love : snowboard, paragliding, I can fly, do tricks...it’s excellent and I love sharing that with other people.
As for Pascal, it’s more the mix between kitesurf and snowboard that interests him, but for both nothing beats the good clean mountains and their air.”

Matthias and Pascal are running a test / demo weekend in Simplon on the 19th / 20th March with plenty of pro riders on hand, and the best thing is everyone’s welcome !