Taming the Tramontana

There’s windy, and then there’s too windy. Lord of Tram saw the latter. Barcarès, France, served up a full-blown Tramontana hammering - gusts hitting over 60 knots, whitecaps turning to smoke, and riders stepping into conditions that bordered on absurd. It was a day for the fearless.

Andrea Principi owned it. These are the conditions where he thrives. When things get extreme, he excels. And at Lord of Tram, with 60-knot madness ripping through Barcarès, he proved it once again.

With two massive opening moves in the final, both in the nine-point range, Andrea quickly put the rest of the field in a combo situation before they even had a chance to play catch-up. A masterclass in big air brutality and a statement performance.

On the women’s side, Mika Sol handled business. Mika admitted she was nervous after watching the conditions on day one. But if she felt it, she never showed it. When the final came, she was all business—delivering a composed, dominant performance to lock in her eighth world title.

Experience, execution, and that rare ability to perform under absolute chaos made the difference. No matter the conditions, no matter the location - Mika remains the benchmark in women’s kiteboarding.

Edgar Ulrich came into this event with the world title in his sights. A steady, calculated approach kept him in the title race deep into the competition. But in the semifinals, where he faced Andrea and Lorenzo Casati, the home favorite’s run ended there. Still, he capped off an exceptional season, finishing third on the podium in the big air rankings.

At one point, race director Cedric had to call a halt. It being so windy, there was smoke on the water and riders were taking 10 minutes just to line up a jump off the water, and some outright refused to ride. It was extreme.

Then, the reset. When the comp resumed, Liam Whaley made his mark. We hadn’t seen him in big air for 18 months, but you wouldn’t have known it. His low-kite loops and smooth execution showed no signs of rust. In the end, he fell in the heat of death - a round that could’ve easily been a final - but it was the kind of performance he can be proud of, one that reignites motivation.

Pippa van Iersel looked strong early on, cruising through her first heat, but the semis proved brutal. She rolled the dice on big moves, but with gusts hitting at the worst possible moments, she came unstuck on some critical landings.

Finn Flugel had his own charge forward, making it to round three, where he dropped an S-loop, contra-loop backroll, and another contra-loop - impressive, but in a stacked heat, it wasn’t enough to advance.

The Tramontana delivered a show for the ages - one where only the boldest survived and the best proved untouchable.