Pro Diaries: Tom Butler – Kitesurfing

Aaron    The Professional's Arena     cornwall, extreme sports, kitesurfing, land-boarding, wake boarding

An interview with up and coming Freestyle Kitesurfer Tom Butler, discussing his journey, the UK’s hot spots, the launch of Mutiny Kites and much more!

Hi Tom, Thanks for talking to us today. So, how long have you been Kitesurfing and how did you get into the sport?

Hi, no worries – it’s a pleasure!
I have been kite surfing for six years now. I first got into it through Powerkiting on land and it went on from there.

I was doing a bit of fishing one day in South Wales and saw some local guys ripping up and down the beach on these huge kites, jumping in the air and doing some crazy stuff and my dad knew straight away it was going to be an expensive new hobby! From there it went very quickly, I hooked up with a local shop when I was 13 and my dad would drive me 2 hours to the beach every weekend, and it went from a hobby to a lifestyle in no time.

What have you been up to this year? Have you been in many competitions?

After finishing my A levels before the summer I hooked up with my new sponsor; Mutiny Kites and saw potential for a gap year, learning about the industry outside of the competition scene. I have been mostly training in Egypt improving my riding and working with Mutiny recently. After 5 years on the British tour it’s now more exciting for me to see other sides of the industry. As a new company with well known guys from the industry, it has been a great few months learning about the design process of the kites, photo shoots, marketing the kites, testing and building my profile as a rider.

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What to do With the Kids? – Keeping Them Entertained this Summer!

Aaron    Experience Guides     4x4 Driving, experiences, extreme sports, helicopter flights, High Ropes, Jet Skiing, kayaking, land-boarding, motocross, mountain boarding, quad biking, skydiving, Snow Experiences, track driving, wake boarding, water sports, zorbing sphereing

Keeping them Entertained is as easy as A, T, B…

This guide displays some of the great activities we have for taking the kids out for the day, be it to join in or get rid; you’ll find a great selection of best sellers, best enjoyed and best priced activities for the young’uns!

The summer holidays provide a challenging conundrum for parents and children alike, with the exhausting strain of six weeks worth of entertainment hitting the stress levels and purse strings hard.

Kids are also encapsulated in the utter joy of being off school for nearly 2 months, combined with a new found boredom for their inactive minds.

Well, how does one keep them entertained and busy for 6 weeks without breaking the bank? Send them to bootcamp? Send them out to earn themselves a few extra pennies?

Well one tried and tested method of keeping them entertained is to ignite a passion or a new hobby. The enthralling nature of spending all day perfecting a trick or learning a new technique – be it on wheels or their backside; is guaranteed to keep them occupied and happy this summer.

However, the allowance of such activities is a precarious situation for any parent; too much encouragement and they won’t do it – too little and they may resort to moping around all summer draining your resources!

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Extreme Sports Guide to Surrey

Aaron    Destination Guides     aerobatic flying, aerobatics, climbing, climbing wall, experiences, extreme sports, free running, gliding, Hang Gliding, land-boarding, mountain boarding, Paragliding, parkour, rick climbing, track driving, wake boarding, water skiing, water sports

Perched on top of East & West Sussex and underneath Berkshire lies the country’s most woodland filled county; Surrey. Home to the Devil’s Punchbowl and England’s largest vineyard, the most densely populated ‘Shire’ in the UK makes for a very interesting getaway.

Mountain Boarding in Surrey

Whether you take the chance to appreciate the countryside from above with one of the county’s Hang Gliding or Aerobatic Flying tours, or if you decide to indulge in a high speed driving experience through a woodland-orientated track; Surrey has a fair bit to offer to thrill seekers – and combines it with all of the picturesque countryside that being one of the Home Counties entails.

The Thames bordering county is roughly an hour from central London and is easily accessible from the M23. We recommend trying:

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Extreme Sports Guide to Cornwall

Aaron    Destination Guides     4x4 Driving, coasteering, cornwall, experiences, extreme sports, kitesurfing, land-boarding, quad biking, skydiving, surf

Nowhere are so many extreme sports enjoyed by so many people, in such a small place. The UK, thanks to its mixed terrain and coastal surprises, is a premiere extreme sports destination, and Cornwall is its water sports capital. With international surfing destinations, leading watersports centres and inland wonderlands aplenty, Cornwall is both playground, and testing ground for beginners and adventure sports professionals.

Coasteering in Cornwall

UK weather, as always, is changeable. But thanks to some unique climatic influences, Cornwall gets the best deal. At the most southwesterly point of the UK, it takes the best of the islands’ warmer weather. And, despite the UK’s unenviable position on the end of icy-cold Arctic winds, there is one influence that keeps Cornish seas warm: the Gulf Stream – a band of water originating from Mexico.
The north Cornish coast features rocky coves and rugged cliffs, which rise skyward from its sea. The well-signed coastal paths draw walkers inland, through natural snippets filled with plants rarely seen outside of Mediterranean climes.
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