KITEBOARDING. The 2009 World Kiteboard Champion Bruna Kajiya and fellow Brazilian standout Reno Romeu recently swapped the ocean for the expanses of a huge salt island as they took on the challenge of bringing their world-class kiteboarding skills to a completely new terrain.

Bruna Kajiya performs during Red Bull Riding on Salt 2012 in Areia Branca, Brazil on September 19th, 2012. Photo Credit: Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull

AGUA BRANCA (Brazil) - Perfect sunshine and winds of between 15 and 20 knots are usually the recipe for just another training day in the life of 2009 Professional Kiteboard Riders Association (PKRA) Freestyle World Champion Bruna Kajiya. But in the last week of September, Bruna took on an unprecedented challenge 13 kilometres off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte state in north-eastern Brazil: kiteboarding on a salt island.

Agua Branca Salt Terminal in Areia Branca, Brazil on September 19th, 2012. Photo Credit: Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull

Bruna was joined by fellow Brazilian Reno Romeu as the pair tackled the Agua Branca Salt Terminal, a trading post that handles over two million tonnes of salt every year, most of which is exported to foreign markets.

Kajiya felt some similarities between the salt challenge and her experience earlier this year at Red Bull Ragnarok, a snowkite endurance race during the Norwegian winter. “Riding on salt is a unique experience. In a way it’s like snowkiting, because we were riding on a hard surface, but the salt is also quite different from snow. The noise our boards made against the salt was something I’d never heard before,” said the 25-year-old from São Paulo.

Bruna Kajiya and Reno Romeu as seen at Agua Branca Salt Terminal in Areia Branca, Brazil on September 18th, 2012. Photo Credit: Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull

All that beauty came at a price, however: “The hard surface and the salt that kept gripping to the base of my board have earned me lots of bruises,” confessed Bruna. “Good thing that salt’s also a natural healer for this type of injury!”

Reno Romeu performs during Red Bull Riding on Salt 2012 in Areia Branca, Brazil on September 19th, 2012. Photo Credit: Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull

Reno, for his part, revealed some of the unique challenges of riding on the most abundant non-metallic mineral on Planet Earth: “Salt’s definitely not a forgiving surface, so we had to be really careful when trying big manoeuvers, as any mistakes could lead to hard hits against the ground. It’s also very grippy, which makes it hard to build up speed. We had to try to stay in the air as much as possible to do the really fast tricks”.

Red Bull
28.Sep 2012

Reno Romeu performs during Red Bull Riding on Salt 2012 in Areia Branca, Brazil on September 19th, 2012. Photo Credit: Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull