I was born in Tulsa Oklahoma and after serving my time in the United States Army, I returned to the USA and attended Middle Tennessee State University and acquired my degree in Marketing in 1993. Soon after that I moved to Seattle WA and ran into Glen Mulvey who at the time was a pro windsurfer paid to test and destroy gear! He had laid down his sail and picked up kiteboarding. I watched the first year and a half and really didn't see all the hype in it until I tried it! Then my life was forever changed in the summer of 2003 and I started to focus all my time to training and getting better. Throwing things higher and with as much power and I could possibly hold down. Many years later and thousands of major hard hits, I had trained and tailored a rig that fit the appropriate wind conditions. When Dimitri talked to me about coming on board with Eclipse in early 07, I was excited to move to a brand that had the stoke and drive that I had. To be able to work directly with the owners to achieve a common goal, it was awesome! It was a perfect fit for me with super fast powerful kites that surpassed everything I had ever riden in the past! From that moment on, it was Full Throttle for the Gator! GO BIG OR GO HOME! I want to thank all the local shop owners in the Seattle area that supported me over the years. I went through a lot of gear in the early days!
Most dangerous thing that has happened to me while kiting - on October 18th 2007 at Lake Washington and myself and one other person were at Magnuson Beach Park when the wind started to really ramp up. NOAA had warned that winds were going to be in the Gale Force range and for vessels to beware. I reached in and grabbed a 10m and headed out onto the water. It quickly went from 25-35 to steady 35 gusting to 58kts. I got really over powered on a huge jump and came in to rig down. At that moment many kiters had shown up and were asking me my opinion on whether they should go out. I said don't because it was brutal and dangerous. Instead of listening to myself, I pumped up a 7m and headed back out. After achieving boosts that would tickle you in the crotch, I witnessed three people holding a kiter down coming out onto the water. I didn't think anything about it and continued throwing down for the peanut gallery. 20 minutes later that individual was dead from the kite slamming him into the water on impact. I was devastated and learned a major lesson from that day. Remember all of us are role models. Ride safe and keep it real!
Thing I like the most about kiteboarding; there's really nothing like being with my friends and sharing the experience together while on the water. I am addicted to the stoke and all the good times that come along with hanging with the kiting community. The look of a new kiters face when they come off of the water after I've hooked them into my kite is priceless to me. It's hard to explain!
- Walter Young aka "The Gator"
- Live: Seattle, WA
- Favorite Music: High Energy Ass Kicking Rock
- Favorite Kite: Eclipse Thruster 8m
- Favorite board: Eclipse DP 132
- Favorite Kiteboarding Spots: Maui HI, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon Coast, Puget Sound
- Favorite Snowkiting Spots: Mt Haggin MT, Cascade Mountain Range, Lake Keechalas
- Favorite Trick: Mega Loops, F-16 and BIG AIR
- Influences: Glen Mulvey, Dimitri Maramanides, Jon Malmberg
Sponsors: Eclipse Kiteboarding
- Full Throttle Energy Drink
- Dakine
- Hyperlex Wetsuits
- Transcend Apparrel
- Bellingham Kiteboarding
- Urban Flora
Shout Out To: My wonderful parents for supporting me in anything I wanted to do in this lifetime.
Other things I like to do- I love to snow ski/kite , record music, work out at the gym and turn new people onto our sport.
Ideal riding conditions - My favorite conditions are usually a bit stronger than most like it. When it starts to get piping hot around 28-35 kts is when I can transform into the Gator and start hucking with power! Other than really strong conditions, I like to ride big waves around 23-28kts.
