01 Rungs 01–02
The first pull becomes a line you can hold.
Getting up on the board and onto a plane — the moment riding begins.
Holding a line left and right, switching feet, finding your balance on the rail.
- Water start
- Riding both directions
Learn · Disciplines · since 2004
Freeride kitesurfing. The all-round discipline.
Cruise the flat water, ride upwind both ways, carve your first transitions and pop your first jumps. Freeride is the style most riders actually do — and the foundation every other discipline is built on. Here's what it is, and how to make it yours.
- 300+ windy days / year
- ★ 4.8 / 549
- 8 instructor languages
What is freeride kitesurfing?
Freeride is the do-a-bit-of-everything way to ride.
Freeride is the all-round, twin-tip discipline focused on smooth riding, control and fun — not competition tricks. It's cruising back and forth, riding upwind both ways, carving turns, linking transitions and, when you're ready, your first jumps. If you've ever pictured someone gliding across turquoise water with a kite overhead, that's freeride.
It's also the discipline the vast majority of riders actually do, day in and day out. There's a good reason for that: freeride builds the core skills — edge control, riding upwind, managing the kite's power — that every other discipline is built on. Whether you later move toward big air, the waves or a foil, you'll stand on a freeride foundation.
Think of freeride as a spectrum, not a box. You can keep it mellow and cruisy, or push it toward early jumps and freestyle as you grow. Most importantly, it's the discipline you naturally graduate into after a beginner course — and the one most of our guests happily ride for years. If you're just starting out, our Zero to Hero beginner course gets you to the first rung; freeride is everything that comes after.
Freeride vs freestyle, wave, big air & foil
Where freeride sits among the kitesurf disciplines.
Every discipline branches off the same root skills. Freeride is the most beginner-friendly and the foundation for all the others — so it's the best place to find your feet before you specialise. Here's an honest "who each is for", with a link to ours.
| Discipline | Who it's for | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Freeride you are here | Everyone — the all-round home base | Cruising, upwind, first jumps & transitions on a twin-tip |
| Freestyle | Riders chasing powered tricks & kiteloops | Unhooked moves, handle passes, the competition end of the sport |
| Wave / strapless | Riders who love carving turns | Surfboard, strapless — on our flat lagoon it's strapless skills, not a wave break |
| Hydrofoil | Light-wind lovers & efficiency seekers | Riding above the water on a foil — silent, early-planing, addictive |
| Wingfoil | Newcomers wanting a gentler entry to foiling | A handheld wing + foil board — no lines, very forgiving |
| Parawing | Foilers exploring the newest niche | A packable soft wing you can stow mid-ride — the freshest discipline |
| Boat foiling | Riders learning foil takeoffs without relying on kite wind | Towed up behind a boat; timing still depends on boat, water, weather and safety conditions |
The gear differs by discipline — freeride kites are deliberately stable and forgiving, while freestyle and big-air kites are built for pop and unhooked power — but you don't need to worry about any of that to start (more on gear below). And how high is the ceiling? Our home spot is where Finn Flügel — 2025 GKA Freestyle World Champion trains, coached by co-owner Lukáš. That's the proof the freestyle end is real and within reach here — but this page is about freeride, the all-round riding the rest of us love.
Freeride gear, kept simple
A stable kite, a forgiving twin-tip, and you're set.
A freeride setup is the easiest gear there is to ride and progress on: a stable, forgiving all-round kite plus a freeride twin-tip board, a harness, a bar, a pump, a safety leash and a helmet. The board is the secret — a freeride twin-tip with low rocker, soft-to-medium flex and a straight outline planes early, holds upwind easily and forgives the mistakes every learner makes.
Kite size mostly comes down to the wind on the day and your weight — bigger kites for lighter wind, smaller kites as it builds — and your instructor handles that call for you. Best of all, you don't need to buy anything to start or to try freeride. Try before you buy.
- Official Flysurfer distributor & largest test point since 2009
- 250+ kites across the stated size range — ask what is available to demo in safe, rideable conditions
- Levitaz hydrofoils since 2015, for when you move on to foiling
Cruising a freeride twin-tip across the flat El Gouna lagoon.
The core freeride skills — in order
The progression ladder (and why each rung matters).
Freeride is steady, coachable progression — not natural talent. You climb these rungs roughly in order. The two that change everything are upwind-both-ways (you stop walking back up the beach) and toeside-plus-transitions (where "I can ride" becomes "I can ride freely").
02 Rungs 03–04
Stop drifting. Choose where the ride ends.
The big one. You stop drifting downwind and start coming back to where you launched.
Sinking the board, edging hard, stopping exactly where you want — the safety skill that unlocks freedom.
- Upwind both ways
- Controlled stops
03 Rungs 05–06
Change edge. Change direction. Keep moving.
Riding on your toes instead of your heels — the gateway to smooth, surf-style turns.
Carving the board around to switch direction without stopping — riding starts to flow.
- Toeside riding
- First transitions
04 Rungs 07–08
Leave the water only after control feels solid.
The chop hop: a little pop off the water using kite height and timing, not brute power.
Sending the kite, loading the lines and managing the power for real air — at your own pace.
- First small jumps
- Bigger jumps
- 1 Water start
Getting up on the board and onto a plane — the moment riding begins.
- 2 Riding both directions
Holding a line left and right, switching feet, finding your balance on the rail.
- 3 Upwind both ways
The big one. You stop drifting downwind and start coming back to where you launched.
- 4 Controlled stops
Sinking the board, edging hard, stopping exactly where you want — the safety skill that unlocks freedom.
- 5 Toeside riding
Riding on your toes instead of your heels — the gateway to smooth, surf-style turns.
- 6 First transitions
Carving the board around to switch direction without stopping — riding starts to flow.
- 7 First small jumps
The chop hop: a little pop off the water using kite height and timing, not brute power.
- 8 Bigger jumps
Sending the kite, loading the lines and managing the power for real air — at your own pace.
How that maps to our coaching
We teach straight into the water — the only thing that happens on the beach is rigging the kite and the assisted launch and landing. Initial kite-control drills move into the first roughly 800 m knee-to-waist-deep teaching area when conditions suit. A typical plan moves from body-drag and water-start work towards controlled riding and upwind technique across 3–5 days. Only the skills actually demonstrated determine whether the rider is independent; transitions and jumps come later.
How we teach (the straight-into-water method) → · Coming back rusty? Refresh courses →
Where to learn & progress freeride
A freerider's practice ground: room to cruise, reset and ride.
Freeride progression benefits from flat water and a defined area where learners can reset. Our lagoon provides that structure: a 2–3 km-long, about 1 km-wide lagoon. In typical conditions, the first ~800 m forms a knee-to-waist-deep teaching area over sand, followed by independent-riding and dedicated wing-foil zones.
- Depth changes with the tide — session timing follows actual conditions
- Dedicated deeper foil zone — plus the northernmost position and broad upwind space
- Rescue support during operating hours; response times are not guaranteed
- 300+ windy days a year, with an N–NW thermal building late morning
Our own data — not a claim
Enough wind to actually put in the hours.
Freeride needs water time, and water time needs wind. From our own weather station (2 million+ readings over 4 years), about 77% of days a year are rideable — peaking around 85% in August, and even December still delivers roughly 6 out of 10 days. Plan with our 16-day forecast and live webcam, then go ride.
% of days with a rideable session (≥ 12 kt for ≥ 2 h of daylight), from our station's 2 million+ readings. Always "about" — wind varies by day. Winter air ≈ 22 °C, so pack a full wetsuit, not boardshorts.
How to get into freeride at Kitepower El Gouna
Find your starting line.
Start at zero
No experience needed. Our beginner course takes you from your first kite to riding — the first rungs of freeride.
Zero to Hero beginner course →Knock off the rust
You've ridden before but it's been a while. A short refresher gets you riding again, often on day one.
Refresh courses →Master freeride
You can ride and want upwind dialled, clean transitions and first jumps. Freeride coaching is built for exactly this.
Freeride coaching →