lindsay mcclure
Lindsay McClure is a totally humble and hilarious woman. I am grateful to have met her when I moved to Hood River last summer. She (and the rest of the amazing women in the Columbia River Gorge area) are a huge inspiration to me as I learn how to kiteboard. We are trying hard to get SheJumps support going in this area and Lindsay is just one of many amazing Jumpers in the area that are here to support our mission. She also needs your help right now to be included as Native Eye Wear's writers for their 2012 Catalog. You can help Lindsay out by voting for her here. —Claire Smallwood, SJ executive director

SheJumps: What was it like growing up around so many phenomenal athletes in Hood River? Were there any specific women who influenced you to live life how you do these days?
Lindsay McClure: Growing up in Hood River gave me a unique perspective on success because there are so many amazing athletes who push themselves in all aspects of life. There are pro snowboarders also kill it at mountain biking, kayakers who learn how to windsurf faster than anyone else, amazing kiters who have started their own business, and the list goes on. My mom has been a huge encouragement to me to follow my heart and do what makes me happy. Also, my teammates at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, when I was a ski racer, really taught me a lot about hard work, dedication, training, and fitness. They are a group of girls with such awesome energy and work ethic and great lifelong friends.

SJ: Describe how it felt to learn how to kite. I know skiing has been a lifelong passion, what did it feel like to see yourself transitioning into dedication towards kiteboarding/snowkiting?
LM: When I was learning how to kiteboard I was thinking that it might replace windsurfing as my summer sport, as a new number two. I really didn’t expect that I would ever give up winter to chase sun and wind, but I tend to get really focused when I have a new challenge. The transition to dedication towards kiteboarding was really exciting because it’s another example of how life offers new excitement and new challenges if you are open to them.

SJ: What's your favorite aspect of kiteboarding? (e.g. the community, the science, the challenge, the adrenaline, etc)
LM: Kiteboarding makes me feel like a little kid again. I don’t know any other sport that defies gravity as much as kiting. It brings me back to when I was a 12 years old, 80 lb. gymnast who could jump and flip around with ease. I think kiteboarding gives adults the opportunity to feel the sensation of flying through the air doing flippy whipits that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience

SJ: How did the "jump" to Baja feel this past winter?
LM: The funny thing is that I was about to give up last summer to travel to South America to ski. I’m the kind of person that whatever I’m focused on I want to keep it going, so it was really fun to push through an endless summer. I think I progressed a lot in kiting because I didn’t have much of a gap in time being off the water. The decision to go to Mexico was really hard. I knew deep down that I wanted to keep kiteboarding but the safe decision would have been to stay in Tahoe for another winter of skiing. I’ll be back in snow country this winter, but who knows where I’m headed after that!

SJ: Compared to skiing, are there a growing number of female kiteboarders out there or is it still a fairly male-driven sport?
LM: I think that there are starting to be a lot more girls on the water, and less watching on the beach. The next step is to get more women out there pushing it, because I find that many women get to a certain level where they are comfortable going back and forth and doing small jumps, and then they stop progressing.

SJ: What are your personal goals with kiteboarding?
LM: Specifically, I have two main tricks I want to learn this summer: raley to blind and f-16. More generally, I want to continue to push myself and never get to a place that I’m satisfied going out and doing tricks that I already know how to do. I also want to continue to be involved in the sport as more than just a recreational rider by entering competitions and helping others get into it. 

SJ: Do you have any personal mantras that keep you motivated (in any sport)?
LM: Hocus pocus time to focus? Honestly, I’m a pretty competitive person and I think a lot of my motivation comes through friendly competition with others.

SJ: And of course, how can SheJumps help kiteboarding grow for women?
LM: I would love to see some sort of a platform here in Hood River where women could get together, maybe once a week, and ride together. There are tons of great riders here and it would be so much fun to get together informally and have everyone out there pushing each other. It would be great to have the stronger riders helping the less experienced riders and to give women’s kiteboarding more of a presence.

SJ: What great thing would you dare to accomplish if success was the only possible outcome? (this is a question that most people gasp about, but just think about it in super general terms! We want to hear your DREAMS!!)
LM: This question reminds me of one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever received. One of my friends once told me that, of all her friends, I was the most likely to change the world. I have to admit that I don’t have a clear path in mind about how I would go about changing the world, but it would be awesome if my life gives me more opportunities to have an impact on other lives in a meaningful way.