Julien Salles is the MANERA brand manager and is featured in the latest issue of The Kiteboarder Magazine. MANERA has gained a lot of follower in the last couple years with top notch and innovative product, very much in the vein of F-One products. This story is a great way to dive into the world of Manera…
Source: https://www.thekiteboarder.com/product/kiteboarder-magazine-vol-13-no-4/
It’s the dead of the night—2AM on the 20th meridian, yet the midnight sun emanates a heavy golden hue against the horizon. Julien Salles, no longer bound by the darkness of after hours, pulls his neoprene front-zip over his head and tucks the cuffs of his gloves under his sleeves. In the distance, wild horses pasture along the black sand beach while towering volcanoes play foreground to an expansive, mist-laden landscape. Patiently watching, Julien and the rest of the Manera watermen admire the amber rays bouncing off the tapered lines as they enter the bay. Two years in the making, this is the ultimate test and the moment of truth for this young Frenchman. Together, Julien, along with team riders Mallory de la Villemarque and Etienne Lhote, wade slowly into the icebox of an ocean. At 40°F there’s a quiet hiatus, a communal attentiveness awaiting the first daggers of arctic water to reach the skin’s naked receptors. Julien settles into equal buoyancy, chest submerged and pauses, but the wait will be long because the cold never finds its way in.
