Tabla de contenidos para March 1, 2015 en WAKEBOARDING

BREATHTAKING (IN A BAD WAY) Cold water. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who actually enjoys it, and “taking your breath away” is never as awesome as it sounded in the songs you heard when you were a kid. We all endure it though, and as much as we might hate that initial feeling of shock in the cold water, you almost always finish your set with, “Yeah, it’s not that bad.” Most of you out there reading this will know exactly what I’m talking about. This time of year we’re all dealing with a form of cold-water discomfort, some worse than others (as you’ll find in our Inbox section). The coping mechanism most of us use would be our love for riding and our desire to sneak in…

SOCIALLY SPEAKING | FACEBOOK VOLUME Y’ALL ARE CRAZY We know how cold it can get in other parts of the world, so we reached out to our Facebook fans and asked them to share their cold-water riding photos with us. We asked; you delivered. And, well, there were way more crazy people out there than we had anticipated. Enjoy. Chance Strickland TRACY ARM, ALASKA | JUNE | WATER: 38ºF | AIR: 55ºF Bluebird Nick Andrews MAINE | WATER: 50ºF | AIR: 40ºF Hunting season. Gotta be warm and visible! Shannon Burress BOISE, IDAHO | JAN. 1 | WATER: 35ºF | AIR: 14ºF Wetsuits and drysuits are for wimps. Superman capes are better. Matt Larson WISCONSIN | JAN. 5 | AIR: -5ºF Dissolved 80 lbs. of salt in each pool to…

FLAGSHIP: MASTERCRAFT XSTAR It’s hard to overstate the X Star’s contribution to the sport. This flagship has pulled so many wakeboarding firsts, we can’t even name them here, and the current X Star iteration is the most tech-forward, heavily weighted, stylized wake machine we’ve seen from Master Craft. It all starts with the hull. The 24-foot X Star hull was designed to wakeboard — and it does so at the highest level — but its surf game is just as strong with the Gen2 Surf System. Gen2 allows you to keep the boat evenly weighted the entire time and surf either side while underway. Like all Master Craft models, the Gen2 surf system was specifically tailored to the X Star’s hull to ensure maximum power and symmetry to the surf…

LAST Unicycle ride: Two nights ago, we had an obstacle course set up throughout Jimmy [LaRiche’s] house. International trip: I went to the Bahamas a few weeks ago on a cruise. Thing that made you laugh: Pineapple Express — I watched it last night. Thing you became obsessed with: I just got a Bluetooth Bose speaker that’s pretty hard to leave the house without. New trick: Wall ride backroll out Trick you taught someone: I got this kid landing frontside 3’s for the first time during my Ronix 5 Gallons of Freedom clinics. Lap around the park: I’ve been doing a lot of system 2.0 riding out at Lake Ronix; last full park would have been BSR [Cable Park]. Lake Ronix project you helped with: Working on a new floating feature…

MAN OF MANY HATS While the revival of West Coast riding has been going on for a few years, there is one guy who has been doing his thing for a lot longer than many people might realize. Through thick and thin, Derek Cook has relentlessly pushed his unique riding style as part of the Delta Force with Josh Twelker, Trever Maur and plenty of others. Aside from being a top-tier rider in the northern California region, he’s also branched out to coaching and becoming a general ambassador for the sport. His connection on the cover this month with fellow home town hero Rodrigo Donoso is one of many we’ve had come across our desk through the years, but this time it stuck. FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS, such…

TOP 3 Jams for the boat: 1. Little Feat 2. Jimmy Buffett 3. Paul Simon Jams to play during a homemade dinner: 1. Angus and Julia Stone 2. Donavon Frankenreiter 3. Trey Anastasio Band (My wife is the cook, so anything she loves.) Road-trip jams: 1. Phish 2. Grateful Dead 3. The Allman Brothers Jams to play on the guitar for friends: 1. Anything crunchy 2. The Stereo Type (my band) 3. Parks Bonifay singalongs Favorite people to watch jam: 1. Trey Anastasio 2. Jerry Garcia 3. Frank Zappa Wedding-reception jams: 1. Kool & the Gang — “Celebration” 2. The Isley Brothers — “Shout” 3. Tommy James and the Shondells — “Mony Mony” Hip-hop jams: 1. A Tribe Called Quest 2. Pharoahe Monch 3. Brand Nubian Jams to play on…

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE WEST COAST AND LEGIT, STYLISH RIDING HAS GONE HAND IN HAND FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES. THROUGH THE YEARS GUYS LIKE RANDALL HARRIS, GREG NELSON, COLIN WRIGHT AND COUNTLESS OTHERS HAVE PUSHED WAKEBOARDING TO BECOME WHERE IT IS TODAY WITH A SUPERUNIQUE OUTLOOK ON THE SPORT. THE WEST COAST HAS BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH DOING THINGS PROPERLY: GRABBING THE RIGHT WAYS, WRAPPING UP TO GRAB LONGER (NOT MAKE SPINS EASIER), AND RIDING FAST AND LONG LINE LENGTHS. EVERY RIDER FROM THE WEST COAST HAS HAD THE ADDED RESPONSIBILITY OF KEEPING HIS RIDING UP TO THE STANDARDS SET BY THE LEGENDS BEFORE HIM. EVERY FEW YEARS, WHEN IT MIGHT SEEM LIKE THE WELL OF WEST COAST TALENT HAS GONE DRY, A NEW RIDER OR CREW EMERGES WITH THE…

Middle Eastern Finale Back in November, the World Wakeboarding Association finished off the Wake Park World Series in Abu Dhabi at the World Championships. The Al Forsan resort always plays the best host with an unreal facility and picture-perfect setting for the biggest park contest of the year. Fun fact: The plastic-lined lakes of the Al Forsan park are filled with drinking water, and are topped off every two weeks due to the desert climate. Place Your Bets! After his appearance in Prime, there seems to be big things on the horizon for young-gun Daniel Powers. His recently inked deal with Supra Boats puts him in a pretty comfortable spot in the industry, and he’s been riding better than we have ever seen with the home crew on Lake Conway…

I have competed in the WWA World Championships every year since 1999 (except 2011 because of injury), so I have many stories to tell. Worlds for me is one of my favorite events of the year. There is something about the grand finale of the season that is special in any sport — where the best of the best come together after a full season of riding and compete to see who is on their game for that particular year. It is a huge opportunity for a young gun to prove him- or herself, but also for an old vet to show everyone that he’s still got it. Competing in the Worlds is always fun, but bringing home the crown is a story that you will tell for the rest…

RIDE WITH CONFIDENCE Your summer is quickly approaching, and we know how much you’re champing at the bit to get back on the water. We want that as much as you do, but before you go gallivanting to the nearest waterway as soon as the ice melts, let’s discuss some off-season training principles that will help you get in shape physically and mentally. This way we can quickly and safely get your bag of tricks back to where it was at the end of last season — or better. We’ve divided up this instruction into three sections: injury recovery, injury prevention and how to start riding again after a long off-season. In each section, we’ve hand-picked a few pro riders who bring a specific expertise to the table: Mike Dowdy,…