Wake Cracker, circa 2007?

Might be old, but this has got to be one of my favourite contests of all time. Red Bull put together a very cool concept back in the summer of '07. Riders were brought into the Quebec wilderness (not knowing where they were going of course), basically in the middle of nowhere, got their heads shaved upon arrival, and then had to get creative in making their own rails and jibs with natural features. The highlight of the video is Oli Derome's tree bonk to frontside three. Probably one wakeboarding's most underrated stunts EVER, and that's real talk.

More of the best contest ever: Wake the Line 2011.

O'Neill Wake The Line from Ben Hall on Vimeo.

Another sweet video to surface from Wake the Line 2011 that takes you behind the scenes and a little more in depth about the sickest contest of the season. People just can't seem to get enough of this contest, and with good reason ay. Hopefully something like this can make its way back to Canada someday. Props to O'Neill for the video. Enjoy!

The Big Bang 3.0

(translation please.) Well it is the return of the BIG BANG party at Mont Cascades (Cantley, Qué.) In case you've never been, well it's essentially a massive dance party combined with a wakeboarding rail contest/jam and a water slide park that's open 'till 1 a.m. Good times? mos def, and it's happening this Friday and Saturday, doors open at 8pm! visit www.megabigbang.com for more info....see you there.

Alliance Wake Mag Triple Crown Winnipeg video

Here's a little sneak peak at what went down in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the Monster Energy WWA Triple Crown #1 July 8-9, 2011. Stay tuned for the hour long special recapping all the action from the Monster Triple Crown Wake Park series set to air on CBS Sports this fall. Enjoy!

Raph Derome: stitched.

Check out this latest video from Joe Ferguson and Still Not Famous. Since winning the rail rider of the year, Raph Derome has fallen off the radar so to speak having to recover from a serious infection in his elbow. The injury occurred at the end of last season while on a winch mission in Toronto after he fell and chewed up his elbow on some concrete in some not so clean water. Almost a year later and Raph is still not 100%, but is well on his way to a full recovery. And that's some really good news cause wakeboarding needs more of Raph Derome.

Stitched from still not famous on Vimeo.

Wake'n in da street dere in Trois Rivières, Québec!

This weekend's mission took me to Trois Rivières, Québec. A small, and quaint little town pretty much halfway between Montréal and Québec City. I made the decision to go after waking up Saturday morning and having nothing really better to do on a beautiful hot sunny day. The reason for my slight hesitation was that I would first need to catch a bus to montreal at 11 am, then  board a "train de banlieu" for a 35min ride to Deux-Montagnes to meet up with Tibo, and then finally make the drive to Three Rivers. Amazingly everything lined up smooth as!

Once in Deux-Montagnes, Tibo was nice enough to drive some new friends I had made on the train and who were looking to make it to the Beach Club. So after dropping them off, we were on our way to Alex Savoie's, a.k.a Mr. Wake QC. And being the environmentalists we are, we all decided to pack into Savoie's truck and car pool our way to the 2011 edition of Wake Dans Rue in Trois Rivières.

(Arnauld going down, shoulder first)

(Marie-Line holding it down)

As per usual the setup was a good mix of fun and sketchyness. But it was really cool to know that this year's setup was designed by Raph Derome himself. Both boys AND girls were throwing down with of course the odd entertaining bail. (props to our boy Arnauld who sustained a dislocated shoulder, we wish you a speedy recovery bro!).

At the end of it all it was Yan Tibo in third, Alex Savoie in second, and p'tit Benjamin Leclair taking first place with 500$!

(Tibo's test run)

So after a few beers and having to pick up our man Arnauld at the hospital, we decided to call it a night and head back to Montreal. The next morning I headed over to check out Tibo's pimpin' new pad and for some delicious peanut butter toast. We then headed to the Beach Club for a shred on the cable with Seb Toots (yes he can also rip on a wakeboard!). So ya just another super fun trip and mission on a whim in the belle province of Québec! 

thank you Tibo, Savoie, and Stacey for some sweet québecois hospitality!! à la prochaine mes amies...

Oli Derome.

Oli Derome - Best Footy of 2010 from Wake2wake.ca on Vimeo.
Wake2wake made this edit available that features some of Oli's best stuff in 2010. Since then, Oli is now riding for Slingshot wakeboards and landed a wake to wake 1080 just a few months back. And that's whassup

I wanna skate!

TOP TEAM SKATEPARK TOUR VIDEO from Top of the World on Vimeo.

After a weekend of wakeboarding, can't wait to get back on my skate! (video courtesy of Top of the World)

Winnipeg Day 3 and 4: contests are over.

(canadian pro obstacles: Justin 3rd. Jess 2nd. Tibo 1st.)

There's something to be said about competitions. At best, I'd like to consider them to be a necessary evil. On one hand, if the sport is to grow and progress towards a legitimate board sport, it is required that there exists the necessary platform and exposure in order for that to be possible. Also, not to mention that many of these riders rely on these sort of events in order to make a living. Now on the hand, competitions can sometimes take away from the fun when taken to serious. In a competitive environment, it's easy to lose track of what's most important.

Unfortunately for myself, I let the latter get the best of me this weekend. Things started off great on Friday after I qualified for the finals at the Triple Crown open rails event with a 91.00. The reason why I think things went so well is that I had zero expectations going in. But now the game had changed, and I suddenly found myself second guessing every move I made. Needless to say that my riding went to shit as the weekend went on to the point that I didn't even make it past the qualifiers today in the Canadian Wake Park Championships pro rail event. 

Luckily for me, it's not the riding I'll remember. I mean sure ya on friday my fun was had on the water, but on saturday and sunday all the fun was happening off the water. Hanging with crew, meeting some solid locals, watching some dope ass riding, and all the while being lucky enough to ride Canada's sickest cable park was pretty fucking sweet ay. 

And now tomorrow it's back to free riding and filming for our last day with another sunny day in the forecast.

Thank you Winnipeg, Connor, and Adrenaline Adventures for a great time.

(for a full wrap up of the WWA triple crown visit alliancewake.com)

Winnipeg Day 2: getting results.

(we got bibs!)

Day two in Winnipeg, and day one of the Monster Energy WWA Wake Park Triple Crown. Justin and I competed in the open obstacles only division. My ride went really well and I qualified for the finals tomorrow with a 91.00  Justin on the other hand was having a good run until he had a brain fart and decided to fall on the far side of the cable doing absolutely nothing. Tough break, but we'll be able to make for it Sunday at the Canadian Nationals. Tibo also killed it today with a 95.00 and advanced to the pro semi-final tomorrow as well.

First ride in Winnipeg: new edit.

My first ride at Adrenaline Adventures Wake Park (Winnipeg) from Johny Bonney on Vimeo.

Winnipeg Day 1: missed flights and cable found.

Started off the trip in true style this morning. Woke up at 6:35 am to catch a 7:00 am flight, ya do the math. So after a brief freak out, I accepted my fate and paid for a second flight that got me out of Ottawa by 9:00 am and into to Winnipeg at 12:30 local time. No harm done I guess.

(not a happy camper)

Once landed, I headed straight to the hotel to check in and meet up with Yan Tibo who flew in from Montreal this morning. Now it was finally time to make our way to the brand new cable we were promised over at Adrenaline Adventures. Now at this point we finally understood that we had no idea where this cable was and how to get there. So we hired a cab and trusted he could lead us to the promise land right? not even!

(Tibo mapping it out for our cabbie)

So with a little help from the cabbie's trusted road map, the cable park was finally within our sites. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere, flat as fuck, and surrounded by farmer's fields there lied Canada's newest wake park paradise. Without further ado, Tibo and I quickly strapped in rode the rest of the day away.

(Adrenaline Adventures)

Meanwhile my brother Justin was making his way all the way from Timmins (-> toronto -> ottawa -> winnipeg). He then followed our lead and headed straight to the cable for his share of the fun. Unfortunately for Justin, his ride out to the cable did not go so smoothly. Almost 2 hours later and 70$ worth of cab fare, Justin finally made it to the cable only to ride one lap before it shut down for the day. 


And so with that, things start back up tomorrow for Day 1 of the Monster Energy WWA Triple Crown at 9:30am. Justin and I will be riding in the obstacles only division, and hoping to qualify for Saturday's semi finals and finals....stay tuned.

Unpacking to repack for Winnipeg.

Yes that's right, unpacking from a weekend back home at Ice Chest only to repack for this weekend's Monster Energy WWA Wake Park Triple Crown and the 2011 Canadian Wake Park Championships this weekend (July 8-10th) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Meeting up with my bro, Justin, and Yan Tibo tomorrow in the Peg for an extra day of riding before the contest to check out the BRAND NEW wake park @ Adrenaline Adventures! GET STOKED!!

team BOOMBOX visits NOFX in Montebello - THE MOVIE!!!

Check out this follow up to the BOOMBOX dream visits NOFX  blog entry I wrote 2 weeks back. The movie chronicles the events, misfortunes, and fun that were had on our amazing trip to Montebello, Québec to see NOFX on June 18, 2011. Enjoy!