Last night was the first ever Wake Awards in Ontario…. We raised a ton of money! Wohoo!
Congrats to all the nominees and winners, and thanks to everyone else on the planning committee for pulling off a sweet event!
Thanks to everyone who came out to support the cause. Enjoy the photos

View all the photos here!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Aug 20 – 24: Shalom Park, Alberta

By: Erika Langman

Aug, 20th-24th Wakeboarders from across the country took over the infamous glassy waters of private ski lake, Shalom Park, for the 2010 Canadian National Wakeboard championships in Edmonton. This is the second time Canadian Nationals has been held at Shalom Park and the Alberta locals really stepped up in the hospitality department to host an awesome event.  Despite the wind and cold temperature, the riders toughed it out and battled in full suits to claim the title of National Champ.

The event started out on friday with the qualifiers for the amateur divisions. There were over 75 riders that came out to sport the flag of their local province, a huge portion of them from the western provinces of BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan. 

Saturday was the finals for the Jr Men’s and Men’s 1 division, and definitely some of the toughest heats to judge out of the entire weekend. Almost everyone in the Men’s 1 division stood up two solid passes, and it was a pretty close battle for first down the sixth place. In the end it was Adam Burwell who claimed the title with his smooth style on rails and constancy on the wake, followed by Craig McMorris stomping some banger mobes, and Justin Anderson landing the biggest 7 of the day. Congrats to Chris Sinkic of Ontario who was just edged out of the semi-finals.

In the Jr. Men’s division it was reigning champ Mark McMorris from Saskatchewan who took home the cake, followed by a new up and comer from Ontario Christian Primrose, and Manitoba Native Jess Polley in third. Robbie McMillen, a top gun on the Ontario Scene took 4th, and Jordan Long also from Ontario rounded up the final in 6th. Congrats boys! We have some future rippers on our hands.

In the Amateur men’s rail division Jordan Long took home his first nationals podium with a solid 3rd place. Robbie McMillen grabbed another 4th place in the Pro Men’s Rail, followed by Christian Primrose in 5th.

In the women’s contest 9 girls qualified to competed in the open. All the ladies rode well and had stand up passes, but in the end it came down to a close battle for first and second between Saskatechwan rider Ashley Leugner and Ontario native Erika Langman. Both girls had stellar passes throwing lots of inverts, back 3s, solid rail riding showing that the ladies can rock it, but it was Ashley who took the cake with her tootsie and toe back 1. 

Last but not least the concluding event of the weekend was the Pro Men’s Semi-Final. Jordan Long and Robbie McMillen both qualified through the quarterfinals taking 3rd and 4th in the second heat. The final consisting of 6 big name riders not only on the national scene, but on the pro tour. Dylan Millar, Mark McMorris, Kyle Rattray, Anthonly Hollick, Rusty Malinosky and Dustin O’Farrell all threw down no less than world class runs hoping for that national title and cash money. Ontario native Kyle Rattray rounded up the podium in a solid 3rd place, with Dylan taking 2nd and the Bone Crusher taking the title. Full results available at www.waterski-wakeboard.ca.

A special thanks to Waterski-Wakeboard Canada and the Gratzfield family for pulling all the strings together to host the awesome event, Wade Habert and the judging crew for surviving the cold wind in the boat all weekend, and Brad Buskas, Mark Gratzfield and the driving crew for pulling riders all weekend. Also a big shout out goes to the event sponsors Roswell Towers, Nautique, Hyperlite, Liquid Force, Ronix, O’Brien, Jet Pilot, O’Neill, Xcel, Dragon, SBC Wakeboard, Waterski-Wakeboard Alberta and Rockstar Energy Drink.

By: Erika Langman

This past weekend the Roots made its way to Gravenhurst, Ontario for the third and final stop of the three event series. It has been awhile since a grassroots Wakeboard event has taken place in the legendary cottage country and it was great to see a huge crew of local riders and spectators out to support the event. The day started off with the future of wakeboarding – the Newbie and beginner boys and girls. There were 22 young guns out there ripping behind Basecamp’s 210 Nautique, including riders as young as four years old. 

As the day moved into the mid afternoon we watched the Open Men battle for not only the series title, but the title of Provincial Champ. Top seeded riders Christian Primrose, Gavin Hicks and Robbie McMillen all won their heats moving them into the leading positions for the semis and finals. At the end of the day it was Robbie McMillen taking home the Samsung Laptop for winning the Provincial gold, and Roots Stop #3 overall series title.

 The Wakeskaters were out in full force, with local pro riders Dan Brown, Mark Enns, Tommy Bailey and Addison Farr rounding up the wakeskate finals. On the ladies side of things local Steph King stepped up the level of intermediate riding taking the top spot, while series leader Ally Boothroyd told the boys what’s up stomping clean shuvs and flat water tricks in the Women’s Wakeskate division. The largest category of the day was the Intermediate Men’s Wakeboard which saw a lot of new talent from all over the province. It was great to see new faces to the series, including Tyler Nicholson who took the top spot, and Logan Enright claiming the series title. Overall the contest pulled 75 riders from eleven categories which is a testament to the growth of wakeboarding in Ontario. 

The day was a success, but it never could have happened without the support of all the volunteers. This year was a building year for grassroots wakeboarding in Ontario and we are excited to see how the series will evolve next year as more sponsors jump on board. A special thanks goes out to Pride of Muskoka and Basecamp for letting us use their loaded wakeboard boats, Off the Wharf and Cabana Boardshop for hooking up the riders with sweet prizes, G&G Electronics for the sound system, Ronix, Hyperlite and Liquid Force for the demo fleets, Metab Clothing for providing the riders with event shirts, Basecamp staff Leslie Sparkes, Scott Duke, Robbie McMillen, Dary Zneble, Mikey Henry, Gordie Lahare for all their help, Eric Snidal at Militia Marketing, Dan Seguin, Jer Eckford, Ally Boothroyd, Jono Boysen, Rem Diagle, Mitch Lowry, Harrison Carter, Andrew MacIvor and everyone who volunteered all their time to make this series a success!! Check out the overall series standings at www.rootswakeboarding.com.

Overall Series Champs:

Beginner Men: John VanGrunsven

Beginner Women: Kristine Tomlinson

Intermediate Men: Logan Enright

Intermediate Women: Ally Boothroyd

Amateur Wakeskate: Laurie Leblanc

Womens Wakeskate: Ally Boothroyd

Open Wakeskate: Brady Hicks

Open Men’s Wakeboard: Robbie McMillen

Roots #3 Results:

Newbie Boys:

Payton Schaley

Zack Ireland

Mike Evans

Shane Brandsetter

Theo Sastruck

Tristian Castelli

Tommy Sastruck

JoJo Sastruck

Beginner Boys:

Jesse Bryant

Dawson McLachlan

Jamie Panter

Payton Schaly

Matt Montgomery

Peter Newstead

Graeme Murry

Mike Evans

9. Remi Diagle

Beginner Girls

Jenn Evans

Kristine Tomlinson

Kaleigh Panter

Michelle Despins

Intermediate Women:

Steph King

Ally Boothroyd

Amanda Robinson

Jenn Evans

Amateur Wakeskate

Dan Seguin

 Christian Primrose

Adam Fairbrass

Kane Gasparotto

Aaron Turek

Russell Braive

Mitch Lowry

Josh Vlaming

Open Men Qualifiers

Heat 1

Christian Primrose

Chris Sinkic

Dylan Rivait

Mike McBreaty

Jake Thompson

Jeremy Eckford

Heat 2

Gavin Hicks

Gordy Lehare

John Eckensviller

Jordan Long

Dary Zneble dns

Heat 3

1.Robbie McMillen

Chad Rivait

Mikey Henry

Andrew MacIvor

Drew Austin

Intermediate Qualifiers

Heat 1

Tommy Bailey

 Will Morris

Cody Bryant

Matt Udon

Logan Rettie

Heat 2

Tyler Koller

Mike Case

Grant Hefferman

Mitch Lowry

Adam Lewis

Heat 3

Tyler Nicholson

Logan Enright

Harrison Carter

Charlie Murphy

Wakeskate Semi-Finals

Heat 1

Dan Brown

Addison Farr

Jeff Braun

Laurie Leblanc

Adam Lewis

Christian Primrose

Heat 2

Tommy Bailey

Mark Enns

Brady Hicks

Dan Seguin

Gordy Lehare

Austin Farr

Open Semi-Finals

Heat 1

Mike McBreaty

Christian Primrose

Dylan Rivait

Chad Rivait

Heat 2

Gavin Hicks

Mikey Henry

Chris Sinkic

Heat 3

Robbie McMillen

Gordy Lehare

John Eckensville

Intermediate FINAL

Tyler Nicholson

Logan Enright

Tommy Bailey

Tyler Koller

Will Morris

Mike Case

Open Skate FINAL

Tommy Bailey

Dan Brown

Addison Farr

Mark Enns

Open Men’s FINAL

Robbie McMillen

Gavin Hicks

Mike McBreaty

www.rootswakeboarding.com

Location: Gull Lake, Gravenhurst

Schedule:
Contest Tentative Timeline: Note, times are most likely to change so make sure you are on site 1 hour prior to your category

Friday July 30th

10:00AM Board and Boat Demo’s Start:
For those of you that have been drooling over the brand new line up of 2010 wakeboards and skates but just aren’t sure which board set-up you want to shred all season – never fear! The Roots tour is following a two day format: Contest one day, board and boat demos the other. We want to get EVERYONE out on the water having a good time, and the opportunity to try out the latest and greatest in wake equipment. There will be plenty of boards to demo behind the fully loaded contest towboat. All ages and abilities welcome!

Saturday July 31th – Provincials
8:00AM: Registration Opens, Registration is open all day. Make sure you are registered 1-2 hours before your category.
9:00AM – 9:45AM: Newbie Boys and Girls
9:45AM – 10:30AM: Beginner men and women
10:30AM – 11:30AM: Amateur and Women’s Wakeskate
11:30AM – 1:00PM: Open Men’s Wakeboard Qualifiers
1:00PM – 2:00PM: Intermediate Men’s and Women’s Wakeboard
2:00PM – 3:00PM: Open Men’s Wakeskate
3:00PM – 3:30PM: Open Women’s Wakeboard
4:00PM: FINALS
5:30PM: AWARDS

Pricing:
Newbie: Free + WSWO membership ($30)
Beginner: $30 + WSWO membership
Intermediate: $30+ WSWO membership
Open: $40 + WSWO membership

AFTERPARTY: The Roots Provincial Championships Official After-party at the Bala Bay Inn, Saturday July 31st.

The Roots #2: Sunny Skies, White Sand Beaches and Mastercrafts

Len’s Cove Marina played host to the second stop of the Roots AM wakeboard series this past weekend at Nangor Resort in the White Water Region outside of Ottawa, Ontario. Nangor is one of those to good to be true places where a white sand beach stretches for miles beside butter water, aka an ideal site for a wakeboard contest.   Riders travelled from all over the map to come to this stop, from Niagra Falls, Muskoka, Bobcaygeon, Toronto and of course all the Ottawa locals. Len’s Cove Marina hooked us up with a pimped out pro-tour style Mastercraft X-Star and X-14 as the event towboats, while Slaysh Boardshop in Ottawa gave out some wicked prizes for the riders.

All the categories had some amazing riding, but a special hi-five props goes out to the riders in the Open Mens division. Ontario hasn’t seen this level of riding in years and it is great to see how we have progressed! New to the scene ripper Christian Primrose took the third place position starting out with one of the biggest raleys I have ever seen, and stomping bangers like Skeezers, tootsies and cab 5s. The first place position was a tough one to judge between Gavin Hicks and Robbie McMillen. Both stomped their run in the final landing mobe after mobe, but Gav took the icing on the cake when he landed his toe 7 clean.

A special thanks goes to Danny and Barb from Nangor for their hospitality, Rem D, Dan Seguin, Charlie Sirois and Matt Sac at Wake2Wake for their superior driving skills, Jer Eckford, Frank Good, Jordan Sien, Robbie McMillen and the rest of the judging crew, Sarah at Slaysh Boardshop in Ottawa, Jono at Ronix Hyperlite, Liquid Force, and of course Team Lens Cove and Mastercraft for making this event happen. 

The last stop of the series is the Ontario Provincial Championships in Gravenhurst Friday July 30th and Saturday July 31st, so make sure you make it out to ride/demo boards/watch the best riders in Ontario throw down for the series title.

Erika Langman

Results:

Newbie Boys:

1. Troy Quinn

Newbie Girls

1. Jackie Sakaguchi

2. Jodi Lynn

Beginner Boys:

1 P.J McFarlane

2 Remi    Diagle

3 John   VanGrunsven

4 Max   Gillham

5 Adam   Vanhone

6 Isaac Fairfield

Beginner Girls

1. Doesenburg Lisa

2. Doesenburg Sarah

Intermediate Girls

1.Chiappa Kelsey

2.Noel Marie-France

3.Boileaux Jocelynn

4.Alporte Natalie

5.Tenwesteneind Emily

Amateur Wakeskate

1 Seguin Dan

2 Leblanc Laurie

3 Primrose Christian

4 Fvlaming Josh

5 Lowery Mitch

6 Fiarfield Max

Open Women’s Wakeskate:

1. Timmy MacNamee

2. Natalie Alporte

Open Men’s Wakeskate FINAL

1. Dan Brown

2. Brady Hicks

3. Mark Norris

1. Tommy Bailey
2. Laurie Leblanc
3. Dan Seguin
4. Andy Milovanovic

Intermediate Men’s FINAL:

1. Logan Enright

2. Pat Harder

3. Mitch Lowery

4. Logan Rettie

Intermediate Men’s Qualifiers:

Heat 1:

1. Mitch Lowry

1. Logan Rettie
2. Alex Normandeau
3. Ben Hicks

Heat 2.

1. Logan Enright
2. Pat Harder
3. Will Morris
4. Dylan Kirn

Open Men Quaterfinals

Heat 1

1.Gavin Hicks

1. Chris Sickic
2. Mark Norris
3. Aaron Kirn
4. Jordan Sien

Heat 2

1. Christian Primrose
2. Frank Good
3. Jeremy Eckford
4. Dary Znebel – DNS

Heat 3

1. Robbie McMillen
2. Andy Milovanovic
3. Jordan Long
4. Dom Siroirs

Open Men’s Semi-Finals

Heat 1.

1. Frank Good
2. Gavin Hicks
3. Andy Milovanovic

Heat 2.

1. Christian Primrose
2. Jordan Long
3. Chris Sikic

Heat 3.

1. Robbie McMillen
2. Mark Norris
3. Jeremy Eckford

Open Men’s Wakeboard FINAL

1. Gavin Hicks

2. Robbie McMillen

3. Christian Primrose

Click here to view the embedded video.

Erika Langman

Results:

Newbie Boys:

Peter Newstead

Newbie Girls

1. Marla Henderson

2. Ciara Cipollia

Mackenzie Johanson

Beginner Boys

John VanGrunsven

Beginner Girls

Kristine Tomlinson

Intermediate Girls

Ally Boothroyd

Kristine Tomlinson

Open Women’s Wakeskate

Ally Boothroyd

Amateur Wakeskate

Laurie Leblanc

 Austin Farr

 Mitchell Lowery

Dylan Kirn

Justin LaRue

Peter Newstead

Intermediate Men’s Qualifiers

Heat 1

Mitchell Lowery  66.7

 Jono Boysen 56.6

 Mike Case 46.6

Ben Hicks 36.6

 Matt Udon 26.6

Heat 2

Robbie Hicks 66.6

Greg Frankovich 56.6

Logan Rettie 50

Will Morris 40

Aaron Brown 30

Heat 3

Dylan Kirn 76.6

Logan Enright 66.6

Riley Jones 56.6

Harrison Carter 43.3

Scotty Boysen 33.3

Intermediate Semi – Finals

Heat 1

Robbie Hicks  60

 Logan Enright  43

Riley Jones   40

Heat 2

Mitchell Lowery  70

Greg Frankovich 60

Logan Rettie 50

Heat 3

Dylan Kirn 73

Mike Case  63

Ben Hicks  46

Intermediate Finals

Dylan Kirn 73

Robbie Hicks  70

Mitchell Lowery 60

Open Men’s Wakeskate

Heat 1

Chris Hau  60

Addison Farr  46.6

 Jono Boysen  43.3

Austin Farr  36.6

Heat 2

Brady Hicks 66.6

Scotty Boysen 53.3

Adam Lewis 46.6

Laurie Leblanc 43.3

Open Wakeskate Final

Brady Hicks 63

Chris Hau  43

Scotty Boysen  33

 Austin Farr 20

Open Men’s Wakeboard – Qualifiers

Heat 1

Dave Tsyuki  86.6

Brayden Jones 76.6

Christian Primrose 66.6

Aaron Kirn 56.6

Dylan Rivait 43.3

Heat 2

Robbie McMillen 83.3

Chad Rivait 73.3

Chris Sinki 53.3

Jordan Long 43.3

Heat 3

Gavin Hicks  86.6

Andy Milovanovich 76.6

Andrew McIvor 63.3

Dary Zneble  50

 Mikey Henry 40

Open Men’s Wakeboard Semi-Finals

Heat 1

Robbie McMillen 80

Chris Sinki 60.6

Brayden Jone 54

Heat 2

Christian Primrose  79

Gavin Hicks  73.3

Andy Milovanovich 46.6

Heat 3

Dave Tsyuki 83.3

Chad Rivait 66.6

Andrew McIvor 56.6

Open Men’s FINAL

Robbie McMillen 83.3

Christian Primrose 73.3

Dave Tsyuki 50

Open Women’s FINAL

Erika Langman, Leslie Sparkes, Kayle McMillen and Tiff Tsyuki all kicked butt organizing, judging, driving and managing the dock. Yeah ladies.

Click here to view the embedded video.