Jonathan Tollefson

Hell yeah folks!  Last weekend I drove 1500+ miles (round trip) to chill with friends and family, and to watch the best Wakesurfers in the world compete at the 2010 World Wakesurfing Championship in Minneapolis, MN!  With a purse of $35k worth of giveaways and cash prizes, this event was off the hook, and you should have been there.

Todd Gaughan from Towanza Wakesurfing is the man behind this three day World Wakesurf Championship, and we need to give him props for putting an event like this together.  He was also backed by sponsors such as Centurion Boats, The Walker Project, Wake Shredder, Phase Five, Grind Water, and Flyboy Wakesurf boards to name a few.  I missed out on a bunch of the action, and was only able to make the event on Saturday due to BS vacation days and a desk J-O-B.  No worries though, I made the best out of it and I am super pumped I made the trip!  

Grabbing a quick pic next to the voice of the World Wakesurf Championship, Stanley Wheelhouse.  This guy talked his face off for over 12 hrs on Saturday!  Killer job man.

I had the chance to chill with James Walker owner of Flyboy Wakesurf Boards before his winning run on Saturday.  The kid threw down, and his boards couldn’t be more legit!  Congrats to him for winning the Surf Division.  Keep on pushing us all man!

To my right is Chase Hazen eating some potatoes after his 2nd place podium run.  He rides for Shred Stixx, Slaysh Tank, and many others.  Cool kid, and he flies on a board.  To my left is Sean Cummings throwing his signature Wake Shredder hand signals.  He rides for Inland Surfer and is the rightful owner of Wake Shredder.  It was great to meet both of you, and be sure to watch for these two as they continue to revolutionize wakesurfing.

This is Brian Baker ladies and gentlemen.  Brian represents Darin Shapiro’s company, Grindwater Sports. He is one of the only riders from Minneapolis, MN to compete in the finals, and Brian stepped up third on the podium in the armature surf division.  Congrats, thanks for representing the Midwest, and I hope to see more of you in the near future.

Shown here are all of the boards that were up for grabs in the $35k purse.  The Walker Project is there, along with Phase five, Triple X, and Inland Surfer.  Is this enough to get you to the next event?  I hope so!  Who knows, a boat could be on the line next.

I also have to throw my hands up to the 9 different countries that were represented at the Championship.  I wish I was able to meet all of you.  Another time, another day.  For those of you who are wondering if there were ladies at this event?  You better believe it.  Women such as Bri Chmel and Rebecca Ort threw down and both took home first place checks!  Next time I see you I will introduce myself and look forward to talking with you!

Wakesurfing, it’s where the action is at.  Are you in?  Because this is just another way to make sure that you are boarding the Midwest all day, everyday!

For the final results, CLICK HERE!

When you buy good snowboard equipment, you hope that it will never break or fall apart.  Well let me be the first to tell you that this is not the case.  No matter what kind of equipment you have, you are going to have to maintenance it at some point.  I want to help you get through the day without any snowboard issues because I don’t want you to have to cruise all the way back to the car from the back country with a loose binding or a missing strap saying “I’m an idiot; I should have brought my snowboard tool.”

Believe me it will happen.  Bindings come loose and straps fall off for no reason at all.  Take a look at the picture above.  This is me struggling to fix a loose strap on my binding with a screw driver that is used to fix skis.  At the start of the day, I always try to check my equipment before I get out on the hill, but for some reason I will still end up with a screwy binding screw that will come loose half way through the day.  This usually happens right before I am about to drop into an trackless powder bowl.  For this reason I have learned that everyone should bring a snowboard tool.

Tools are easy to find at your local shop, and they are fairly inexpensive.  Find one that is small, has many tools in one, and one that will fit nicely in your pocket.  Take it with you even though you might not want to.  It can save you an hour or two if you bring it.  You may never need it, and if this is the case, I say that you are lucky.  Take my advice, and make sure to thank me when you get to shred through the powder with tight bindings.  Loose screws happen to everyone.  Bringing your tool with you will only solidify that you will be able to snowboard all day, everyday.

In the last week we were only able to get out and wakeboard one time.  During this time I figured I should start sharing lessons that we have learned while we are on the boat.  So from last week, here is what went down.

Lets start with our good friend Mickey.  This last week was Mickey’s first time out for the season.  What do most people do their first time out on the water?  They feel like gold.  This was exactly what Mickey was feeling as he was getting comfortable riding.  The only thing about feeling golden the first day out is that you try tricks that are over your ability.  This leads to injury.  Lucky for us and Mickey, he only ended up with a stressed ankle.  He was still able to walk and the hurt only lasted the night.  Pushing the limits from the git go is always a means of disaster.  The lesson, take it slow your first few times out.  Really make sure you have the fundamental skills of wakeboarding down packed before you move onto more advanced tricks.  Your season will last a lot longer, and your wakeboarding skills will progress twice as fast if you have the fundamentals dialed. 

What have you learned that could save people from getting injuries early in the season?  Any tip is a good tip, as long as it helps all of us board all day, everyday!

To snowboard during the summer in the Midwest is nearly impossible.  UNTIL TODAY!  I just found something I never knew existed.  Check it out!  Located in Ohio is the Ohio Dreams Action Sports Camp.  They have taken snowboarding, swimming, and summer and made a combo out of all three.  This pumps up my tires.  Ohio Dreams has a water ramp that allows you to snowboard down the hill turning and carving like you would on the snow.  To end your run, the water ramp turns into three jumps which all lead right into a giant water oasis.   At this point you can decide to take laps in the pool, or you could take your snowboard off and walk back up to the top where you can take another chance at landing that Backside Rodeo 5.  Your choice.

There is only one issue I see with Ohio Dreams.  Wet Equipment.  This is easily solved with old equipment.  Grab your old gear, or steal your buddies boots because everyone including myself needs to get out and try this.  Click on the picture above to check out more of what is going on at the Ohio Dreams Action Sports Camp.

Honestly this makes so much sense.  You can practice any trick you would like to stomp next winter.  This takes safety to the next level and this is a great way to train everyone who wants to hit a jump on a snowboard next winter.   Midwest riders?!?! Are you in?

Skinny, fat, black, white, big headed, ugly, cute, stupid, blind, deaf, crazy, addict, frugal, rich, blue, pink, albino, F-student, metal worker, horse manure picker upper, head in the sand, I hope I didn’t leave you out!  What I want you to know is that YOU can get behind a boat and wakeboard and wakesurf.

One of the best reasons I hear from people who don’t want to give these sports a try is “I can’t do that, I’m too old.”  Do you want to know what I think about statements like this?  It’s Crap!  Why don’t you just say that you don’t want to do it?  This is really what you are saying, anyway.  Don’t use an excuse, just say that you are not interested.  This will allow me to move on and talk about something in your life that you are interested in.  I won’t hate you, you can still be my friend, and I am sure that there is something we can talk about.  Do you like apples?

On the bright side, if you can get out of a chair, you can get up on a wakeboard or wakesurf board.  I know kids 5 years old that wakeboard, and I know people 60 years old that wakesurf.  So if you have the itch and think that you would like to give these sports a try, you should because you can.

If you don’t have a boat to get out on, or you don’t know anyone who has a boat, there are still many ways that you can Still Get Into It.  I encourage everyone to get out on a boat if you even have the slightest feeling that you would like to give these sports a try.  There is only one way to tell if you will like them or not, and that is to give them a try!

Do you have any stories or good excuses that you have heard.  It is always fun to hear how people get out of stuff that they really don’t want to do.  Please Share!!