Date: 07-06-2008
Liquid Force Press Release
All photography by Garrett Cortese.
In case you missed it, the ultimate BRO event went down this past week on the desert play land of Lake Powell. This was the third year of BROstock, and the third time really is the charm, because 2008 was by far the best yet. The double up contest added a new wrinkle to an otherwise amazing party week, and the $40,000 at stake brought out the best riders in the world.
Our BRO sponsors this year included Skullcandy, Alliance Multimedia, Malibu Boats , Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas, and presenting sponsor Monster Energy. They all came through big time, with Alliance on site all week shooting for FUEL TV's Daily Habit, The Weekly Update, and an episode of Pull. The Weekly Update will begin airing highlights of the event this next week, with our 30 minute Pull episode airing later this summer (stay tuned).
Friday featured another first at BROstock, the BRO-Shop Challenge. This was a double up contest for all pro shop/am riders. These guys competed against each other in a double up contest and the two winners would get the chance to ride the next day against the big boys for a chance to claim the $20,000 first place prize (or any of the rest of the massive purse). Pro shop riders came from all over the country, including Wake N' Skate in Virginia, Minnesota Inboard from Minneapolis , Performance from Orlando, as well as many other BRO shops . In the end it was Sports LTD's Chris Williams and and H20 Zone's Ross Brawner who took first and second respectively. Sports LTD took the overall title and won themselves a free houseboat trip for 2009!
Saturday was the big day as all the pros who were there would boost off some double ups for a chance at becoming $20,000 richer. The contest allowed each rider to hit three double ups of their choice and the best one would be judged by the three judges (Parks Bonifay, Bill McCaffray and Greg Nelson). All LF teamriders were riding BROstock edition boards, created specifically just for the event, which were a huge hit and blew everyone away.
Phillip, who many expected to bring out his switch crow 7, didn’t connect as well as he would have liked and was taken down by Chris O's huge, poked out tail grab roll to blind. Jimmy knocked out Rusty with his signature switch heel 9 that he seems to stomp like a it's nothing but a 180. Watkins managed to pull of his double back roll, but it was no match for the technicality and insanely clean indy Pete Rose put down by Ricky G. Tom Fooshee, the definite surprise of the day with his huge heel 9 easily took out JD (JD fell on all three double ups). The uber-bro heat of party lovers and Brostock bro-fessionals Ennen and Henshaw was a crowd favorite, and Henshaw took it with an indy backside 7.
The five man final was definitely a different list of names than what most might have expected going into the day, but they had all deserved it and everybody knew it was going to be insane (come on, there were $20,000 on the line, how could it not be?). In the end the youngest guy in the competition took home the bacon. Jimmy LaRiche continued to throw down his smooth as butter switch heel 9, and the judges deemed him the winner of the first ever BROstock Double Up Invitational.
Following the double up contest there was a huge party, which included a performance by Chuck D. and Jonny Juice of none other than Public Enemy. Let's just say the bro-ing down raged through the night and into the morning, all on the beautiful shores of Lake Powell.
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The second and final BROstock of 2008 will take place at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, July 19-20.
Our friends at Alliancewake.com have posted a great recap with photos at:
