Saturday, September 14th kicked off the fourth stop of the 2002 cable wakeboard tour. Held at the newly constructed Texas Ski Ranch, the event proved to be a huge success. The competition attracted not only local Texas riders, but also riders from Florida and even Canada. There was a division for everybody, spanning from Amateur Wakeskate all the way to Pro Men. Poor weather conditions didn't stop any of the riders from going big and laying it all on the line for the first ever cable competition in Texas.
One of the highlights of the weekend occurred when the riders competed in a big air competition Saturday evening. The competition inspired riders to try moves such as Half-Cab double back rolls and triple S-Bends. First place ended up being a tie between Rob Mapp and Chris Ramirez. Rob stuck a huge KGB and Chris stomped an insanely big Indy grab off the kicker.
At finals on Sunday, Kurtis Rauhaut dominated the Mens division by sticking big Krypts, an Indy Tantrum off the kicker, and a huge Whirlybird off the kicker. There was also some great riding performed by local riders Matt Lockwood and Jacob Koncak. Second place finisher, Matt Lockwood, was clearly one of the more accomplished riders on the rail slides. Matt stuck a number of technical slides including a frontside boardslide to backside 450 off the ramp, a frontside boardslide to 270 off the half-rainbow slider, and a 270 on to 90 off the Rave slider. Koncak took the third place spot by sticking clean passes consisting of smooth rolls and Raleys.
The pro division was easily the most exciting division to watch with the top three riders all throwing S-Bends to blind and double S-Bends in their passes. Fifth place finisher and fellow wake-lister, Chad Forrest, didn't end up sticking all the tricks that he wanted to, but he still managed to pull off one of the craziest moves of the event by throwing down his signature "suicide slide." Fourth place finisher, Daniel Mavre, stood up two clean passes and showed that cable riding isn't just about doing inverts by sticking a sick Mute 540 off the kicker. Third place finisher, Keith Lidberg, wowed the crowd by throwing down an Indy S-Bend to blind, heelside Mobe, and the first time ever in a competition, back roll to Ole'. Coming in second, Rob Mapp threw the biggest tricks and stuck a huge roll to blind and an even bigger KGB. First place and $750 went to Donald Shelbrick. Of all the riders, Donald was the most consistent and he pulled moves that no other riders even attempted, including a toeside 313.
Congratulations to all the riders! A big thanks is in order to Texas Ski Ranch for putting on the event and for providing a great place for everyone to wakeboard. Look for a review of Texas Ski Ranch in the near future.
