Westbound Boarder

Wake Jam 2009 has already come and gone. The competition was stellar and the riders were incredible. Unfortunately no ladies took on the double-up, but Danny Harf sure did make it count. Mr. Harf took home the ca$h prize of 10,000 big ones by sticking a backside 720. Everyone was really pushed the wakeboarding limits and even though we didn’t get to witness a 1080, we saw some pretty awesome (and sometime comical) attempts. Check out our Wake Jam 2009 pics!

It’s here! And the action starts today. PDX WAKE JAM 2009 is bringin you live music, beer, sunshine and oh yeah, wakeboarding! It all starts with the live music, and swag and then onto the wakeboarding qualifiers for Friday. It really heats up on Saturday form 11am-11pm when the wakeboard comp really begins. It commences with 20 riders who get two double ups each, onto the semi finals where the top ten riders get three double ups each and then saving the best five for last, who get four double ups each. An FYI for those of you who are not familiar, a double up is when the boat driver makes a circular pattern and cuts back over their own wake, creating a wake two-three times normal, giving the rider opportunity for HUGE air. Think of this as a big air contest vs. a slopestyle comp. To say the least - It’s going to be siiick. To sum up the festivities Saturday night, WAKE JAM is bringin you a FMX motocross exhibition (featuring Justin Homan)!

But that is not all. The wakboard pros are competing for $10K and all the pride on the river. So come and see pro wakeboarder, Danny Harf and motocross superstar Justin Homan break wake and moto records this weekend July 31st and Aug. 1st. And I almost forgot! It’s all happening Downtown Portland, OR at Tom McCall’s Waterfront Park and since this is in my back yard, I will definitely be seeing you there.

Believe it or not, wakeboard season is coming up quickly!  And there’s one thing I love almost just as much as boarding myself, and that’s watching the real pros do it.  Summer wake shows are so much fun, and I always love watching the sick tricks they can do.  However, I’ve never seen anything like the Red Bull Wake Lab before (seriously, watch the video.  It’s a minute long and it’s frickin’ awesome!)  Basically, the Red Bull Wake Lab is like an entire skate park on water, and April 4 - 5 in Tempe, AZ, you can watch the pros hit it big during its second show.  

Red Bul Wake Lab made its debut in Orlando, FL in September of last year, where the company invited 24 pro riders to check out the park.  The course was influenced by skate and snow parks and lives to really test the limits of wakeboarding to see just how far it can go.

If your interested in attending the Red Bull Wake Lab this weekend, a ticket for the 2009 Circle K Tempe Music Festival is required. Tickets can be purchased at www.livenation.com, www.tempemusicfestival.com, Dodge Theatre Box Office, Tempe Market Place Guest Services or by phone at 1-800-594-TIXX. Advance tickets will be priced at $35.00 and will increase to $45.00 the week of the festival, and you can get a $5.00 off coupon at Circle K stores.

For some reason the link to Red Bull’s site is broken, but we’ll update this post with more details soon and let you know where you can watch footage of the comp. on your home computer screen.  Should be a fun one!

For those of you who are sick of “rainin’ men,” don’t worry, ‘cause now it’s snowin’ ladies! OK, I realize that’s a pretty bad pun, but you get the point – it’s time to hear it for the women riders for a change.

Hold up; Let me take a step back. My name is Andrea and I’ve been an avid boarder for as long as I remember. My first time on a snowboard was at the age of 12 (well, I started skiing at age 2, but let’s not surface those horrid memories ) and since then I can’t imagine a life without it. I competed on my high school’s snowboard team for four years (where I met my best buddy and co-author of this fabulous blog) and went on to compete in several amateur competitions during college. After high school I took up wakeboarding, wakesurfing, waterskiing, and now that I live in Los Angeles, surfing.  Though I can’t claim to be an “expert” in any one category, I have fully embraced the boardsports lifestyle.

But back to high school for a moment – Dani and I were two of six ladies on the school’s snowboard team - a team of nearly 60. Sometimes singled out as two of the few girls in a traditionally male-dominated sport, we had our work cut out for us (and the fact that I painted the school with green and gold pom-poms four nights a week – yes, I was a cheerleader in my second life – didn’t help my image much, either). Let’s face it – sometimes it’s tough being a girl on the slopes. But then there are those times when you step up to the edge of the pipe, a group of 30+ people in line behind you, put on your goggles and leap in, hearing echos of the words, “Woah, that’s a girl?!” behind you. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.

As I mentioned above, we aren’t by any means “expert” riders, but we do know a thing or two about the sport and we’d love to share our knowledge about being a lady who loves to ride. This blog is for anyone who loves snowboarding, surfing, skating, etc. – or wants to learn – at all different levels. As the seasons continue to change from white to blue, we’ll discuss everything from snowboarding to surfing; what to wear, where to to go, and everything in between. (And we’d love to hear your content suggestions, too!) Our hope and vision for the future is to create an open blogging community for women who love to ride.  

Anyway, about the blog – Let us know what you think. If you have a question you’d like answered, an idea for a story, a photo or video to share – we want to hear from you! Shoot us an e-mail at WestboundBoarder@gmail.com. Also check out our Facebook Fan Page.  Happy reading (and riding!)