Hidden Valley Resort in Huntsville hosted the first Canadian Wakeboard Championships (which also included kneeboarding as an event as well), in August of 1996. What was anticipated to be a fairly local affair turned into an event with over 100 registered riders from all over the country. Jake Thomas and I were asked to Emcee the event and also took turns judging and driving the competition just to make it all happen. During this time competitions were judged similarly to trick skiing, where each trick was assigned a point value (plus an extra 50 points if you did a grab, and 100 points if you did it switch!). Riders would complete an “Attack Sheet” and give it to the judges before they left the dock. Each competitor was judged on whether they completed their prescribed tricks, additional tricks not indicated were not scored. In a gesture of support for the exploding Canadian wakeboard movement, both Jeremy Kovak and Jeff Heer (Canada’s only full time Pro Tour competitors at the time), made the trek north for the event as well. Imagine the Double Up Contest where we unveiled the first “10Ft Pole” on a centre engine ski boat and Jeremy had to explain to the driver what a Double Up looked like and how to drive one. I can still remember Kovak’s winning Lawn Dart front flip. HUGE. Everyone flocked to the beach welcome him back to shore. Both he and Jeff Heer raised the bar of what was possible in everyone’s mind with their presence, their advice and of course their skill sets.
In 1997, some small local events began to pop up from local organizers and locals shops. Riders began to develop very different styles and personalities on the water, so competitions now began to use a criteria of “style points” in addition to the pure trick points system. It was easy to see that riders craved the interaction of other riders at these competitions, and it was clear to everyone involved that the sport was progressing faster than the governing bodies could keep up. In 1998, a new position was created on the Ontario Water Ski Association board of directors (now Waterski and Wakeboard Ontario). The position was called VP Wakeboard – and I was asked to fill it by then President, Paul Roberts ( he currently owns SummerSki in Newmarket, where Jono Boysen operates The Ranch wake cable park). From 1998 to 2000, with a mandate to increase membership for the lagging revenues of the OWSA, I oversaw the development of a mini tour that operated at small venues across cottage country, and helped create some of the first administration for wakeboarding in Canada. Kids, youths and adults came out from all over to compete in their age divisions. Each age division was subdivided into ability categories (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) and then the winner of each age division in the Advanced categories all competed at the end of the day for the “Open Title”. The age divisions were a little awkward when there was only one per category, but such was the development path as we slowly pulled away from the standards of waterskiing.
As a sign of what was to come, in 1998 in Ontario we began to use an early version of Expression Session judging format from the World Wakeboard Association, even though it was still not recognized yet by Water Ski Canada (now Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada – much more on this name change in future blogs). Each rider was now judged out of 10 points on three categories – Amplitude, Intensity and Technical. No longer were there points simply for completing tricks. This single change caused its own revolution in the competition scene. Now riders were attempting to impress judges with amplitude (size/height), Intensity (grabs/style) and Technical (degree of difficulty). Wakeboarders from all over Ontario began to use the events as a forum to exchange ideas, push each other and push the envelope of what was happening on the water. Word was now starting to spread about the Muskoka scene in the wakeboard community outside Ontario.
Next Week Wakeboarding Snowbirds
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