Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard, is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboarding is the attempted performance of midair tricks. Wakeboarding was developed from a combination of water skiing, snowboarding and surfing techniques.
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games.
Boardsports are active outdoor sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment. These sports take place on a variety of terrain, from paved flat-ground and snow-covered hills to water and air. Most boardsports are considered action sports or extreme sports, and thus often appeal to youth. Some board sports were marginalized in the past. However, many board sports are gaining mainstream recognition, and with this recognition have enjoyed wider broadcast, sponsorship and inclusion in institutional sporting events, including the Olympic Games.
Water skiing is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires sufficient area on a stretch of water, one or two skis, a tow boat with tow rope, two or three people, and a personal flotation device. In addition, the skier must have adequate upper and lower body strength, muscular endurance, and good balance.
Mat Hoffman is an American BMX rider who is considered one of the best vert ramp riders in the history of the sport. He is nicknamed "The Condor" and runs the BMX Freestyle brand Hoffman BMX Bikes based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was contracted to ride for Haro Bikes.
The International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) is the world governing body for all towed water sports. Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1946, it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the sole authority governing all towed water sports and has 91 affiliated member federations worldwide. The IWWF is also an affiliate member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and is one of the seven founding sports of the World Games.
Kristi Leskinen is an American freestyle skier. At Winter X Games IX, Leskinen won a bronze medal in the Women's Superpipe. Kristi Leskinen was the first woman to ever pull off a rodeo 720—two rotations with her head pointed towards the earth. She was named one of the Twenty Greatest Adventure Sport Athletes of today by Faces Magazine in fall of 2005. She appeared on the cover of Powder magazine's Photo Annual in 2004.
Hyperlite Wake Mfg. is a manufacturing company that was established in 1991 in Redmond, Washington. The company manufactures a variety of water sports equipment including wakeboards, wakesurfs, vest, paddleboards and more.
Shaun Murray is an American four-time World champion wakeboarder, and the main character featured in Activision O2's video game Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray developed by Shaba Games and released on June 3, 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Game Boy Advance. A PC port was developed by Beenox and published by Aspyr, releasing on December 22, 2003. A playable demo version of the game was available in the Options menu for the PlayStation 2 version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.
Cable skiing is a way to water ski, in which the skier's rope and handle are pulled by an electrically-driven cable, whereas traditionally a waterskier is pulled by a motorboat. The mechanism consists of two cables running parallel to one another with carriers between them every 80 metres. The carriers are metal tubes that can hook up tow ropes with riders. Tow ropes are detached and attached at the same time without slowing the system down, which is a main reason for its high efficiency. With a main cable of 800 metres long, 10 riders can waterski or wakeboard at the same time. The speed of the main cable can be up to 38 mph (61 km/h), and slalom skiers can reach much higher speeds. The most common speed is 19 mph (31 km/h), which suits wakeboarders best.
Wakesurfing is a water sport in which a rider trails behind a boat, riding the boat's wake without being directly pulled by the boat. After getting up on the wake, typically by use of a tow rope, the wakesurfers will drop the rope, and ride the steep face below the wave's peak in a fashion reminiscent of surfing. Wakesurfers generally use special boards, designed specifically for wakes.
Nautique is an American boat manufacturer that produces boats primarily for waterskiing, wakeboarding and wakesurfing. With models in the Super Air Nautique and Ski Nautique lines, they are widely considered the gold standard in the inboard towboat market. Owned by parent company, Correct Craft, Nautique is a member of the oldest family-owned and operated boat manufacturer in the world.
Zane Schwenk is a professional Wakeboarder. He now lives in Winter Haven, Florida. He started professional wakeboarding in 1993 and is still active in the sport today. 2008 marked his 15th year as a Professional, he has also competed in the X Games. He is host of the MasterCraft Video series Rewind. Schwenk also has his own line of CWB wakeboards, the Absolute. Schwenk's sponsors include: CWB Wakeboards, Proline Ropes & Handles, MasterCraft Boats, Spy Optics, Rusty Clothing.
Parks Bonifay is an American professional wakeboarder.
Dallas Friday is an American wakeboarder. Her competition victories include four X Games gold medals and several World Wakeboarding Titles. She has also won the ESPN ESPY Award for Best Female Action Sports Athlete.
Rusty Malinoski, known as Bone crusher, is a Canadian professional wakeboarder who was the first athlete to successfully land a 1080° in a wakeboard competition.
Danny Harf is an American professional wakeboarder and sports video producer.
Raimi Merritt is a professional wakeboarder and is one of the top female athletes in the sport of wakeboarding.
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