#cablenats13

Yan Tibo backside 270 transfer. Pointe Calumet, QC.

photo: Johny Bonney

Meth-ed.

Johny BC Method from Craig McCallion on Vimeo.

The National Aftermath.

Yesterday was a sight to be seen. The 2012 Canadian Cable Championships took place in the unique environment that is “le Beach Club”, Canada’s first full sized cable park.

Upon my arrival I was quickly overwhelmed with all the faces I recognized on the dock and on the water. Mavrey, Dustin, Tibo, Savoie, Kelsey, Dylan, Robbie, Andy, Drew, Braden, Ally, Erika, Balzer, Oli, Ben, Trudel, Vince, Joe, Christian, Jono, and countless others. Never have I seen the number of riders outnumber enthusiastic partygoers at the Beach Club! Woah.

Not sure if the organizers anticipated such a big turnout, but Canadian cable riding was alive and well. And although time was not on our side this day, we cannot lose sight of what was accomplished.

First off, let’s give it up for Drew Austin who split his cheek open in practice after taking his own knee to the face. Although the subsequent trip to the hospital forced him to pull out of the men’s expression session qualifiers, he returned only to prove his worth in the obstacles only round.

Speaking of the obstacles only category, the Derome brothers were there and participated in the pro division. It was a real treat for all those in attendance to see these boys ride.

Watching Braden Ioi become Canada’s newest wakeskate champion was pretty special and capped off what was surely a breakout season for the 19 year-old who started wakeskating on his own just a few years back with only a winch to his name.

On the women’s side, it was again the youth leading the way with 18 year-old Carmelle Côté-Ouellett becoming Canada’s first female national cable champion. In stomping a backside three off the kicker, Carmelle had sent the ladies packing with some homework to do.

But I think the crowning moment was the men’s expression session final. As the sun was setting on this beautiful day, after spectators and ravers were long gong; all there remained were all the boys on the dock ready to show each other up. It was a great mix of youth and experience with Tibo, Mavrey, Ben, Christian, Jesse, and Jordan in the final

Tibo had his best run of the day, stomping a huge cab 9, and a stylish front roll to fakie tail grab, to claim his second consecutive national title. To do it in style like that on his home turf is an experience that I’m sure he’ll never forget, and nor will I. The smile on his face and sense of accomplishment was all but infectiously glorious.

Unfortunately I was unable to stay for the celebration that was sure to follow. On the drive home with my brother Justin, we excitedly discussed the events of the day only to arrive at the conclusion that it was all in all a great day both on and off the water.

The 2012 Canadian Cable Championships achieved a benchmark for the sport. It showcased tremendous growth since last year’s inaugural event and a new generation of Canadian riders. I can only hope that this will be a sign of things to come. 

from www.wake2wake.ca

The National.

Tomorrow is the (drum roll please, trumpets sound) 2012 Canadian Cable championships, taking place at my adoptive home cable le Beach Club in Pointe-Calumet, QC. I will be there tomorrow, riding, and therefore "competing". 

Not sure if that's exactly what I'll be doing, but I'm cool with that. Instead I'm gonna focus on expressing the aesthetic significance of wakeboarding, a.k.a STYLE. I'm not going to lie though, having the opportunity to showcase your talent on the national stage is pretty fun and awe-inspiring.

The ultimate goal however is progression, you want wakeboarding to be that much better at the end of the contest than when it began. The 2012 Wake Championships going down right now at the Derome's in St-Zotique, QC, have already proven so. And so I truly believe that with the talent set to descend upon the Beach Club tomorrow, we will have witnessed the best, most complete, most progressive, and most styled Canadian Nationals ever. 

At this time I would like to commend the efforts of Wake Canada, Waterski and Wakeboard Canada, and all those involved for bringing together the 2012 Wake and Cable Championships in one amazing weekend of riding. Well done.

from www.wake2wake.ca

Free ridin' gypsies Pt.2 - new edit!!

Free ridin' gypsies (Pt. 2) from Johny Bonney on Vimeo.
July was crazy fun month for me. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel from Ottawa to Timmins, back to Ottawa to Winnipeg, back to Ottawa to St-Zotique and to Trois-Rivières, and then back again. Confused? Tell me about it. Shit at the end of all that, it was already August!

Here's part two which features myself, Johny Bonney riding at Beach Club and the Derome's, Charles Sirois, Craig McCallion (Slaysh, Halfcab Productions), and my bro Justin Bonney (Billabong) at the Derome's as well. The footage from Trois-Rivières, Québec, is from a winch contest called Wake Dans Rue (Proam Productions) and features Ben Leclerc (Slingshot, Axis, Billabong, Etnies, Dragon), Yan Tibo (CTRL wakeboards, Axis, Go Fast energy drink, von zipper), Alex Savoie (Liquid Force, Sharks, O'neill, Dragon), and Max Cartier (O'Brien wakeboards).

Needless to say that I got lots of riding done, visited some cool places, and met some even cooler people along the way.


FREE RIDE MORE.- theboomboxdream.com -

Wake'n in da street dere in Trois Rivières, Québec!

This weekend's mission took me to Trois Rivières, Québec. A small, and quaint little town pretty much halfway between Montréal and Québec City. I made the decision to go after waking up Saturday morning and having nothing really better to do on a beautiful hot sunny day. The reason for my slight hesitation was that I would first need to catch a bus to montreal at 11 am, then  board a "train de banlieu" for a 35min ride to Deux-Montagnes to meet up with Tibo, and then finally make the drive to Three Rivers. Amazingly everything lined up smooth as!

Once in Deux-Montagnes, Tibo was nice enough to drive some new friends I had made on the train and who were looking to make it to the Beach Club. So after dropping them off, we were on our way to Alex Savoie's, a.k.a Mr. Wake QC. And being the environmentalists we are, we all decided to pack into Savoie's truck and car pool our way to the 2011 edition of Wake Dans Rue in Trois Rivières.

(Arnauld going down, shoulder first)

(Marie-Line holding it down)

As per usual the setup was a good mix of fun and sketchyness. But it was really cool to know that this year's setup was designed by Raph Derome himself. Both boys AND girls were throwing down with of course the odd entertaining bail. (props to our boy Arnauld who sustained a dislocated shoulder, we wish you a speedy recovery bro!).

At the end of it all it was Yan Tibo in third, Alex Savoie in second, and p'tit Benjamin Leclair taking first place with 500$!

(Tibo's test run)

So after a few beers and having to pick up our man Arnauld at the hospital, we decided to call it a night and head back to Montreal. The next morning I headed over to check out Tibo's pimpin' new pad and for some delicious peanut butter toast. We then headed to the Beach Club for a shred on the cable with Seb Toots (yes he can also rip on a wakeboard!). So ya just another super fun trip and mission on a whim in the belle province of Québec! 

thank you Tibo, Savoie, and Stacey for some sweet québecois hospitality!! à la prochaine mes amies...