Top athletes, bands, parties and hot sun lure the masses to Canada’s premier wakeboard event.

Millennium Park, Collingwood Harbour was the new location for this 4^th stop on the WWA World Series. Situated on a cozy patch of peninsula, the grounds allowed you to take in the bands, a part of the course, and the rowdies in the beer garden. The first day of Wakestock got under way a little later than normal for some of the Pros (who may, or may not have, stayed up late paying proper homage to the AC/DC cover band the night before at the Monster Energy athlete party). But not all the pros got to sleep in. After all, there were qualifiers to battle in and opportunities for youngblood amateurs to make a name for themselves. In the wakeskate category, the two Canadians to advance to the finals were Monster Energy athlete James Balzer and Dan Brown. On the wakeboard side, two names at the top of their heats and at the top of their game were Monster Energy’s Harley Clifford (AUS) and Bob Soven (USA). This is Harley’s first year on the Pro Tour and he’s leading the charge and it’s Bob’s first Pro contest after dominating the Jr. Pro Men’s division (and just over one week later Bob would go on to win his 5th straight MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour event, in Reno Nevada, making him the first rider to ever sweep the Jr. Pro Men’s division.). Swish!

As Wakestock began to properly unfold, drinking throats and good vibes were in full force at the Monster Energy After Party at Rusty’s Bar at the base of Blue Mountain.  The venue was packed and you couldn’t squeeze a toot into the bar after 10:30pm. The crowd was eager to keep rolling with the daytime vibe and maybe get a word or a high five in with the athletes in the house. So when DJ Pump and DJ Hedspin of the EH! Team DJs finally put the needle on the record everybody lost control; for some people that also meant their shirts and their permission to be in the bar. SBC photographer Russell Dalby (who has the fall cover of SBC Snowboard) was there to capture it better than my writing can. Bob Soven figures it was the “best party I’ve ever been to”…I think it’s because he had Lionel Ritchie’s “Dancing on Ceiling” running through his head after it became the theme song for the Monster Energy team’s trip up to Canada.

Sunday began with a violent thunderstorm that delayed the Malibu Boats Pro Wakeskate and Billabong Pro Wakeboard finals for several hours. However, as the clouds moved on to attack drier pastures, the sun emerged with fiery vengeance and the water became glassy. Nature had pressed the ON! button. Past champion Brian Grubb took the wakeskate top position. The top wakeboard spot was taken by Aaron Rathy (CDN), followed by Phillip Soven (USA), and in third place Monster Energy athlete Harley Clifford. It certainly wasn’t a cakewalk to the podium, the four man final was loaded with current rulers: Rathy being the King of Wake overall points leader, Soven being the WWA World Series overall points leader, Clifford is the Pro Wakeboard Tour overall points leader and Soven is the Jr. Men’s Pro Wakeboard Tour overall points leader. Overall amazing.

“This is unreal; I’m super stoked to win Wakestock,” Rathy was quoted on SBCwakeboard.com. “Especially considering how good everyone was riding here. The Wakestock crowd is so big and so close it really makes riding a lot of fun. Rusty [Malinoski] told me that I’m only the third Canadian ever to win along with him and Jeff Heer so it feels good to be in that company.”