news update :)

I have been having an awesome time since Jordan and I left Barcelona on 4th June.  After missing the train and then spending 15 hours on the bus to Cordoba, we finally arrived at Xtreme-Gene.  I spent a week riding and site seeing with my mom (who came over for a visit),Suzy, Alan, Jordan and Marcus.

On Friday 13th, Suzy, my mom, Jordan and I headed off to Seville by train.  We hired bicycles and spent a few days checking out the city, culture and night life as well as shredding every day at DoublewakeCablepark.  It was super hot, reaching 40+ degrees most days.

On Sunday night we caught the bus back to Marbella.  The weather has been really good and I have been spending a lot of time at Wakeboardcentre Marbella.  I have also had some fun outings with my mom and  the Elizondo-Darwin family.

On 21st June, I took part int he Vans Best Trick contest which was held at Wakeboard Centre, Marbella.  It was a fun contest and I managed to take first place which I was really happy about.

Last weekend, (28th June, also at Wakeboard Centre, Marbella) was the Superdry Best Trick contest and pool party.  I was happy to take 1st place again - landing a toeside backroll.  I was super stoked and am really enjoying my wakeboarding :) :)

We are off to Xtreme-Gene again today for the weekend, and then it's off to Barcelona next weekend for the Spanish Boat Nationals.

Thanks again to my sponsors - Roxy SA and Liquid Force for keeping me clothed and on the water !!!

Doublewake Cablepark, Seville

Vans Best Trick Contest

Vans Best Trick Contest

Superdry Best Trick Contest

OCP Barcelona || 1st Anniversary contest

I have been in Spain for 6 weeks already.  It's been awesome.  After spending a month at Xtreme-Gene, followed by a trip to Seville and Double Wakepark, and a few weeks at Marbella Wakeboard Centre, Jordan and I headed off to Barcelona last week by train.  We spent most of last week riding at OCP (Olimpic Cable Park).  It's a super fun cable with loads of awesome obstacles.  

This past weekend, I competed in a contest at Olimpic Wake Park.  It was the cables 1st year anniversary.  International Fox team riders, Bob Soven, Shaun Murray and Reed Hanson were the judges.  Bob Soven and Shaun Murray also did a pro show to entertain the crowd. 

There was an expression session as well as a kicker contest and you could choose to do one or the other.   I took part in the expression session.  Basically how it worked was, you had 20 minutes to complete 3 laps. You could do whatever you wanted to do in your 3 laps - airtricks and obstacles.  I managed to win the expression session which I was really happy about :)

Jordan took part in the best trick kicker contest and landed some sick tricks, but it just wasn't enough to put him through to the finals. It was a fun contest and I was really happy with my riding.

Every day is a good day here in Barcelona !!!!! :)

Thanks to Roxy SA for keeping my wardrobe stocked and to Liquidforce SA for keeping me on the water.:)

Leaving Marbella for Barcelona

OCP

Podium

cable nationals

Things have been really hectic the past few weeks with all the planning for my overseas trip.  In between all the planning and training for SA Nationals, I was lucky enough to do a film shoot which hopefully will be released soon. 

This past weekend - 12th and 13th April, was SA Cable Nationals which was held at StokeCity Wakepark in Johannesburg.  Unfortunately during practice on Friday, I pulled a muscle between my ribs on my back.  I was unable to ride qualifiers on Saturday as it was really sore.  I was prepared to  just do a lap so that I could qualify for finals on Sunday should I be OK to ride, but after discussions with the association, it was felt that it wasn't necessary as I was there and ready.  We managed to find a chiropractor who was willing to  see me on Saturday afternoon.  She massaged the muscle and did ultrasound.

When I woke up on Sunday, it felt a little better but was still quite painful.  I decided that I was going to try and ride and just see how it goes. 

I was super stoked on getting 1st place and the SA champ title for 2014 !!.  Jordan won the Pro Men division, so the two of us flew off to Spain on Sunday night after a very successful weekend.

A big thank you to my sponsors for all their support.

boat nationals 2014

SA Champs was held at Misverstand at the end of March 2014. We were greeted with perfect conditions all weekend. As usual, we had practise on Friday afternoon, Saturday was qualifiers and finals were held on Sunday. 

I managed to win qualifiers on Saturday but in the finals on Sunday i came second to a rider from the Netherlands. This means that i still got the SA champ title. My whole family came along to support my younger brother and i. He competed in the Junior men division and landed his first invert in his final run on Sunday which put him in 3rd place. 

All in all it was a fun weekend and a good way to end the boat season :) Thanks to my sponsors - Roxy and Liquid Force , for all the support! 

after my final run

1st-  Loes Linders
2nd- Melissa Colborne
3rd- Deidre van Niekerk

PWT stop 2

This past weekend (1-2 March) i took part in the PWT stop 2 at North End Lake in Port Elizabeth. My mom, Christopher, Jordan and I drove up to Knysna on Thursday and stayed over for the night. On Friday morning we left for PE and stopped over in J-Bay for lunch.

When we arrived at North End lake in PE, we were allowed a practise run.  Saturday morning we were up early and headed down to the lake for qualifiers. The conditions were not ideal as the wind was howling! I did not manage to stick the tricks i had planned but it was okay because I still had another chance in finals.

 On sunday morning we were greeted with prime weather. The sun was out and the water was glassy. I was pretty excited to get out on the water. My run went better than on Saturday which i was stoked about and I ended up winning the comp :D

On Sunday night we drove through to plett and stayed there for the night. We finished our journey home on monday. We made a couple stops on the way and arrived home on Monday night. All in all it was an awesome trip with good friends and fun riding!

Stoked after my final run

Courtney and i after our final run on Sunday

Prime conditions we were greeted with on Sunday for finals

We stopped over at Toms place in Sedgefield on our way home

1st- Melissa Colborne
2nd- Deidre van Niekerk
3rd- Courtney Scholtz

Scarecrow

Liquid Force shoot with Bianca Asher

Thanks for the pics Bianca, always a fun time shooting with you! :)

Ultimate X 2014

On the 1st of February I competed at Ultimate X.  Once again i was more than honoured to be invited. This was my second year competing in the event. There were 11 riders competing in the wake division, of which 2 were international riders. This year i was asked to be the wake ambassador for Ultimate X which was also a huge honour. I started promoting the event last year in October.

Ultimate X is an extreme sports event that takes place yearly at the V & A Waterfront. The event involves extreme sports namely: Wakeboarding, FMX, BMX and skating. The top riders in the country are invited to compete in the event. Not only is it a competition with big prize money but it also goes about the entertainment for spectators. 

I was part of the live TV show Expresso on Thursday morning the 27th of January along with a rider from each of the other disciplines as well as the owner of the event, Markus Museler. We were all interviewed and we spoke about the event. This was a great experience for me and I got the opportunity to meet some really cool people. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQxqqLEoEHo

A huge thanks goes to Tich Mitchell for organizing and putting together the wake setup. There were loads of spectators at the event. I had a fun ride and thanks to Markus Museler, it was overall a successful event once again.

start of the season

On the 25th of January i took part in the first cable pro tour stop of the season at Warmbaths. I flew up to Johannesburg a couple of days before the comp and got to ride at Stokecity wakepark before i headed to Warmbaths wakepark. I had a fun 2 days riding at Stokecity.

On the Friday i drove up to Warmbaths with some of the Cape Town crew. We arrived in the afternoon and managed to get a session in. The comp started early on Saturday morning as we had to get through qualifiers and finals of each division before sunset. In qualifiers i managed to stick my run and qualified first. Unfortunately i fell in my first run during finals which put me under pressure for my second run. I was lucky enough to stick my second run and win the first stop!

I had an awesome weekend with good friends. The comps at Warmbaths never seem to disappoint! Thanks to my sponsors ROXY and LIQUID FORCE for all the support :)

1st- Melissa Colborne
2nd- Candice Bacon
3rd- Deidre van Niekerk

CASA pro tour stop 4 [nationals]

This past weekend i took part in CASA tour stop 4 which was the final stop of the season. The event was held at Warmbaths resort in Joburg. This year the crowning of the SA champ worked slightly differently to previous years. Usually the last stop of the tour is nationals and the rest of the stops don't count towards the national title and are just individual competitions. This year you were given points at every stop according to where you placed. The 2013 SA National champ was the person who had the most points at the end of the tour.

I flew up to Joburg on tuesday with my brothers and mom. The comp was on Saturday and Sunday so we were able to get some riding time in before it started. Unfortunately Jason was unable to ride as he tore the ligaments in his ankle so he was basically "coach" Jason and chief judge for the weekend.

We arrived at Warmbaths on Wednesday and had two sessions with the cable all to ourselves. The weather was perfect and I had fun trying some new tricks.  That evening we enjoyed some pizza and chilled in the hot pools.

We woke up early on Thursday and headed straight to the cable.  We once again had the cable to ourselves and had one session before the rest of the cape town riders arrived.  I was stoked to see them all and amped to shred with them in the afternoon. We had lots of fun between riding and spending time in the hot pools.

The rest of the riders arrived on Friday and everyone spent most of the day on the water.  Friday night was quite festive with everyone getting amped for the comp the next day.

On Saturday morning we all got to have a sesh before qualifiers which started at 12.  I had a good run on Saturday and won qualifiers which meant that i was last off the dock on Sunday.  The level of the riding overall was pretty high and the pressure was on for finals.  Most of the riders had an early night on Saturday as we had to be up early for finals on Sunday morning.

We woke up to a light drizzle and chilly conditions, but fortunately it was not too windy.  Finals got underway at 9am with the Pro Men riders giving the judges a difficult task as the level of riding was high.  I was very happy with my first clean run and so decided to try a raley in my second run. Unfortunately I didn't land it and ended up winning the Chad award for the hardest bail of the comp.

My first run was good enough to secure me first place.  I won the Pro Tour Stop as well as the 2013 SA National Champ title.  I was proud to see my little brother secure 4th place overall in the Junior Men Division.  Well done Faffa! :)

Thanks to Kyle and Chantal for once again organising a sick event and for all the time and effort put into CASA. Thanks to my sponsors ROXY and LIQUID FORCE for all the support and for keeping me on the water.

1st- Melissa Colborne
2nd- Candice Bacon
3rd- Bryanna Motepe

Liquid Force team

photo by- Jason Colbone

stoked after my run

Christopher- BS 360

judging with candice :)

the CAPE TOWN crew

Christopher after his run

home time- airport

CASA pro tour stop 3

The 3rd stop of the CASA pro tour was held at Stokecity wakepark in Midrand on the 14th and 15th of September. I flew up to Joburg on Wednesday (the 11th) with my brothers so that we had some time to practice before the comp started on Saturday. Our cable in Cape Town has been closed for the past month for winter so we really needed the practice. By Saturday we were all super tired and sore from practice but it was worth it. It was great to spend time with the crowd from Joburg and Kyle and Chantal did a great job with the organising of the comp. The weather was surprisingly hot but unfortunately the wind was blowing..

Qualifiers were run on Saturday afternoon. I was fortunate to place 1st in the open ladies division for qualifiers, which meant that I got to ride last in finals. My brother Jason placed 1st in the pro men division for qualifiers, so I was really happy. After qualifiers, we all just chilled at the cable and then had an early night as finals were being run at 8am on Sunday morning. On Sunday we were once again greeted with hot weather but more wind. Finals went well and I was stoked to win the ladies division. Jason won the Pro Men division and Jeanu, also from Cape Town, won the Junior Men division. Cape Town represent!!

We flew back to Cape Town on Sunday night after a good time in Joburg. I am looking forward to Nationals next month in Warmbaths. Thank you ROXY and LIQUID FORCE for the support. Now its back to boat as the first pro tour stop is on 27 - 29th September at Milnerton.

Open Ladies
1st- Melissa Colborne
2nd- Bryanna Motepa
3rd-Candice Bacon 

Pro Men
1st- Jason Colborne
2nd- Craig Eygenberger
3rd- Caleb Louw

Junior Men
1st- Jeanu du Plooy
2nd- Marius Labuscagne
3rd- Jacques Labuscagne

south korea

On the 23rd of August i left to South Korea along with the rest of the South African team. After 3 flights, 2 train trips and a bus ride, we finally arrived at the Lotte Hotel.We competed at the IWWF world wakeboarding champs in Busan. We ended up coming 12th out of 29 countries which we were happy with. My wakeboarding didn’t go too well unfortunately but the experience that i got from this trip means more to me. I met so many amazing people. A lot of them I knew by name, but I finally got to meet them in person. Watching top class wakeboarders from all around the world has really motivated me to push myself even harder. I also met and spent a bit of time with a fellow Roxy wakeboarder, Larisa from mexico. I look forward to meeting up with her again, either in SA or over in Mexico.

Besides the wakeboarding, we also did some touristy things. We went to watch a baseball game at a huge stadium in Busan. This was very interesting and definitely not your average sports event. . There is so much entertainment going on that no one really even watches the game. We also did some shopping which was not very successful, but it was awesome to see some of the city.

Our team, as well as all the other teams competing, stayed in the Lotte hotel. It is a 5 star hotel in the middle of the city. It was super fancy and probably not the right choice for a bunch of wakeboarders. There was even a driving range in the hotel. The hotel was not too far from the competition site and everyday shuttles were organised to lift us. Before the competition, we all got to have a practice run behind the boat so that we knew what the wake was going to be like.The food in Korea is very different to what we eat back home but it was an eperience to try it all. They are very big on their barbeques which are wayyyy different to ours.

Thanks to the entire team as well as Laurence and Tich for the amazing experience, and a huge thanks to my sponsors Roxy and Liquid Force for the support and making it possible.

during practise

view from our hotel window

SA team at the opening ceremony

Larisa- fellow roxy teamrider

Lotte hotel

exploring the city

baseball game

before my run

back in south africa!