We wanted to take wakeskating somewhere new,” says Brian Grubb. “Get it out of the summer environment, and put it somewhere unexpected.” Mission, accomplished. This snow-top wakeskate sesh in the middle of a Bosnian winter may be one of the most unexpected locations for wakeskating, ever.
Think this looks easy? Well, it is, and it isn’t. Grubb says that riding the wakeskate on snow isn’t so much different from a snowboard – but, there’s a few complications. He needs to be faster when he’s on the water than on the snow. They also need to prep the course – setting up winches and pulleys to put the tow-rope in the right place – high enough that would it pull him over the snow, not simply through it.
They spent days setting up rails and jumps on one part of the river – then returned on the morning of the shoot to find the features had been buried under many feet of snow, and the winding river frozen. Solution? Find a different part of the river.
Brian’s skills on the wakeskate meant they didn’t have to do much work to prepare the line – he could ollie through most of the transitions – but it was still tough going trudging the handle back through the snow. The good news? It kept him warm.
“The last day, we were out there for six or seven hours, and I was getting really cold,” says Grubb. “The worst was crashing and getting my head underwater. That was REALLY cold.” Fortunately crashes were few and far between, and mostly into deep powder, not water or ice. And when the snow melts, it’s just further progression of the sport which Grubb has already been so responsible for shaping.
(Source: redbull.com)
