April 30th

Well it has been a really crazy week. It started off with some really good filming with Ronnie Romero for his new video. It was wakegames weekend and that was pretty fun, but Sunday night was my 21st.  Redbull threw me a really big party in downtown Orlando on the 16Th floor of this building looking over lake eola. It was an open bar Brandon Thomas was the DJ and I had the sickest cake ever I ended up wearing it by the end of the night. Redbull got me this really sick quietflight surfboard with my jdw symble i couldn't of been more pumped on the night. This week is kinda slow I'm going fishing tomorrow and and then start training for the Atlanta pwt. So we will see how that goes have a good one im out. JD 

Hard Work is Paying Off

This month I have been super busy getting ready for the start of the season. I've been riding 3 or 4 times a day and riding my dirtbike at least once a week. I hurt my ankle back in December, so I've been rehabing that as well.

A few weeks ago, there was a little local contest in Windermere. I ended up winning and it was an awesome way to start off the season. The season officially started this past weekend here in Orlando out at OWC. I rode 27 times from Monday morning til my winning run at Wake Games. It felt good to win the first event in the King of Wake series and to know that all my hard work is paying off.

This next month I'll be traveling a lot more. This weekend I am going to Vegas for the last Supercross and later in the month I'll be going to Fresno, California and Acworth, Georgia for the first tour stop and Masters.

I'm really looking forward to the release of my new board the "Marek." I'm stoked for people to get a chance to ride it... I love it.

Hyperlite Dominates '08 Wake Games

What an incredible weekend for Hyperlite.  Hyperlite riders not only took the podium, but won almost every single division.

Junior Men’s had Jimmy LaRiche taking first overall yet again. First, Board Up Miami, and now Wake Games! He had some tough competition with Bob Soven, but Jimmy’s nose grab crow, batwing, huge floating bs 180, bs 5, dum dum, and very solid backside lipslides put him ahead of the competition as the clear-cut champion.  

Brian Grubb had an incredible finish to his final run to fend off Danny Hampson and Reed Hanson for first place. After a fall on his first pass, Brian put together a clinic of a second pass landing including a shuv-it indy, shuv-it indy 180, and a bs 3. The whole riders dock was pumped up seeing him dominate his second and final pass to take first place as the Pro Men’s wakeskate champion.

Rusty Malinoski had as close of a finish as you could ask for with Phillip Soven in the final heat of the Wake Games.  Rusty came out charging in his final run with a melon crow, heel 7, a huge bs 1 way out into the flats, 270 transfer on the transfer box, stale glide, switch malto mobe, nuclear backroll to blind, and nailed a huge heelside backside 7 off the double up. Rusty stood up both passes and edged out Phillip by one point. And when the announcer called Rusty’s name for the Wake Games Pro Men’s Champion, the crowd went crazy, and Rusty walked up to the podium displaying his Marek 146 as his weapon of choice as he continues his quest to capture the King of Wake title for 2008.

Thanks for stopping in to check out The Hyperlite Post. If anybody has suggestions with regards to what they would like to see on here please leave a message and let us now. Obviously, we just recently got this going and would love some feedback. Also, this is my first blog ever and I am pretty nervous so please take that into consideration as you continue reading.

I got a bit of a late start this morning because I was out late last night watching the Magic smoke the Raptors in game 2 of the playoffs. I'm just about to head out riding to get some thrashing in before wake games tomorrow. I'll probably take it fairly easy today because I rode quite a bit out at Murray's yesterday and hit up the gym afterwards. Murray's riding is unreal and so motivating...he did a raley to blind yesterday that was probably 40 feet into the flats and he stomped it like it was a wake to wake backside 1. He's been trying to get me to do them for a while but something about catching a back edge at 35mph isn't too appealing to me.


I've been having so much fun on the water lately. Things were pretty frustrating for a while after my knee surgery in the fall of '06, but a lot of patience and hard work has showed me that the injury was a blessing in disguise. I appreciate every set on the water so much more now and constantly thank God for my health, which I have learned is really easy to take for granted if you're not careful. It has just been really exciting to relearn some of my old stuff as well as working on some new things that I have been picturing/thinking about for the past year and half. I am a very visual rider, I often picture a move from a variety of angles in my head before working on it (from the boat, from chase boat, and from either side etc.). When I visualize a trick, I can also get a good idea of where I could grab it the longest and what grab would be most natural and fluent for me. Bringing those visualizations to life is one of my favorite things about riding. Alright well I need to go get in a quick game of team doubles on Halo 3 before riding, who knows maybe I'll meet up with Rathy and Murray in the virtual gaming world. Take care.

-Palma

Hey guys, thanks for checking out our blog! Well, last weekend was my Senior Prom! haha. It was a bunch of fun. It was definitely a good way to top off the end of our senior year. Now were starting up with the contest season, which is my favorite time of the year.. Wake Games is already this weekend. I cant believe it! Ive been riding a bunch with some friends down in Boca Raton, where I live.It helps that Nautiques hooked me up with the new 230.  You would not believe how big the wake is! Other than that, Its just been finishing up school and hitting up the gym.... Thanks again for reading.

Jimmy

Getting Ready for Summer!!!

We've been hard at work this off season getting ready for an amazing summer.

Shasta Remodel Completed:
We've completely transformed our Shasta Wakeboard School(http://shastawakeboardschool.com/ )location for a second time. We've added an additional room for our new Girl collections from Hyperlite and Jetpilot. We've also added some of the most creative displays on the market throughout our entire on the water shop. You can check the shop out at Lake Shasta at Holiday Harbor Marinahttp://lakeshasta.com/ .

New Location at Silverthorn Resort:
Thanks to the US Forest Service, Silverthorn Resort http://www.silverthornresort.com/ and John Steiner...we've added a second location for Lake Shasta.

West Coast Camps(lake McClure, Ca):
We've also put some finishing touches on our West Coast Camps http://westcoastcamps.com/ houseboats for summer 2008. Also, look for our upcoming adds in wakeboarding magazine. The camp was also featured for a second year in a row for its exclusive "Up and Coming Trip" by Alliance Magazine.

Mike Schwenne Recent Events:

March 2008: Finished Masters education through Liberty Virginia in Theology.
Got engaged to Monica Hugo. We'll be getting married in october. With school finished and a partner to help take some of the workload off at camp...I'm looking forward to the next 5 years as I try to accomplish some personal riding goals.

Riding:
I've been riding with Derek Cook, Chris Dykmans and the Twelker family this winter/spring. Its been a little ...no...its been very cold at times. Now that its warming up here in California, I'm really appreciating the warmer conditions.
April 13 weekend: Took a trip out to Fl to help Redbull out with their southeast college weekend. Got to see some friends...Shelby, Harrington, Rodrigo, Lamos, BT, Grubb, Parks and Dallas.

Mexico- Just got back from Mexico on April 20th. We built two houses with our entire staff(Shasta and West Coast) in one day. Great job guy and girls...

Heading to Florida tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting up with some of the boys out there.
Then its back to CA for Spring Ride, Graduwaketion, a trip with Daniel Doud and then Camp.
See you on the water soon...Schwenne

Video - The Making of the Marek

Here is a quick look at the behind the scenes look at what we did here at Hyperlite to design Rusty Malinoski's first pro model.  Almost all of our processes are shown in the video as we did the initial press of Rusty's new board, the Marek.  Check it out!

Rusty Interview - First Contest, First Win of '08

Q - You won the fist contest of the season, how does it feel?
A - “It is of course a good feeling. No better way to start than with a win, so it definitely feels good.”

Q - What was going through your head as you left the dock on your final run?
A - “Well it gets easier and easier with every contest you do. I’ve done a few now, so I definitely just want to go for it and either win or (you know), crash out. My plan isn’t to play it safe. I’m definitely going for it. I’m not going to play it safe and get third; I’m going to go for it every time!”

Q - Did you make any last minute changes to your run? Or did you just stick with what you have been practicing?
A - “I stuck with my plan to start out with the switch toe 9. If I stick it great, if not, I leave the door open for someone to come in. It is a gamble. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. It just depends on how it works out.”

Q - What kinds of things have you been doing to get ready for the season this year?
A - “I can’t tell my secrets, are you crazy!”

Q - Are you doing anything different from years past to get ready this year?
A - “I’ve just been busy with life in general with a kid, so that is different. But I’ve been getting on the water and working hard.”

Q - What are your contest day rituals?
A - “I can’t give that out! I can’t do it.” (laughing)

Q - I know your rode your new board, the Marek, at the contest, tell me about it?
A - “The new board is definitely made a difference in my riding for sure. Now, to have a board that I really, really, love to ride which is designed and works best for me – it has just became easier for me to ride.”

Q - I saw in your newest Hyperlite ad that you stomped your 6th 1080, any chance we are going to see it landed in a contest this season?
A - “I’m going to try, we’ll see what happens. I’m 100% going to go for it. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I hope so, that would be the best.”

Mission

What's up. I'm getting ready to go on a 4 or 5 day mission. A mission to ride. My self Clay,Collin,Teeno,Reeder bro's and Meddock. We are heading north 5 hours to a rail park to shred into the night. We have lights and a winch. Everyone is bring there skate boards to hit some parks up on the way. We are going to camp every night where ever we land. The boy have some dope lakes mapped out and we have 2 Xstars to ride with. Meddock will be getting some dope shots for the Standerd. I'll be filming so if anything goes down we'll have the footage. All in all this is what it's all about going on ride mission. With a winch, 2 boat, rail park and some new skate parks to check out. I'm pumped. LATER Chris O'Shea     

 

All About the Benjamins

Whats up everybody, so I dont have much to talk about due to an injured knee and then  after coming back from that right into flying out of a pool in Louisville to a seperated shoulder... things are getting better though, been hitting the gym real hard trying to do anything I can to get back on the water before the contest season kicks off.

I also just got a fresh new 230 from my homies at nautiques! gotta be stoked on that! the wake is so pimp...

Besides going to the gym things have been pretty mellow, playing alot of halo 3 and rainbow six 2 online for all the gamers. Jimmy LaRiche just got in town last night, so Ill probably be watching him shred while he finishes filming his part for "drive". Alright if your still reading you gotta be super bored.. Im out Ill get some pictures on here next week.

Aaron Rathy

ChrisOA fun day

I had a sick day yesterday. First I went tow in surfing with Grubb,Park's,Collin and Drex, Collins Brother. We got up at 6am and charged it. It was a little over head. Grub got me into some big one's real nice. Grubb was all about booting out wile I was just trying to though some spray. After being in Orlando for 3 weeks now it was nice to go surf. This was probable to best surf I have ever gotten in Florida. After a great surf session it was time to bust out and go to the sky diving place that was near buy. It was my first time sky diving. I was pumped to try it but at the same time a little nervous. Doing the jump was so unreal. Any one how hasn't given it ago should try it. The best bit was probable standing on the edge of the plane just before I jumped. I remember looking down and being so nerves but pumped at the same time. Then you just go. At first I was tumbling because the guy did some front flip with me this was crazy. Once we straitened out it was the best view ever. After a 70 second freefall he pulled the shoot. This bit was cool as well because I got to fly the shoot. It was just like you fly a two string kite but I was attached. He would let me put us into spirals which crazy. It felt like we were pulling mad G's. Then we land and I want to do it again for sure. After that we came back and hit some rails which was fun. Peace Out

Safe riding 

Chris O                  

Shaun - "I'm So Tired..."

I am so tired right now! I don't know what the deal is lately, but waking up each morning is normally an easy thing for me. Once my eyes open and my feet hit the floor, I am on it. But something else is going on. Either way, I'm pushing forward and not letting it slow me down.

Just played some ice hockey to get ready for next weeks game. Canada vs. USA. Yup, that seems real unfair. It is a bunch of us wakeboarders and water skiers battling it out on the ice. It's the 17th, so see if you can find details about it, sorry I can't help ya, I just know when I need to be there.

I rode this morning, then played hockey and now I'm waiting out a rain storm so I can ride again. I'm kinda thinking I should take a break until tomorrow, so I will see how I feel.

My wife, Kerri, is more than 6 months pregnant with our little girl who is due in early July. I know...if I think I'm tired now...

I just sent the Pay It Forward boards on the road. If you don't know what that is, but I decided that I wanted to send someone a board to demo for a few days and then they mail it to someone else. I posted the idea on wakeworld.com and people responded like crazy. The boards are in Fl. for now and then heading to Ga. next. Go to wakeworld discussion board to see more and to see if you can get in on the fun.

Gerry Nunn lives next door and we have been swinging around these ropes we hung from a tree. Here's a pic

I'll check you all later and give you the haps next time.

Shaun