October is a month only the true dedicated Northwest rider’s dare to strap on their wake boards, zip up their neoprene suits, and brave the cold water. Active’s annual Fall Classic competition is a contest held at the end of the season to give those truly passionate about wakeboarding one final chance to prove that their Summer full of face plants, edge catches, and head slams to land that new trick, was worth it. Following a such great turnout from the Free Rider’s Ball, I was anxious to put on one last competition for the season and go out with a BANG! Once again the wake god’s smiled on us and helped me out by bringing dry weather for the weekend.

Friday, the day before the competition, I spent my morning unloading product from the Active Team box van that I brought up from our Oregon City store to stock up the pro shop in hopes to make sure every contestant had the gear they needed for the day of the competition. I also spent time setting up sponsor banners and flags. After a productive morning of set up, I then gassed up the boats and took a much needed rail set to relax and get me in the “shred state of mind.” I spent the rest of the evening until even past dark pulling riders who came early to practice their contest runs and camp out for the night. As always, the night before the contest Koppert hosted a campground full of riders and spectators for the event, but this time Koppert had the privilege to help celebrate one of Koppert’s regular shredders, Priscilla Stultz’s birthday! Priscilla is one of our favored women’s division riders known for throwing down huge backflips on her board and is no stranger to the top of the podium.

Saturday, the morning of the competition, I was more than excited to once again wake up to clear skies and fresh “warm” Fall air. We opened our pro shop and registration booth at 9am and by 9:05am I had a line out the door of rider’s anxious to sign up for the event. In all, 57 riders were signed up, matching our Free Rider’s event held in August! I was hugely stoked and surprised to see how many dedicated riders showed up to our event even in the late season. By 10:15am our first rider left the dock being towed by Ned Baker’s 2011 Super Air Natique 210. Our contest held the same format as the Free Rider’s event, but with only one slight change. Rider’s were allowed only 2 falls, as opposed to the previously allowed 3 falls. This helped save time which we needed no thanks to Fall’s early sunset times. Riders were judged on the same format as Free Rider’s, focusing on amplitude, difficulty, variety, and most importantly, their style! Grabs always help score big and going bigger is always better!

The weather continued to stay dry with even breaks of sun in the sky throughout the day. Without a hiccup, the contest ran as smooth as I could’ve anticipated and was confident to expect to get everyone in the water before dark. As the contest came to a close, we finished the day with the Pro level division. Koppert was privileged for the second time of the weekend and we all got the chance to invite long time pro rider and Oregon original, Collin Wright, to shred with us in the competition. For those that don’t know their wake history, Collin was a long time Double-Up and Billabong team rider and also one of the first Slingshot team rider’s. He’s even been in a wakeboarding game, Shaun Murray’s Unleashed, and was featured in Alliance Magazine’s video “Innuendo” riding along side with some of the industry’s best like Danny Harf and Ben Greenwood. So needless to say, it was an absolute privilege to see what true style and smooth riding looks like. Collin placed on the podium third, Brenden Lieb landed second, and Kyler Green, once again looked down at the others from the top and took home $130 cash for first! Kyler had an unbelievable run stomping his whole set landing a backflip backside 3, toeside 720, roll to blind, front roll frontside 180 and I seriously can’t even remember the rest of his run because he threw down so hard. It’s a lot of fun to watch someone at the age of 17 progress so quickly and handle the competition like a pro. For our rail division, I was lucky enough to sneak in a first place podium spot, followed by second place winner Jake Southard, and third place was reserved for Brad Hess.

I will staple this year’s Fall Classic as a huge success and will put it in contention with one of our best Fall events of all time. Thank you everyone who came out to shred and spectate. Huge thanks to Slingshot for the amazing prize donations and for bringing out the new 2012 Slingshot wake gear and awesome tent to hang out in! Thanks huge to Northwest Riders Clothing and O’neill for always hooking us up with the best of threads. Thanks to Liquid Force, Ronix, and Hyperlite as well for the sweet board and product hook ups. Thanks huge to the contest help, Ned Baker for bringing his boat down to shred behind and for representing Active’s newest boat line Super Air Natique. Thanks to the judge’s Brad Hess, Spencer Norris, Nick Korum and Brenden Leib. Thanks again to Spencer Norris for keeping us entertained on the microphone all day and thanks to the Ammon “A-Frame” Markstellar and Ian Markstellar for keeping us in line on the dock and in the pro shop. And without Jake Southard sitting in the captain’s chair of the boat all day, none of us would’ve been able to show off our skills on our boards. If there’s anyone that I missed, feel free to call me up at the Oregon City store and I’ll sign you up to be put on our mailing list and you can then write your complaint to me!