I hope every one had a good Christmas. Not much has been going on as far as wakeboarding. I headed home to Canada for the holidays, to visit with my family. It was a quiet but fun trip. Christmas was good I had the chance to visit with family and friends. On my trip my dad and went to Mt Baker for a day of snowboarding. It snowed 17inches the night before so we got some pretty good riding in. Baker is amazing. I have been going to Baker for years with my parents. While we were up there I ran into Mike Ennen and Blake Vilders.
Yesterday I headed into the city and caught a Vancouver Canucks hockey game, they were playing the Calgary Flames. Vancouver won, it was a great game. Lots of scoring and a couple fights.
Congratulations to Rusty and Lindsy Malinoski on the birth of their new son, Marek.

Fun times Filming

The past couple days have been a lot of fun. Sean Kilgus is in town and we have been filming for drive. We have had quite the crew of riders, Danny, Ben, Ruck, Randy, and myself. Parks even came out in the boat and chilled at 7am this morning. Rusty came by for a set last night also. At one point today on a double up danny managed to ride over his own arm, no injury but a pretty cool bruse. It has been rad watching these guys kill it. We have ridden at Dannys in Clermont and could not ask for better conditions just a few days before christmas. here are a few photos.

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, AND FEEDBACK.

For feedback or any questions the sign in setting has been turned off or you can reach me at sharpechad@yahoo.com . The video feed will hopefully be up by the end of the week. It will include some tips and other fun stuff. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.
Chad

Not much has been going on in the last week or so since I have been back. A few days ago I checked out the Orlando, Oakley video premier. It was a good vid and Jack held it at a great venue. City Walk at Universal.
I’m up in Washington for the Ronix sales meeting this week. It has been really cool to come up here to see this side of the biz. Paul just moved up to the cottage on Radar, we had the meeting there, that place is sick. It was really good seeing all the Ronix guys. Danny and Parks also made it up for a couple days. All the new gear looks sick.Yesterday I actually had the chance to head up to Stevens Pass and get some snow time in. The conditions were still early season but it was lots of fun. Scott Jobe and I were just doing high speed lines all day. I’m pretty sure we are going to go tomorrow before I fly home. This last week has been the first time I have had off the water this year, It has been nice to heal up those small nagging pains, and heal up the old body for a few days. I will be flying home to FLA tomorrow to meet up with Sean Kilgus to film for drive this coming week. I’m really looking forward to getting back on the water.
That’s about it, Pretty laid back week. I will keep you posted on any cool filming that goes down this week . Thanks for checking in
Chad Sharpe

Back in the USA

I just got back from a 5 week trip that took me around the world. The trip was great but man I am glad to be home. It is a little cooler here in Florida since I was here last buts it is great. We have been shooting with Kilgus all week. The weather has been epic. I have mostly been shooting double ups over the last few days. I hit a big HSBS 7 that i was stoked on yesterday, I just figured out how to do them over the last little while. Yesterday Danny hit the cleanest TS off axis BS 7, It was so dirty.
Not much else has been going on its kinda quiet this time of year, I played a fun game of golf with Grubb, Mr Grubb, and Spencer today, but thats about it. I will up date if we get into anything cool later this week. Thanks for checkin in
Chad

Just thinking out loud. Traveling with the boys it occurs to me how much media influences conversation. For example, always quoting movies, skits, stand up. It makes it pretty hard to be originally funny. I mean we all have our moments. I find that most of my best original material comes from my real life travel stories. Real situations that actually happen. I sometimes have the unfortunate luck of things breaking or going not exactly as planed but almost every great trip story I have ever heard or told never sounded like, We were golfing in the Philippines and I hit 10 over par and Danny was 2 over par, It was a beautiful course and we had a great time. Little dry, I cant see that being a story that I will be slinging sitting around with the boys down the road. I have a pretty good feeling that the part of the story that will be told to the boys sounds more like this. We were on this big hill and Chad started rolling backwards down not realizing the breaks were shit and slammed into the other cart at the bottom, Hi centering the axle while the caddies were looking on in horror, oh yea and then Rucks amazing stroke that had the caddies hitting the deck almost everytime he swung. Then Keith decided to bomb the cart down this steep ass hill and almost flew off a 40-foot cliff.
I don’t know if it’s just me but the latter sounds like a lot more fun to tell later.
You’re young for only so long and make the most of it. Just make sure it dose not hurt others, and be prepared to pay to play. I have learned that the hard way more than a few times. Japan trips have cost me more than you can imagine. You know its bad when they ask if you have travel insurance but thats a whole other long story I will save for another day.

Feedback

What's up
I am just looking for some feedback on the site. Let me know what you want to see or hear more of or less of. Im working on getting a video feed to do some fun stuff. Let me know what you think

Thanks
Chad

Australia

I have been in Australia for about a week so far. Adam Errington and myself are traveling around the country with Stu from Ronix aus doing a demo tour. We started on the Gold Coast for a couple days. The first day I arrived we went to an in store evening and then checked in to our hotel that was right in surfers paradise. We checked out the town that night by going to a couple bars and ended up at the casino. The next day we did a clinic on the water in Brisbane.
clinic and demo. Adam and I rode in this sick river but as we finished it started pissing rain our day was cut short. We stayed the night there and drove to Sidney the next morning.
When we got to Sidney we went to the Harris’s river house for a clinic. The river is about 45 min out side of Sidney and is really sick to ride. Adam and I had a couple of rides. We stayed the night there and in the morning the Neil and Brenda had set up a bridge climb in Sidney harbor. It was sick, we went up with a guide and got to climb to the top of the harbor bridge. It’s amazing up there, its right above the opera house and has a great view of all of Sidney. Later that night we met up with Dean Smith and hit the town. Monday night in Sidney is pretty quiet, but we found a few things to do.

I’m on the road right now driving to Canberra, where we have a rail jam in a pool tomorrow. I am looking forward to Canberra because we will meet up with all the boys, Dean, Watkins, Chris O, Ect.

philippines

The second half of our Philippines trip was great. First we caught a plane up to Naga from Manila to go the CWC. The CWC is the cable park in Camsur that Gov L Ray owns. CWC is sick, they have built such a beautiful facility. We would get up early before the cable was open and get laps with no crowds. There are a lot of really fun rails, ramps, and a really fun box. At CWC we had great accommodations, each of us had our own cabanas. While we were in Camsur we decided to travel to Daiet, where there was this unreal spillway to shoot on. It had these huge wall rides with water flowing down that we all were hitting from different directions. Wats and I were hitting them from the bottom and wiping up, doing really fun turns on the wall. Danny and Ruck were hitting it from the top and riding the whole way to the bottom doing tail presses all the way down. The spill way was one of the most fun natural terrain things I have ever hit. Right before we left that spot I ollied off a 15-foot flowing waterfall.

All week we were fighting the weather but got a few more good days. One of the last days we were there Grubby was hitting this spillway waterfall and got a really sick pop shuvit off it.

Overall the Philippines was one of the best trips I have been on. Thanks a lot to L Ray, Ana and crew for showing us such a good time. They went above and beyond. Thanks

There will be some great video footage for the new Billabong team movie that came out of this trip.

Looking back and forward

To me early on in my wakeboard days my main goal was having fun, but mostly being the best or catching up with the best. Weather it was winning contests or getting video sections, magazine shots. It was whatever the top guys were doing. To me that was the most pure wakeboarding there is, it was all I lived for and it sure makes the days, months, and years fly by so fast. I have sat around with some of the guys that came up with me and we all have the same opinion of, Wow that was fast. Story’s from 5 or 6 years ago still feel like they were last summer. Memories that I have not even had time to really look back on yet that have shaped our lives and made us what we are today. Wakeboarding is a beautiful thing. It’s not just a sport it’s a lifestyle that I would not trade for the world.

Now being a bit older with a few goals completed in the sport and looking forward it really has me thinking of what my place is and what I want to have accomplished by the time I leave. I know I have met some of the most amazing and interesting people along the way. Including some of my best friends, and friends I know I will still turn to long after the last time I hit a wake. I think most of all for my riding I just want to leave a mark that will not just fade away after its over. A lasting mark like Parks, Darin, Shaun, and Scott have left or are still writing. I know it’s a huge goal but you need to aim high. Its funny I never thought I would be where I’m at now but I always want more for myself. Don’t get me wrong I still ride because I absolutely fucking love wakeboarding but some times I just need some time to look back to look forward.

Sorry if these are boring I am on a 13-hour flight and just writing what’s in this head of mine.

Chad Sharpe

Philippines, Week 1

The last couple days it the Philippines have been great. Monday and Tuesday we stayed at LRay’s beach house. He is the governor of the Camsur province, where the CWC cable park is. The hospitality he and his crew have shown us is unreal. Monday we came out to the lake and had a pretty good day shooting, it was a little windy but we found a cove with perfect double ups on both ends. Danny hit a sick late grab ts BS 5, Grubby stuck a sick ts wake-to-wake big spin. All the boys were firing pretty sick.
The weather was calling for clouds all day Tuesday so we decided to take the day off for some R&R. In the morning we headed out to the golf course in LRay’s neighborhood with a group of 8. After 9 holes it was Grubb taking down Danny by one stroke on the 9th. I was in the lead after 3 but I was playing with right-handed clubs and could not keep up the pace. I am left handed but there were only right clubs. A couple highlights from the course were Ruck hitting two 40 something foot puts, I rolled the golf cart down a hill backwards not realizing there were no breaks and crashed in to the other golf cart really hard. Our axle was suck on their tire but not much damage. We all had our own female caddies and you could tell they were freaking out a little. Lidberg also bombed this really step hill in a 4-person cart with a cliff in the run out and barley stopped in time, but he stuck it. I don’t think the caddy’s see a round like that very often.
Later that day we chartered a boat to find some surf, and surf we found. There was this fun wave that you could go left or right. We were told we were the first to surf it so it sounds like we get to name the break. Out was Wats, Danny, Grubb, Ruck, Heff, and myself. It was one of the best days I have had surfing. Everyone got waves. The water temp in the ocean here is perfect. What an amazing day.
After surf we headed back to the house and hit the pool. At the gov’s house there is a perfect 15 food high balcony to jump off into the pool. You have to jump shallow because the pool is only 4 feet deep. It was a perfect day. Wednesday we stayed out at these cabins at the volcano lake right on the water. This volcano lake is famous for having an island on a lake on an island on a lake on an island. Confused yet? So were we until we saw it. We got up at early but the weather was not very good, we tried to ride but it wasn’t great.
Thursday we got up at 5am to perfect skies and a helicopter. It was our most productive day on the water. Everyone was killing it with the chopper in the air. This lake is amazing; it’s big like the ocean but calm shorelines and islands. After we rode BT and Keith rode. It was sick to see BT ride, I had not seen him ride in a while and he killed it as well as Keith. Pat Panokos has become quite the photographer. It got cloudy in the afternoon so we have been playing doubles golf with pitching wedges around the cabins until I sprayed one off into a car. No damage but brought our game to a screeching halt. I had a really fun doubles set with Ruck while the chopper was up. We were matching tricks being the same foot forward.
Friday is our last day here and we have the helicopter for the morning. Its looking like it’s going to be another sunny day. In the afternoon we get on the bus for a 3hr ride to Manila for a rail contest at the Mall of Asia, the biggest mall in the Philippines on Saturday.
That’s all for now but I will be here for a couple more weeks and then off to Australia. I will keep updated on some travels. Thanks for stopping by.
Chad
One last thing, most of the time when we are overseas the food is not so hot, but it has been amazing this trip. LRay’s cooks are bomb.
This one has been edited by college grad Brian Grubb.

Qatar to Philippines

I just got to Manila yesterday from Qatar. We just finished the last stop of the world cup. I ended up 3rd with Andrew in 2nd and Phil won. It was a pretty good event. We traveled around the city a bit and saw some sights. It’s crazy there because there is so much reclaimed land with big buildings. It’s pretty desert over there.
Now we are at a lake 2hrs outside Manila, getting ready to ride, waiting for the rain to stop. The lake we are riding on is a fresh water lake and we have two good boats and a ski to ride. The whole Billabong crew and friends are with, Grubb, Watson, Ruck, Harf, Heff, BT, Pat Panokos, Shawn Perry, and Lidberg. There should be some sick shredding over the next few weeks.
We will be staying in this area until Sunday. There is a rail contest in Manila on Saturday, and then we will be flying over to the CWC, Cable Park for a week or so.
It is so crazy driving around this place, it seems like there are not many laws. Last night we would be going around sharp corners and other drivers would be passing 3 wide. A little scary. Once this rain clears riding will be sick. The landscape around here is Jungle, it will make for some pretty cool video and picts.
I will update some picts later this week, these are some from Qatar
Come back again soon.
Chad

Qatar

What up, Im over here in Qatar for the world cup stop. We just got done with day one and it went pretty well. I won my heat and will be riding again. Watkins and I are sharing a room. We are going to check out the city tomorrow and i will get some picts. The site is pretty good, its a small channel that is really calm. It is the most salty water i have ever been in. My eyes burn bad but you get used of it.
I will check in tomorrow with some picts

Dubs

Here are a couple of pictures Spencer Smith shot of Rusty and me. We have been draging our boats all over this week to other lakes to shoot but the weather has been shit. These shots were us just messing around hopeing the sun would come out, but it did not and has not in about 4 days. Its always a lot of fun riding dubs with friends.

My News

This is my first shot at this, My News will be news from around wakeboarding that you might or might not usually hear. This is mostly stuff among our circle, some might be boring but here we go.
Danny Harf and Chad Sharpe had birthdays last week, the fellow Ronix teammates are just two days apart. Danny Celebrated his with a nighttime boat cruise, with pointless and friends all in attendance. Chad celebrated his with a close group of friends, and went to a nice seafood dinner in Mexico. Paul Obrien is in China. Grassman is recovering from a broken leg that he received at a Master Craft photo shoot jumping off a bank and coming up short. Randy Harris has extended his skeleton tattoo all the way to his hand, it looks sick. Ricky G also has more ink on his chest; it is the eagle from his board graphic. Shawn Watson is just finishing up a new rail on wassiee, it is a high flat bar with an optional angled rail on the side. Rusty Malinoski has a new house with his wife to be, moving in the guesthouse will be Kyle Rattray, and James Ballzer later this year. Speaking of Rattray, he is well on the road to recovery after a knee surgery, one of the fastest I have seen. In the speedy recovery news Rusty broke his arm a couple weeks ago and is already back on the water, I’m pretty sure he cut his own cast off. I think he had put his arm through the handle. Tony Smith has left Alliance to start a new media company with Chase Heavener. Good luck guys. Dean Smith left for Australia today, he was one of the last to go. You know the seasons coming to an end when the auzzies start migrating south. Jeff Weatherall is staying stateside for the first time and not going back to aus for their season. The whole Billabong crew is gearing up for 3 weeks in the Philippines for the filming of their new team vid. Oakley is just wrapping up their new team vid. Sean Kilgus is in Florida filming Drive staying with Danny Harf. Jack Blodgett has a new web sight jackblodgett.com. Rathy got shook down by Mexican police for barely speeding on his scooter, lucky he only had 200 pesos. Chad Sharpe signed with Rockstar along with Randy Harris, AJ Racinelli, and Jimmy Lariche, Joining Rusty Malinoski and Scott Byerly. Jeff Mckee Signed with Slingshot. Taylor Watkins will be celebrating his first birthday next week. Happy Bday Taylor.

That’s all I can think of this week. I will try again next week.

You can click on the photos to enlarge

Home from Mexico

I just got back from the proam in Cancun Mexico. It was a good trip, the riding conditions were ok, it was really shallow so the wake was not too big. I did not do so well but I had fun. We spent a lot of time in the pool at the hotel and ate some really good food. This was my first trip to mex and it was not what I expected, Cancun is a lot like Vegas with the huge hotels and resorts everywhere. Phillip won the event and I think Danny was 2nd. Here are a couple picts.
I'm at home for the next week filming with Kilgus, and then I will be going on a 5 1/2 week trip. First off I’m heading to Qatar for the iwsf worlds and a world cup stop. After Qatar I will be flying to the Philippines to meet up with the whole Billabong team to film for our new team vid. We will be in the Philippines for 3 weeks, and will be going to the surf spot cloud 9, the cable park, doing some riding on the ocean and also a volcanic lake. The Billabong guys that will be there are Grubb, Watson, Harf, Heff, Ruck, and myself along with Chris Burk shooting picts and some filmers.
After Philippines I’m meeting up with Adam Errington and out Ronix distributor in Brisbane Australia for a week and a half to do some clinics and demos. I’m hoping I get over there in time for Chris Oshey's event but I don’t know if I will make it. I will be updating from the road and I’m sure there will be some cool news.
Thanks for stopping in, Come back soon.
Chad Sharpe

Off To Mexico

I'm just waiting at the gate on the way to Mexico, Im going to the Tige pro am. Its the last stop of the king of wake series. I am sitting in 4th going into this stop and would like to do well to jump up a spot or two. The place we are staying is a sick all inclusive resort, Im going a day early and a couple after to relax a bit.
I was home all week in orlando and it was really nice. I got to ride every day. Monday I shot with Meddock and wats. Tues I got to go down to the Amway arena and hit the dew tour rails. They were pretty fun. The stepup boys did a good job. On wensday we filmed at my house for the malibu dvd. I think it was one of my best rides of the year, it was one of those days where you cant fall on a trick and it all goes right. Its one of the main reasons I wake board. I also hit another TS Indy Double back roll, First try, It was being fillmed in super slow motion film. Not a bad bday present to myself. Oh yeah it was my Bday yesterday. Man Im getting old. I think it was my 21st or 22nd, I cant remember. Some where around there.
Well my planes about to leave me, I recived a new camera for my bday so there will be some photos from mexico. thanks Leila.
Come back soon
Chad Sharpe
One last thing we are working on getting videos and clips on the site that i will update, It should be running sometime next week, stay tuned.

Good Morning

Its 6am and Im just waiting for Meddock to get here. Wats and myself are going to do some shooting. The lake is so good right now, not a ripple on it. The sun should be up in a few mins. I was just on the road for a week and while I was gone the boys biult 2 more rails. I biult a a frame last week, and now we have a good size up to flat, as well as a nice flat bar with a angled side. Its going to be a fun winter on the wassiee. Joey just arrived, Im going riding.
Come Back Soon
Chad
There is a new sight from Joey and Josh, standerdslides.com. There will be daily photo weekly until the new issue arives. Story's behind the photo.

Gettin some home time

Whats up,
I just got home from seattle, I was working on some new products. I had a really fun trip, I was staying at Paul's house. Its pretty much my second home, I love bieng up there. I rode while I was up there and the air was in the 50s, and I rode today at home and the air was in the high 80s. I find that you will try a lot more when the temp is warm, a lot more agressive.
I have Jack Blodgett sitting here with me, Im going to atempt a little interview.
Me- Jack I hear you have a new website, What is it and whats on it.
Jack-jackblodgett.com. I saw your web sight and pretty much copyed it. It has picts, videos and daily blogs.
Me- so you had to one up me with vids, Cool
What have you been up to lately.
Jack- Filming alot, finishing up the Oakley vid. Biulding rails on our lake, and riding.
Me- any travling lately.
Jack- Not really, Going to Mexico this week. I have been to 9 countrys this year.
Me- Any Highlights
Jack- tow in stuff in South Africa. Cuba support the troops, and rode on the Amazon.
Me- Not Bad. This is to much typing. Lets wrap it up. Anything cool to leave on.
Jack-Nov 10 is our Vid premier for Push Process at Okaley in CA. Then filming you guys for the Billabong Vid. I also have a new clothing line coming out soon.
Me -Thanks Jack, Lets go ride.

First Interview Fin. I will do some longer ones from the road. Thanks for checkin in, Come back soon