Welcome to our new “Container” series, where we’re going to take you back into some of the photo and text archives of all things Alliance. Hopefully the trip down memory lane gets you stoked to ride, rather than freaking out about how old you might be now…

 

“Wickid Soopah Good”
by Garrett Cortese

Keith Lyman back in his homeland.  Photo: Cortese

Keith Lyman back in his homeland. Photo: Cortese

New England is more famous for its clam chowder, fall colors, crazy sports fans and unique accents than wakeboarding, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some serious slayshing going on in those parts come summer time. In fact, two of wakeboarding’s most stylish and progressive riders call New England home: Ben Greenwood and Keith Lyman, as do up and coming pros Jimmy Trask and Mikey Marsh. While New England might not be the most ideal spot to live if you love to wakeboard, it just goes to show that when it comes down to it, it’s not all about being dealt the best hand possible, it’s about how you play the cards you’ve got.

Story from April 2009 issue of Alliance Wake

 

“The Parks Documentary Story”
by Tony Smith

Parks at Teahupoo, 2007.  Photo: Cortese

Parks at Teahupoo, 2007. Photo: Cortese

Half a decade, all over the world, laid up in a dark room, a camera shoved in your face, unimaginable plot twists both on and off the water and more Red Bull and creative meetings than 100 human beings endure in a lifetime … The PB Doc is finally here.

As someone who has been close to this project almost since it’s inception six years ago (? … we’ll get back to that), it’s natural to want to share a little inside dirt, to spill a few secrets. And there are many, both in front of and behind the camera. From the time in Omaha, Nebraska I almost saw Parks’ drown right in front of my eyes in three feet of water, to a broken steering cable on a rickety film boat bobbing in the Teahupoo channel, to an episode that can only be referred to as, predictably, “The Lost Tapes.” And I can’t even mention the VERY secret production meeting about the closing scene, which when it goes down, will be the most talked about piece of wakeboarding film ever shot. All of these things only scratch the surface of a movie that blossomed into what it was intended to be – a life unfolding right before your eyes, and an extraordinary one at that.

Story from May 2009 issue of Alliance Wake

 

“Writing Rewritten”
by Garrett Cortese

JD Webb with "just one more" for Josh McWilliams.  Photo: Cortese

JD Webb with “just one more” for Josh McWilliams. Photo: Cortese

“Just one more.” It’s a term so overused in wakeboarding photography and filming it’s almost comical. There is never a shoot where that phrase doesn’t get used at least four times. And if there has ever been a shoot where it’s never been said, then I’m the Pope and you’re all officially excommunicated. For better or worse (almost always for the better, though), it’s part of the process that goes along with documenting the riders and what they do for the rest of us to enjoy that much more.

Throughout the making of Rewritten “just one more” is a term team Hyperlite has probably heard more than on any other shoot they’ve been a part of. Not because riders keep falling or videographers keep missing shots, but because of a desire to make a team video unlike any other ever seen. Keith Kipp and Josh McWilliams, the brains behind Alliance Visual Experiences and the creators of Rewritten, don’t want to just make another team video. Team videos have been done before. A lot. And many of them have been done well, including all of the team videos in Hyperlite’s long history in wakeboarding. The two video gurus, along with the rest of team Hyperlite, decided from the get-go that just another team video wouldn’t cut it. It was time to rewrite the way team videos were produced, shot, edited, ridden for, and ultimately perceived by the masses. So if there’s a shot where both the rider and the film guys know it can be just that much better, you better believe there’s going to be a, “Just one more…”

Story from June 2009 issue of Alliance Wake

 

“Big Picture – Crazy Canadians”

big pic 10.1_ryan doyle - alija bos

You know the phrase “no guts, no glory”? Ryan Doyle and Nic Harlos do. The riding buddies from Canada set out together to conquer this scary piece of staircase walking assistance in their homeland and relied on each other to pull it off. They had to scout it, plan it, build it, and then convince themselves to go for it – all 13 stairs and 32-feet of handrail of it (not to mention the jagged rocks and shallow landing part of it). Needless to say they got it. Some board sports like going at it solo – riding by yourself and for yourself – but sometimes isn’t it more fun to sacrifice your guts and share your glory together?

Photo: Alija Bos

This was a “Big Picture” from Dec/Jan 2010 issue of Alliance Wake