Flashback Friday: High Wake Drifters – Scott Byerly
Alright, kids, consider this your history lesson of the week. Back in the early days of wakeboarding there were no fat sacs, or towers, or giant wakes. We used water ski boats and made the most of it. When High Wake Drifters came out wakeboarding was just establishing itself as a legitimate sport of its own and Scott Byerly was on his way to establishing himself as the leader of the pack. Back in ’94 and ’95 when the double ups weren’t even the size of today’s wakes, Scott was doing things that riders still try to emulate now. Before he was the founder of the Toe Jam and a leader of the wakeskating movement, Scott Byerly was a wakeboarder who could do things others only dreamed about doing. Watch, observe, learn, and respect. It doesn’t get much more classic or better than this.
Video from Sidewayz Films
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May 24, 2013
Such a sick session from a sick era. Byerly at his finest. High Wake drifters is one of those videos that had a lot of great riding from that time–and then you get to Scott's section and it is like you are looking into the future…
May 24, 2013
One more thing: Byerly Hook!
May 24, 2013
Great post. You can't give Scott Byerly too much credit for his impact on Wakeboarding. His Legend status will continue to grow with time. Keep posting these history lessons.
May 24, 2013
yeahhhh buddy
May 24, 2013
This is when I realized it was possible to make falling look cool. Seriously, look at the oriental to fall at 3:52. No one else could or can do that. The influence this section had on the development of the sport cannot be overstated. Kids watching it right now may be like, "yeah it all looks pretty stock to me", but what they may not realize is that there are so many things he's doing that literally NO ONE else was doing at the time. Pete Rose, Fat Chance, Skeezer, Tantrum to Blind, Toe Front to Blind, looking legit on rails, wake surfing, and of course the hook. All behind a slalom ski boat. The guy was just way ahead of his time.
May 24, 2013
Still own it on VHS….watch it fairly often. Great to see it in the mix!
May 24, 2013
Awesome section….
Can we get some old section of Murray!!! PLEASE My Fav sections in order are…
1) Murray/Lavelle in Switch
2) Murray in Daily Dose
3) Murray in Mayday
May 24, 2013
&/or Gator's section in Mayday…Insane riding Style for days
May 24, 2013
and who says small wakes are overrated
May 24, 2013
The hop to side slide- epic. Took many front edge diggers trying to mimic that back in the day. As for old school Murray- Hard to do his fluid-style justice if you don't scale it by showing what others riding styles look like back then. No one made riding look so clean, smooth and fun than nor do any rider now. Best examples Switch/Switch 22/ Mayday!
May 24, 2013
The hop to side slide- epic. Took many front edge diggers trying to mimic that back in the day. As for old school Murray- Hard to do his fluid-style justice if you don't scale it by showing what other riding styles look like back then. No one made riding look so clean, smooth and fun than nor does any rider now. Best examples Switch/Switch 22/ Mayday!
May 24, 2013
Exactly what Nice said. WAY ahead of his time.