Double Up by Randall Harris

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Randall’s infamous method off the double up from the video Natural Born Thrillaz. Circa 2001

I did not invent the double up. That is all I know concerning the origin. In my head it evolved from an old pirate tactic where you double back and ram your unsuspecting pursuer and smash their vessel to pieces. That may just be me being a romantic. I thank God for whoever did create this calculated manipulating of wakes because D-ups changed and continues to change the face of our sport dramatically. Double ups are double fun, plus they have been a great way to learn tricks due to increased air time. Think of all the wakeboarding milestones owed to double ups; Nelson’s toeside 360s in, Byerly’s 720 in Hawaii, Parks’ 1080, Danny’s 1260, Parks’ double half cab rolls! All of these groundbreaking feats of athleticism brought to us via el doble grande! I will never forget watching Shapiro blastin’ jumbo speedballs and even attempting triple fronts at Parks’ first Double or Nothin’ contest. The first time I sat in the boat and watched pros hit double ups was in Portland at a PWT stop. It was my first year on Tour and I was super green. Somehow before or after the contest my dad ended up launching our boat to pull Cobe Mikacich and Mike Weddington. I couldn’t believe how high and how far these guys flew! Plus I got to witness one of Weddington’s classic oriental glides; legendary! Of course everything Byerly did off the D-up in all his video sections look dope and forever timeless like everything he does. Watching Gator hit double ups during the filming of Mayday was mind blowing. I’m still in shock every time I see Murray punt a raley off a D-up into the outer atmosphere. Clearly, we as wakeboarders, owe so much to double ups. Respect the double up. Praise the double up.

It was probably ‘93 or ‘94 when my pops figured out how to punish my brother and I by throwing us some wicked dubs and watching us get hucklebucked and thoroughly wadded up. But it wasn’t long before I started catching on and rapidly acquired an intense appetite for smashin dubs. I wanted to go higher and higher. Flying through the air, grabbing for days, spinning, and flipping extra slow felt so rad. My dad told me he learned about double ups at the ‘94 Worlds (yes, when Byerly won and Gator got 2nd on the Flight 69 board). He saw Gator hit a double up and was like WTF was that!? As soon as we got home he was in the tiny Canyon Lake backwater figuring out how to do it, giving his children the ultimate gift of double ups. What a guy, huh?

The “backwater” is a tiny slice of water stuck behind the world’s most infamous slalom course. It’s very short and narrow, even for the smaller boats and shorter rope lengths back in ‘94. My dad managed to figure out that in order to do double ups in this small body of water he had to do a pre turn to set it up and do a small tight circle. A pre turn is what we call the 90 degree turn we make straight across the lake so that you can loop around and cross the double up heading straight back the way we came leaving just enough room for the rider to blast a dub and avoid landing in rocks. Initiating this pre turn adds the benefit of slowing the boat down and making the wake bigger as you draw the line you will be crossing, thus making the double up even bigger than a traditional D-up. Because the lake was so short I would get 3 to 5 tricks back then if I was hustlin fast enough. Then it was double up time. Then 3 to 5 wake tricks, then double up at the other end. If I was feeling nice and I followed the Canyon Lake backwater courtesy rule of limiting my run to three laps I still hit six dubs every time I rode. I would alternate between rights and lefts, switch and regular, toe and heel. Double ups have been an integral part of my regiment ever since. I’ve sent many a maneuver deep into the blue off gargantuan double ups. My favorite personal trick of all time is still the double up method I did in Natural Born Thrillaz.

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The Godfather and the Vandall, two pioneers of double ups

I had the pleasure of attending the 10th Brostock at Lake of the Ozarks in May. Dudes are still double uppin! In the finals Harley was first off the dock. First trick: flawless double indy tantrum. Whaaaaaaaat!?! A few riders later, JD Webb: stomps a wrapped nose grab toeside backside 900 perfect! The only other time I’ve seen that trick was when Steel knocked the first one out the pond at Rusty’s house. Shane banged out a nasty toe side tail grab backside 540. Definitely a never-before-seen ninja move. These guys plus Rusty, Dean Smith, Aaron Rathy, Jeff Langley (I know you saw his double up method cover!) and many more are keepin’ the double up scene alive and well. Progression is taking place and history is being made one double up at a time.


Rumours have reached my ear once or twice now that some of the younger generation of ams and pros hit double ups infrequently, if at all. That’s shocking because for me double ups provide me with a certain satisfaction unattainable elsewhere. I can only speculate why they wouldn’t enjoy double ups, but maybe it’s because cables provide a safer and easier way to learn new tricks. They have consistent pulls with ramps that have consistent pop. From some of what I’ve seen from young riders like Daniel Grant, you can go as big or bigger on a sped-up cable than most double ups. As I’ve explained above, I’ve had the advantage of adjusting to bigger, meaner double ups every few years as the wakes have grown. I started in ski boats designed to have no wake and now ride behind a 24-foot mini-yacht designed to have a colossal wake. Ankle-high to chest-high all day. I would imagine it’s pretty damn intimidating for a virgin double upper to square up with the goliath D-ups boats are pushin’ these days. The snowboard/moto style jumps with landing transition look as fun as double ups, but you have a perfect transition to land on. The stakes are of course higher when you get hucklebucked, and I’m not sure how available those ramps will become to the weekend warrior or seasoned pro. With all these alternatives I still can’t imagine a wake scene without the presence of some good ol fashion D-ups. There is a certain unmatchable satisfaction I get from hittin’ dubs as hard as I can. I’m gonna double up ‘til the ship wrecks.

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Randall at BROstock… circa 2015