Oli Derome on the cover of issue 12.5. Photo by Chris Garrison

What is it about a new magazine that gets you going? Is it the smell? is it the feel? Or is it the excitement that we may have slipped and printed a nip? No one will ever be able to put their finger on the exact answer, but Issue 12.5 has arrived with a fresh new look thanks to our new art director Steve Reiley. Give it up for Steve. Steee-eeeeve! Oli Derome and Chris Garrison also help make our papers legit with this beautiful method shot from the tube.

 

Steel Lafferty has been exploding in the wakeboarding industry like the grand finale of a Disney World New Years eve fireworks display. He keeps blasting off going higher, farther, and making more noise than ever before. For this reason we featured him in our 20 Questions interview on pages 44 -51. Within there is a sequence of a never before seen backside 540 variation that will blow your mind. Steel has developed a unique style in the past year or two that we simply could never deny. And no, we’re not referring to the gym shorts that he wears all day everyday…Within the interview we get Steeel’s take on double flips, riding for Red Bull, getting hazed, and the lowdown on why he absolutely loves Kid Rock.

 

Next up we have the Lipsmack feature in which team Slingshot settles all the rumors about the making of their first team video. The crew has been hard at work for the past year and when you try and keep everything under wraps, rumors begin to boil. Was Andrew Adams the stunt double for Oli Derome’s  rail riding? Did they really spend 775 K on helicopters alone? The answers are within, plus many more details on what they call “the peoples movie” which is now officially available for download on itunes.

 

Rounding out the issue Alliance hosts the first ever wakeskate hippie jump contest. Danny Hampson was kind enough to offer up his home as a playground for the days event, as well as his carpentry skills as he and Associate editor Jeff McKee designed the apparatus for the event. Wakeskaters Scott Byerly, Brandon Thomas, Stu Shinn, Nick Taylor, and George Daniels joined in for the fun. It was more complicated than anyone had imagined, but by the end of the day the boys had mastered the move with shuvs underneath the pole both ways, straight hippie jumps, and even a 3 shuv by Danny Hampson. Look out for video and an online photo gallery coming in the very near future.

Until then, grab a copy of the new issue 12.5 and get your read on!

 

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