Frederic von Osten Action

Red Bull Rising High on the 23rd of June 2013 in Hamburg • 16 world’s best wakeboarder starting at the world premiere • Live-webcast und free entry for all fans at the event

Red Bull Rising High: To the next level with a new obstacle

Munich, 22 May 2013 – It has been a constituent part of snowboarding for a while and it was introduced to the skateboarding world a few years ago under the moniker “Megaramp”; now it becomes a wakeboarding reality: a new obstacle that will most probably not only allow for higher jumps, but also for new tricks. An impressive combination of kicker and landing ramp that can float on the water has been developed in cooperation with ramp building company UNIT Parktech, which equips wakeboarding facilities worldwide. On June 23, 16 of the world’s best kicker riders are going to meet at the Magellan-Terraces in Hamburg at the Red Bull Rising High event to test this new innovation and write wakeboarding history with some extra air time. Admission to this spectacular event will be free. For those who won’t be able to be there, there will be a live stream of this exciting world premiere. For more information, go to www.redbull.de/risinghigh.

Progress means change and the kickoff for tomorrow’s reality. Following this philosophy, Red Bull is about to give the wakeboarding scene a boost with the innovative UNIT obstacle, which has lovingly been dubbed “Big Willy”, thanks to its impressive measurements of 4 meters in height and 35 meters in length.

The level of performance in cable wakeboarding has seen unprecedented progress in the last couple of years, mainly due to the rising number of wakeboarding facilities and wake parks all over the world and the growing number of riders. Invert tricks like e.g. Raley 720⁰, Mobe 540⁰, 1080⁰ spins or double flips over kickers are not a rarity anymore. But as height and difficulty of the tricks are rapidly on the rise, riders are reaching the limits of their physical capabilities, mainly because their knees simply cannot absorb the impact of landing on flat water anymore. Unlike in snowboarding, a counterpart to the kicker that alleviates the impact of the landing and enables a smoother rideaway has been sorely lacking. Until now.

This is where the groundbreaking Red Bull Rising High obstacle by UNIT Parktech comes in, whose combination of XXL kicker and landing hill provides riders with more air time and a smoother rideaway. Prior to the event, four international kicker experts tested this brand-new setup in a secret session and called it a fantastic and revolutionary innovation in wakeboarding. IWWA world champion Frederic von Osten said after the first test: “I used to feel every single kicker session the day after, usually my whole body was sore. But the landings on Big Willy are super smooth because most of the impact is simply absorbed.”

Along with Frederic von Osten, Dominik Gührs and Felix Georgii, wakeboarding’s international kicker elite will be in Hamburg to give the fans a great show. The competition mode will be head-to-head, and the better one of two jumps will be counted. Judges Florian Meeh (Germany), David Vervenne (France) and Keith Lidberg (USA) will judge the tricks in the categories “Style”, “Execution” and “Progression” and decide who will get the trophy at the premiere of Red Bull Rising High.

The spectators at the Magellan-Terraces and the live stream viewers at home will also have their say in the decision: the “Swatch Best Style Award” will be decided via interactive voting.

Red Bull Rising High will be hosted by Australian Clint Liddy, who lives in Germany and who’s a renowned expert of the sport that has already lent his voice to many contests. He will be supported by wakeboarding scene veteran Patrick Unger, who will expertly represent Germany’s north with his Hamburg slang. The contest is scheduled to start at 3.30 pm and end at 6.00 pm.

The road is paved for international scene stars like Jeremia Hoppe (Sweden), Daniel Grant (Thailand), Shane Bonifay (USA) and the German boys to write wakeboarding history at the premiere of Red Bull Rising High. You don’t want to miss that!

Get a first impression of the upcoming action here: http://www.redbull.de/cs/Satellite/de_DE/Sport/Wassersport/Red-Bull-Rising-High/001243344655442