2015 Street/Urban Rider of the Year
Chris Abadie

chris_abadie_shredtown_real_wake_soderlindChris and Andrew Adams working on some Real Wake gold photo: Soderlind

As wakeboarding evolves, so too must the recognition of those pushing it. In the past we, and many other media outlets, have used terms like “Rail Rider” for awarding the best “non-boat” rider. But these days there are so many avenues that constitute the “non-boat” side of wakeboarding that we felt it was necessary to separate them even more so. We created the Park Rider of the Year category (which this year went to Daniel Grant) that goes toward overall park riding: locked-in rail hits, giant kicker trickery, creative obstacle shredding, and of course, unique style. Away from the standard parks though is the world of private setups, street riding, and backyard rail shredding. This aspect of wakeboarding grew an even greater interest and appreciation in 2015 in large part because of the rider winning this award: Chris Abadie. Chris, after an insane 2014 with Shredtown’s Drop the Gun, followed it up with double X-Games gold in the first ever Real Wake competition. He won his first gold as voted on by fellow Real Wake competitors and his second gold as voted on by you, the fans. Chris’ riding and approach to the sport are wildly refreshing. To see him ride in spots any person can find in any town around the world makes him and his riding more relatable. The reason we don’t see more pros taking an approach like Chris’ and his fellow Shredtown brethren? It’s really, really hard.