1) Brostock! Bull shoals. So yeah, we pretty much rolled into the smallest town in the greater United States and made our mark. As Brostock continues to grow and become a brand within itself, the contest and the party just get better and better. Looking forward to next year.

2) Parks nearly landing his switch double back roll mobe…or could it be a switch double cork frontside 10?- The case could easily be made that his double back mobe is the first and only double cork 10 to be landed as of yet, and to see him come back from his injuries and still prove what everyone already knows about him was one of the coolest things too see.

3) Turning on my computer and seeing a new web clip every week of Harley doing the hardest tricks ever done all back to back, wake to wake. – Once every few years there will be a video section that pops up that makes you shake your head and say “Whaaaaat?” out-loud, even when nobody else is there.  I found myself doing this countless times this year when watching Harley’s “One set” clips.  Whether it was linking all 4 frontside 9’s, or tricks that nobody has ever done before, it was insane and yet slightly annoying at the same time.  Haha!

4) The emergence of Steel Lafferty – If you have been in the scene, you definitely knew who Steel was.  Whether it was watching him catch front edges on wake to wake heelside backside 7’s, and popping back up to stick it later in his pass, or seeing him at contests constantly “being athletic” with some activity, he was always “around”.  This year his strength and board control caught up to his fearlessness and general freakishness.  I’ve seen him go out and land a wake to wake toeside flat backside 7 first trick with no warmup, like it is no big deal.  If you are like me, then you probably think that is a big deal.

5) Alliance 10 year issue. – Alliance has been a proponent of the “other side” of the sport from the beginning, which has all but created spots for people like me to make a living wakeboarding.  To that I say thank you, and the 10th Anniversary issue is one of those things that I find myself picking up, flipping though, putting it down, then picking it up again.  Reading each of the ROTY’s take on each of the last 10 years is pretty cool.  That topped off with Tom Fooshee winning this year’s ROTY, it almost marks a major shift, or evolution of the sport…all snuggled nicely within the pages of the anniversary issue.

6) Dean Smith winning Worlds – Looking at the final, it didn’t seem right to not see Harley in there, but the way Dean rode all weekend, he would have made Harley stand up a hard run. Seeing underdogs win is always fun, especially when it is from an “all or nothing” kind of person like Dean. Seeing my homie Trevor Hansen make a legit run for first and get a strong podium finish was cool too.