By Mark Morical / The Bulletin
Published: August 24. 2007 4:00AM PSTCoach Alex Scagliotti, 17 of Sisters, blasts a huge "Hoochie Glide" air, while riding with other coaches and campers during the Elevate Wakeboard Camp at the Prineville Reservoir last week.
Guest coach Evan Caraway, 20, of Bend, floats a backroll to revert, while riding with other coaches and campers during the Elevate Wakeboard Camp at the Prineville Reservoir last week.
Nathan Jacobson, 9 of Bend, airs out his wakeboard, while riding at the Elevate Wakeboard Camp last week.
Brad Jacobson sped his Malibu across the sparkling blue of Prineville Reservoir, calling out the names of the inverted, twisty tricks that wakeboarder Alex Scagliotti was performing on the water behind as hard-rock music blared from the boat’s speakers.
“Whirlybird!” Jacobson yelled over the din, identifying one of Scagliotti’s maneuvers. “Batwing! ... Railey with a grab! ... Hoochie Glide!”
Scagliotti then pulled off an even more impossibly acrobatic concoction high in the air and landed smoothly on the wake.
“That — I have no idea,” Jacobson said.
These days, some wakeboarding tricks can leave onlookers at a loss for words. Much like its board-sport relatives, snowboarding and skateboarding, wakeboarding is growing faster than ever in popularity, a worldwide trend that has not escaped Central Oregon.
Also much like snowboarders and skateboarders, wakeboarders are getting started early in life. Scagliotti, who last week was coaching and riding at Elevate Wakeboard Camp on Prineville Reservoir, is just 17, and he started as a coach at the camp when he was only 12.
Scagliotti, of Sisters, competes in the Junior Men’s Division of the Pro Wakeboard Tour, and he is competing this weekend in the Wakeboard World Championships in Sparks, Nev. Scagliotti and Robby Carter, a Bend wakeboarder who now lives in Florida and competes as a pro, are two role models for a host of young Central Oregon wakeboarders who, because of cold weather, can ride only a few months out of the year.
Both Scagliotti and Carter are coaches at Elevate Wakeboard Camp, which earlier this month finished its sixth year on Prineville Reservoir, south of Prineville. The camp, organized by the Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation, gives wakeboarders of all skill levels a chance to ride and learn technique.
A wakeboard is sort of like a small surfboard with bindings that come up over the ankles. By carving on the board’s edges to steer, a rider can move outside the wake, then cut quickly into the wake, launching high into the air and performing tricks before landing on the other side of the wake. Boats — many constructed to create a huge wake — usually travel 18 to 22 mph while pulling a wakeboarder.
Central Oregon wakeboarders have made their mark this summer, winning several divisions at the Freeriders Ball Wakeboard Tournament in Toledo, Wash., earlier this month.
“(Wakeboarding) is getting really popular,” said Greg Garretson, camp director of Elevate. “Ask any boat dealer in Oregon. It’s kind of going through the roof. It’s funny, it’s such a short season here. For such a short season, Central Oregon riders are competing and doing really well. It’s a pretty strong scene.”
Scagliotti, who plans to move to Florida next March to further his wakeboarding career, says he landed his first 900 — 2½ rotations — earlier this month. He tried one during his session at Elevate, but he crashed in the attempt.
“Lots of pros can do it, but in competitions it’s tough,” Scagliotti said of the 900. “ I think I can get it consistent.”
After performing his impressive series of tricks, with the names rattled off by Jacobson, Scagliotti decided to have a little fun with some man-made features on the reservoir. He ollied (jumped over with his board) three consecutive four-foot-high buoys that lined the marina, much to the delight of the youngsters in the boat.
Scagliotti says he’s seen plenty of changes in the sport of wakeboarding over the years.
“The acrobat part is down to the max, now they’re trying to do older tricks with way new styles,” he explained. “There will always be more tricks to do, but people are just trying to make them look good.
“The biggest difference I see is the younger guys. These younger guys are just killing it. In the junior men’s, two years ago my run would win every time. Now, it’s average. They’re definitely starting young.”
Last week, about 15 youngsters were divided among three boats during the year’s fourth and final three-day session of the Elevate Wakeboard Camp. Some were just learning how to get up out of the water on a wakeboard, while others were attempting 180s and assorted other tricks. No matter what skill level, all the riders had smiles on their faces as they carved on the water and jumped the wake. Temperatures reached the high 90s on Prineville Reservoir, and the 75-degree water was a refreshing, but not shocking, relief.
Jordan Brown, 13, of Bend, was perfecting his “Fashion Air,” putting his hand behind his head in a chic model pose as he flew over the wake.
“I think the younger you are, the more confidence you have,” said Brown, who began wakeboarding four years ago. “After you’ve taken some big face plants, the confidence goes up. It’s all about confidence.”
Garretson says that with proper instruction, anybody can learn how to wakeboard.
“It’s not a hard sport if you’re taught right,” the camp director said. “It’s not hard to progress on your own. That’s what’s so cool about these young kids. They’re looking at that next level.”
Reaching the status of Scagliotti and Carter takes athleticism and courage, Jacobson said — you can’t be afraid to land hard on the water while perfecting such technical aerial maneuvers.
“To be at a high level, it takes a lot of coordination, a lot of guts, a lot of athletic ability,” said Jacobson, who is also a coach at Elevate. “The water is way harder than you’d ever believe. Coming off tricks, you catch your edge and just WHAM! It’s worse than doing a belly-flop off the high dive — way worse.”
Reaching that high level also requires access to a boat — something not everyone has. Elevate provides boats for the campers, but what about when the camp is over?
Some states, including California, Nevada, Texas and Florida, offer cable wakeboarding parks, where riders hang on to a rope while being pulled across the water by a moving cable attached to towers above. The parks often include rails, jumps and other features. No such park is in store for Central Oregon, but Scagliotti said he believes cables are the future of the sport and can help bring more people into wakeboarding.
“With gas prices going up and boats getting more expensive, I think there’ll be more cables,” Scagliotti said. “It’s like skateboarding: all you need is a deck. Wakeboarding is hard to do because it’s very expensive. With cables, you need a vest and a board.”
In the meantime, and in the offseason, there’s always snowboarding and skateboarding, whose skills are much the same as those required to wakeboard.
“The kids that have experience in those sports (snowboarding and skateboarding) do well in wakeboarding,” Jacobson said.
Evan Caraway of Bend, a 20-year-old coach at Elevate, says his wakeboarding is heavily influenced by his snowboarding.
“But with snowboarding, you use your edges; with wakeboarding, you use the rope,” Caraway said.
Garretson noted that many wakeboarders in Central Oregon are also avid snowboarders and skateboarders.
“I think in board sports, crossing over helps,” Garretson said. “And just the attitude between all the people ... the snowboard and skate scene is a huge community and they build off each other’s motivation, and it builds the sport more and more.”
Mark Morical can be reached at 383-0318 or at mmorical@bendbulletin.com.
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