Last Friday was the First Day of Spring, which marks the official end of winter. The only way to properly celebrate this day is to strap on a wakeboard and have a session. Most lakes around Northern Utah are still under the ice, but with a bit of work, they are ridable.

Our idea was simple; break a few sections out of the ice to act as pools, then use the frozen ice slabs in between as huge slider boxes. Why, because no matter how many times you may hear it, it is not a true ‘freeze ride’, unless something is frozen. It takes a certain breed of people to accomplish a task such as this. I knew just who to call. An old buddy of mine who is always in for anything, and never has a shortage of ideas, Stubbs. You can’t tackle the ice without the Winch Master himself, OMJ. Last but not least, my off-season riding buddies, the Down For The Ride crew, Josh and David.

We were greeted by the Sheriff when we arrived. Although he voiced his opinion on how stupid he thought we were, he wished us the best of luck and went on his way. We fired up the Pulldozer Winch and it was time for awesome. Stubbs took care of the first set to make sure everything was legit. He even had a speedo run to prove how nice the weather was. Josh followed up with a 180 on 180 out on the first ’slider’ finishing with a back side 180 on the second hit. He later threw down some sick tail press action. I jumped in next with no awesome, but after switching to Josh’s Roam it was on with the back lip steez on the first slider to 540 on the second ice box.

This was apparently about the time when someone took it upon themselves to call the ranger. It must have looked like we were having too much fun. Needless to say, we were politely shut down and booted out of Jordanelle. The reason; we were not participating in the “normal usage of the state facility”.

I thought wakeboarding was normal.

Note: WakeUtah does not advise any sort of activity on any body of frozen water. It is dangerous. You may die. Also, please be courteous to any ranger, state park official, or sheriffs you may encounter in your wakeboarding, wakeskating, or winching activities. If they ask you to leave, please do so. Do not argue, you will not win, you will only give all of us wakeboarders a bad reputation. We must join together and go about our fights the proper way. I will personally, along with all of us must, always jump through any hoops in the proper order and submit the correct paper work to ensure everyone may enjoy and participate in our sport in years to come.

Thanks to DownForTheRide.com for the pics. Also make sure to check out a small video done by DFTR Josh on my.wakeutah.com.

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Make sure to join us the night before, for the pre-party.

Cost will be $35.00 to compete, to help cover our expenses.

Helmets and life jackets will be required for all riders along with signing a liability wavier.

This event will be a pre-qualifier to the Seven Peaks Rail Jam, which will have a limited amount of spaces available.

 Come ride the Delta Res Monster

Check out the map for a better idea of the location.

Last spring WakeUtah.com went through an overhaul, things were said, agreements were made, and people got involved! You have all seen the changes we have been making, improving the site, finding deals for us poor wakeboarders, and being the best source of information about what is happening in the wakeboarding world in Utah. Those are the things you have seen so far, we have some things in the works that will bring our community of wakeboarders together.

Part of the change is the merchandise section provided in part by Zazzle.com, where you can find some sweet wakeutah.com shirts, hats and mugs. We went with Zazzle.com because of the ability given to the customer, that’s you, to customize the shirt to your liking! You can move the wakeutah.com logo around the front, put in on the chest pocket area or delete it all together. Once you have your design, you can change the type of shirt, maybe you want it as a hoodie, or a sweater, it’s all good! You may have seen Dewey and I at the meet up events, practice runs, and IWA competitions in our stylish shirts.

The images on the back were taken from photos I took over the past few years attending events such as the Wake In the Snake of 2007, Deweys Rail Jam of 2007, and the Liquid Force Slider Show of 2006. Recently we released the first local rider edition t-shirt, the Marc Glover Edition. Marc was our featured rider for June, and in honor of his accomplishments I asked for a photo that I could use to put him on the shirt. He provided a picture of him kicking some mad air, railey style. After hours of working my magic, he is now on a shirt.

So I figured, why not offer this to others who have a killer profile shot of them doing a sick move, like Marc’s railey, and put it on a shirt at Zazzle.com! That is the game plan, if you have a picture, you think would look great on a WakeUtah.com shirt, email me, omj@wakeutah.com, and I will work some magic and create your own edition of the WakeUtah.com t-shirt!

Most of us are sun worshippers. When it’s raining and the wind is blowing, the lakes are not in the best condition. When a storm comes, with any chance of magnitude, most are tying down yard furniture and closing windows. I choose to use my time building rails, just for the opportunity that arises about once a year. Multiple parks around the valley will get backed up, and flood. This begins the park session.

If it starts to rain and puddles grow big enough to ride, make sure to look for Dewey’s Rail, and the WakeUtah crew.

If you know of a possible winch site feel free to contact, email (dewey@wakeutah.com) or call me anytime so we can set up a session. (801) 706-6820. For more info on a suitable location check out the story a little way down this very page.

For a complete story, a list of riders, and many more pictures, check out DeweysRail.com

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