Northwest Riders Wake Series 2012

Covering wakeboarding, its usually a safe bet that I will get wet.  Covering wakeboarding in Washington, its pretty much a given.  Kicking off the 2012 Northwest Riders Wake Series Double Up contest this year was a nice torrential rainstorm, and even some thunder.  But my favorite part about living in the Northwest, is the amazing people I get to experience this place with.  Smiles were undeniable in what was easily the wettest event I have ever covered. With little to no expectation for amazing weather in middle to late June, the decision was made to have a killer time before the day even started, and it went down.  The riders absolutely threw down, and Northwest Riders pulled off a killer event in true Northwest Riders fashion.  

Here's to making your own sunshine, and enjoying the liquid sunshine when we get it, 

thanks for looking

check the whole gallery here

-Rhys

Bow Lake Watersports

Hittin the lake with Cam Russell one last time before we both embark on our summer journeys, his to AK and mine to North Central Washington.  Got it done despite the rain

thanks for looking

-Rhys

Chad Spady gettin after it:

Middle Fork Madness

Every once in awhile you get a day.  This day will come, and it can catch you by surprise, this day could be something you've only thought about, just imagined, or something you've dreamt about for years. It could remind you of what you do or don't have. It could make you thankful, it could make you realize you need to be ready for the next day, because this time you weren't.  These days will come, and imagining that any day could be this day, I think, makes your life seem like something you mean to be living.  I am constantly inspired by those around me whose lives are based on around knowing, and doing as much as they can when these days arrive. I'm inspired by those who spend their time perfecting things they love, and are enlivened by.  It is a cycle that perpetuates your soul I believe, where skill, challenge and ability converge, to require massive dedication and result in achievement, fueling the next idea of progression.  

Anyways apparently I had that thought in my head at midnight tonight, posting photos of guys who consistently take their own lives in their hands, and don't think twice about it, because the price you pay in regret, or boredom or doubt or fear through not doing it, is higher than the cost of risking really living and giving the one thing you spent on being the best; your life.  

This particular day, was a slow start to a sunny afternoon watching the Bombflow crew and friends charge down the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River, bushwacking a jungle ravine, dangling from a rappelling harness over a raging chasm of whitewater, hoping my self-tied anchor would hold and my camera wouldn't slip out of my outstretched hand.

The results were less than what I wanted, but a second trip is surely being schemed.

Thank you for reading this

and as always thank you for looking.  

rhys's life tips #48: Adventures are relative, they can be seconds, or years.  If you choose to set out on one, you can usually choose to end one too. Creating them makes more sense than finding them and you won't usually regret them.

-Rhys