Ok people, say it with me: "Spanky Beaver's Wakeboarding Jib Jam".
Hard to say without cracking up a little, huh? This is the event that
brings smiles to every one (except maybe Lizzie Williams this year, and
Shane Wright last year). It's so hard to keep a straight face when your
talking to someone about the event, and they ask what the name of the event
is and you HAVE TO say 'Spanky Beaver's wakeboarding Jib Jam'.
"Hey, you going to Spanky Beaver's?"
"Heck yeah! You know I'm all over Spanky Beaver's!"
At the events conception (some years ago) I didn't put too much thought into
what the event would turn into, and how much it would really be talked
about, or that the term 'spanky beaver' would be describing something other
than a movie. It was a good name, though. We had a mascot. He is a
beaver, and his name is Spanky. Beavers make things out of wood in
water...so do we!
The best event in the long series of "Spanky" events took place May 2nd and
3rd. A big group of us set up on May 1st, and it was raining. I was a
little upset, and worried about the rain. Our drills were getting soaked,
all the guys helping were getting soaked, there wasn't much covered area at
the pool, and we were keeping our fingers crossed just to get some riders to
turn out.
The rain wasn't your normal "Sacramento Sprinkle". It dumped. I thought
the event was gonna be a bust after seeing the weather report. Live and
learn, though, right? Set-up was fast. We had rails up quicker than any
event prior, and we built them good. No rail collapses at this event! The
repeated set-up and break down at previous events was finally paying off, we
were building like Beavers!
Saturday morning came, and so did the stupid rain. But as 10am got closer,
more and more riders started shuffling through the gates. I think the
riders knew that we had a perfect situation: the rails stayed wet and slick
all day. As the day rolled on the bands started playing and more and more
people came to ride, hang out, and rock out! We had the biggest turnout
ever. As a rail rider, or rider wanting to get some experience on rails,
this is the perfect event to hone your skills. $40 to ride as much as you
want within a 21 hour window.
The event hours officially are Saturday 9am-10pm, and Sunday 9am-5pm. We
set up Friday night and "test" till when ever. The pool has stadium lights
so there is no reason to stop at sunset. I think we "tested" until about
3am Friday night/Saturday morning. Same with Saturday night. After the
event was over for the night, we had to inspect the rails for weakness and
test them again, which I think lasted until about 3am again Saturday
night/Sunday morning.
Sunday had always been a slow day for us. Since you can ride as much as you
want and 13 hours of continuous winch rail sliding seems to wear people out
I always expect Sunday to be chill and at a slower pace. Not this year! I
think almost all the riders from Saturday came back, and shredded the gnar
for Sunday too! The riders organized and had a little "best trick" contest
too.
We all know the state of the economy, and more specifically, the state of
the water sports industry. We didn't have a huge sponsor turnout, but
that's ok. I love to say that this event is for riders, and by riders. The
riders entree fee of $40 (and you got a tee shirt) pays for the event. Here
in nor cal, it's nice to have a place to ride rails. This event was organized by Brodie Chaboya and myself, but the riders are responsible for
making it happen. HUGE THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT CAME, especially those who helped setting up and breaking down: Nick Hilbers, Kid Carson, Cameron & Elliot Brown, Trey Forgotyourlastname, Jarrod Corby, Jerrod Porteur, Derrick Conway, Myke Davis, Jason Callen, Scott Anderson, Brian Austerman, Raquel Hoffman, Dan Bright, Jake Weaver, Jon Haddox, Shane Wright and all those I forgot. We also had some tremendous help from Sarah Hasch and my mom, Jeannie, with the registration and raffle.
Three more to go in 2009! Keep checking myspace.com/spankybeaver for any updates or changes to the schedule.
Thank you Riley Bangerter, Karen Medders, Myke Davis, and Cameron Brown forall your pictures
"Spanky Beaver's Wakeboarding Jib Jam" is in its 4th year as a unique
wakeboarding event in public swimming pools for riders, by riders. Big
thanks to the sponsors that contributed and made this event so awesome: HYPERLITE, Accurate, HO sports, Byerly wakeboards, Dream Extreme, Boards n motion, loud liquid, screen designs, That Was Rad, and Bern helmets.
