04 Jul Road to Ropes Turncable 2015
Road to Ropes TurnCable
Local Hero
Elliot van den Boom
Date of Birth: March 11th 1991
Years of Riding: since 2011
Sponsors: MOFOUR Wakeboards and Ride Nation Protein bars
Can you introduce yourself in a few words?
Kiwi – coming from New Zealand, Cable technician and a rider.
When did you first arrive in Germany?
I arrived in Germany in 2011 but I arrived in Europe in 2008.
You’ve been living here full time?
I have been travelling all around Europe since 2008, snowboarding and wakeboarding. I have only gone back to New Zealand once for a week and that was last year. I love my travelling – there’s always something new and exciting to see.
Why wakeboarding?
I grew up with snowboarding – I’ve been snowboarding since I was 8 years old and when I came across wakeboarding a couple years ago, coming from snowboarding landing on ice all the time I had no fear for the water so I picked up tricks quite fast and I discovered that I was a better wakeboarder than snowboarder so I started to stick more to wakeboarding.
Why here, from New Zealand? Quite the change! What made you come to Europe?
Snowboarding. I finished high school and about two days after my final exam I left New Zealand to do a snowboard season in Austria. I wanted to take a year off before starting university or something like that, but I ended up loving travelling so much that I just kept travelling rather than going back.
I live by the rule that when I have money I travel, when I need money I work.
What do you think about the German wake scene?
I think that cable wakeboarding is pretty cool out here. Germany is known to be the cable park motherland so I think it’s pretty crazy out here. And every place you go there are different styles, different riding, different riders. It’s pretty cool out here!
As for the level, we have a little bit of everything. We get a few pro riders for sure, but we are still a young cable and the riders that are pushing it here are not quite pro level… yet! We are pushing it though !!
What do you like the most about Turncable?
It’s got a really nice atmosphere. I love working here: it’s one of the best job I’ve ever had here. Riding is really fun tow: you got two cable, one going each direction so you can ride both sides and obstacles are amazing. I love working here – in the sun all day, working with chill people… it’s fun!
What do you like the most about this sport? What makes you thrive about wakeboarding?
I’m somewhat of a watertrick (airtrick) guy, so what I like the most is to be able to fly. You can’t really get that from any other sport unless you are jumping out of a plane. So the feeling of flying is what hooked me on wakeboarding at first. It’s also the excitement to learn a new trick. That’s what pushes me each day to go bigger and be better: it’s the thrill I get from it.
Rails or Air tricks?
I’m more of a kicker and airtrick kind of guy, but I’m starting to push myself more on rails.
Describe yourself in 3 words:
Kiwi, traveler, funseeker
How would you describe your riding style:
Still trying to find it!
Who do you look up to, who inspires you?
In snowboarding, Eero Etalla and this kind of guys: they are past their 30s and still charging it.
Lior Sofer in wakeboarding – He’s the kind of guys who have been riding for over a decade and they’re still charging really hard. That’s what’s important, to always have fun.
What are your goals?
I’m not a big competition guy, I have ridden in one or two competition in the past – I HAVE to get these tricks etc… My best friend is a photographer and it was just so much more fun to film and have photo sessions with him than it was than having a trick safe and especially for a run in a competition.
I wakeboard to have fun, and the sponsors I have are happy enough with photos and videos… so I’m lucky for that
What do you do outside of wakeboarding?
I do a bit of stencil artwork, not really graffiti but it’s more like designing and cutting out and spraying. It’s something completely different from sport and it brings out a different creative side.
Shout out ?
My family (hi mom!!), my girlfriend Miriam Ahrens for pushing me everyday to do my best and to have fun doing it, the rest of New Zealand… And Lukas Riedl, my friend and photographer – he does more work than I do on shots! And TurnCable and my sponsors of course!
