The background

As the cold weather and snow begins to arrive in most European countries, Down Under cable park in the Netherlands decided to organise an end of season competition whereby the locals could show off their tricks. Down Under is one of the most famous Dutch cableways and has previously hosted competitions such as the WWA Protest Cable Call and the Dutch Nationals. There’s already been two Local Hero contests this year to support and push the many talented local riders. Unleashed was one of the brands that supported the final contest of the season, which took place on the 14th of October.

The competition

The local hero contest kicked off with a fun competition during which the competitors were challenged to jump, dive, roll or fashion air with a wakeskate off the kicker to earn the status of local fun hero of the year. Raymond Giessen came first with a very spectacular performance. A solid warm up for the main competition.

Recently, there’s been a lot of ‘best tricks’ competitions so Down Under decided to devise a ‘best run’ contest instead where riders were able to exhibit, not only their level but also, their variety of tricks and steeze. One by one the riders boarded the water, whilst receiving support from their fellow riders, families and friends.

Injured Slingshot rider Tommy Swaan (24) performed a dual role during the competition. Firstly, he shared his humour, tricks and quotes through the mic; and secondly, he took up the role of a judge. This guy proved he’s still engaged and knowledgeable in the sport.

The riders impressed the spectators and judges alike with mobes, bs 720’s in and out, a huge fs 270 chicken salad to blind off the kicker (Wassim’s signature trick), backside 3 transfers, dancing on rails and sweet presses and grabs. There was even a group of youngsters who only started riding this year, yet all took part in the competition!

Equal prize giving

The day ended with an award ceremony over on the picnic bench. As Down Under supports gender equality, the same amount of prize money was assigned to both categories. We hope this trend will be upheld in future years in the sport.

The young guns Wassim El Hodayebi (16) and Melissa Peperkamp (15) can now call themselves ‘Local Heroes’ of Down Under after becoming the winning riders in the open categories. In the junior category Zino Vallen (16) stole first prize, meanwhile in the kids division Storm Baas (14) deservedly achieved first place. A particularly outstanding win for Storm, who only started wakeboarding this year.

 

Winners speach

Melissa Peperkamp (15), winner of the Open Women:

“I started wakeboarding when I was 8 years old. Quint de Waard was my teacher when I started beginners’ lessons. How do I prepare for competitions? I always start with a warm up and just have a lot of fun. I have to say I am constantly trying to push myself to do better than in my training sessions. It stresses me out a bit, I just want everything to work out as I want it to. My secret is having a lot of fun and always trying to give it my best. My goal is to be in the European Cup next year. It means I’ll have to learn airtricks. I love being able to travel and fulfil my passion at the same time. I hope that one day I will be able to wakeboard at an international level and achieve a lot of places on the podium”.

Wassim El Hodayebi (16), winner of the Open Men:

“I started wakeboarding when I was about 10 or 11 years old. Before a competition I always try to prepare myself in a variety of different ways, although it hadn’t paid off prior to this contest. Normally I try to spend time relaxing the day before so I have enough energy for the big day. I think the most important thing is to eat well, like a Moroccan tajine or pizza. But unfortunately during almost every competition I know I still suck and fall on the simplest tricks. I think this is partly because I overthink certain tricks and I don’t manage to get into the right vibe. At the Down Under Local Hero competition I had such a good day. Thanks to Yasemin Tanriverdi for organising the event.

At the contest I competed in the Open Men’s category because my homies (Tom Franke and Lodewijk Waterhout) and I wanted to wakeboard at the end of the day, when the wind had died down. Lodewijk is still 14 years old so when I suggested the idea he was like “but bro wtf if I want I can still ride with the mini boys”. When I first entered the competition I wasn’t focused on the competitive nature of the event, I just wanted to enjoy a good wakeboarding session with my friends at my home cable. This relaxed my mindset and gave me lot of positive energy. I think everyone had a good day and rode really sick! Shout out to Max Halm for taking second place and Rodi Kosterman for achieving third place.

My goal in wakeboarding is to stand out from the status quo, by inventing new tricks and producing videos. As a member of the ‘Shaka bro’s’, we are working on a new video together. Tom Franke does the filming and editing and I am trying to put my own vision on progress and wakeboarding into the video. I hope it turns out well!”

Down Under cable park words

Thanks to all the riders, sponsors, supporters, judges and operators who made this season a blast! A special thanks goes out to Joey Scholman, the head operator who is making a career change after 6 years of putting a great deal of energy into our cable and local riders.

 

Results

Open Men

1. Wassim El Hodayebi

2. Max Halm

3. Rodi Kosterman

Open Women

1. Melissa Peperkamp

2. Damy Schreijer

3. Amira Lamin

Juniors

1. Zino Vallen

2. Carsten de Greef

3. Tristan de Koning

Kids

1. Storm Baas

2. Jayden Zingel

3. Darnell Davids

 

More about Down Under cable park

The big cable
The main road has a large cable line with a length of 720 meters hovering 10 meters above the south lake. From the starting point, the cable pulls you counterclockwise around the entire pond. There are eight lines (carriers) so that there is an optimal rotation!

The small lane
The first Sesitec 2.0 of the Benelux system running at Down Under in Nieuwegein! This new cable system is installed on the small track. It offers both beginners and pros the opportunity to train and practice their skills.

Down Under has very modern and state of the art features that provide challenge of each level riders. All obstacles are from Cable Park Unit Park Tech, the market leader in the field of cable parks : 2 kickers, 1 rail, 1 transfer and some others.

Watch the Down Under cable park in video on Unleashed Wake Mag !

The post Local Hero Contest Review | Down Under Cable Park | 2018 appeared first on Unleashed Wake Mag.

DiGiTaL – shaka bros from Shaka Bro’s on Vimeo.

Riders: Wassim el hodayebi, Tom Franke
and Lodewijk waterhout
Editor: Tom Franke
Art director: Wassim el Hodayebi

DiGiTaL BY SHAKA BRO’S

The Cable Park Down Under in Nieuwegein

The big cable
The main road has a large cable line with a length of 720 meters hovering 10 meters above the south lake. From the starting point, the cable pulls you counterclockwise around the entire pond. There are eight lines (carriers) so that there is an optimal rotation!

The small lane
The first Sesitec 2.0 of the Benelux system running ! This new cable system is installed on the small track. It offers both beginners and pros the opportunity to train and practice their skills.

The park has very modern and state of the art features that provide challenge of each level riders. All obstacles are from Cable Park Unit Park Tech, the market leader in the field of cable parks : 2 kickers, 1 rail, 1 transfer and some others.

More infos on the website

The post DiGiTaL | SHAKA BRO’S appeared first on Unleashed Wake Mag.

Liquid Force Down Under Open 2017

Songs:
RW Smith -Dig Deep
Gunnar Olsen – Slay Well

Camera:
Cannon EOS 60D
Canon70-200 f4.0
Sigma 17-50 f 2.8
DJI Mavic Pro

Location:
Down Under Cablepark

Film & edit:
Bart Hendrix

The Cable Park Down Under in Nieuwegein

The big cable
The main road has a large cable line with a length of 720 meters hovering 10 meters above the south lake. From the starting point, the cable pulls you counterclockwise around the entire pond. There are eight lines (carriers) so that there is an optimal rotation!

The small lane
The first Sesitec 2.0 of the Benelux system running at Down Under in Nieuwegein! This new cable system is installed on the small track. It offers both beginners and pros the opportunity to train and practice their skills.

Down Under has very modern and state of the art features that provide challenge of each level riders. All obstacles are from Cable Park Unit Park Tech, the market leader in the field of cable parks : 2 kickers, 1 rail, 1 transfer and some others.

More infos on the website

The post Liquid Force Down Under Open 2017 appeared first on Unleashed Wake Mag.

from the art of movies on Vimeo.

Down Under open setup

The Cable Park Down Under in Nieuwegein

The big cable
The main road has a large cable line with a length of 720 meters hovering 10 meters above the south lake. From the starting point, the cable pulls you counterclockwise around the entire pond. There are eight lines (carriers) so that there is an optimal rotation!

The small lane
The first Sesitec 2.0 of the Benelux system running ! This new cable system is installed on the small track. It offers both beginners and pros the opportunity to train and practice their skills.

The park has very modern and state of the art features that provide challenge of each level riders. All obstacles are from Cable Park Unit Park Tech, the market leader in the field of cable parks : 2 kickers, 1 rail, 1 transfer and some others.

More infos on the website

The post Down Under open setup appeared first on Unleashed Wake Mag.

DownUnder, The Netherlands

4 of July and almost 40°C. While America is going crazy with their stars and stripes, Utrecht in the Netherlands is having probably one of the hottest days in its history while also hosting the first leg of the Tour de France bike race. The city is packed with people, but the smart ones know how to escape the heat: they come to DownUnder Cable Park.

On such a hot summer day, this is truly the place to be for anyone trying to escape the heat of the city. A short train ride from Amsterdam, Down Under Cable park is a VERY popular spot, for wakeboarders and non-wakeboarders alike. With its good size lake and a ton of activity, one can easily spend a full weekend around here and never be bored.

Please follow me for a little tour of the premises!

As you arrive, you will have the choice to go up or down – up if you are hungry, down if you want to move.

Upstairs of the main building is a very nice restaurant, with high quality food. Forget about the snack bar with a limited choice of burgers and chips: this is a full on, classy restaurant with a diverse menu. A lot of people actually come here just for the restaurant, enjoying the view of people riding on the water.

Prefer moving? No problem, you have the choice of the activity! To your right, facing the water when at the restaurant, is an indoor Flow Rider static wave: a fun ride for all ages! On the right side of the lake, there is a 2.0 system (no features in that part) where you can learn the basics of wakeboarding or just take your kids for HOURS and HOURS of fun getting pulled around on an inflatable toy. Yep, they attach the rope to a round inflatable “party island”, the kids hold on and there they go, back and forth… It may seem like not much, but ask any of them if it was fun and you shall see.

Then the main attraction, as far as I am concerned: the big cable. A full size cable park  with quite a few kickers (the Dutch sure love the air tricks!) , an a-frame , a roof top, a hand rail, wedge  and a flat bar amongst others. On the water, you will see a lot of different people coming from all sorts of backgrounds – skiers, kiters, boat riders kids, and of course, the pure cable riders and local pros. Everyone seems to get along just fine, and the vibe is always really a good one on the dock.

But our tour isn’t over here: no! There is more!

As you turn your head slowly towards the left, you will see a big wide beach with lifeguards, for the whole family to enjoy. ON top of that, you can enjoy some more regular beach activities- beach volley, floating inflatable structures, and swimming areas, and some not so regular beach activities, like a zip line and the jet ski hover board. One thing you have to be ready for is to have some fun!

As for my experience here, I have to say that my first impression is that people in the Netherlands are very welcoming. Everything was done so I enjoyed my stay as much as possible, and everyone was very helpful, especially when it came to go take some pictures!

The local crew seems like a very motivated one: pros and local shredders as well as weekend warriors and beginners – everyone just seem to enjoy their time on the water no matter what they are trying. The local level is also pretty high – do you know many parks where local, non-sponsored riders stomp 900s off the kicker??

When in Rome…

To wrap things up nicely and to motivate everyone to go push themselves on the water, we had decided to organize a friendly competition. What a fun time! About 25 riders competed in 3 different category – men, women and groms, giving everyone a nice show! The vibe was just so much fun: everyone was cheering for everyone, smiles all around, and a nice fire with marshmallows with a massive bowl of punch (that did have a lot of punch) to wrap up the night…  Great success overall!

We would like to send special thank you to the judges, Joey Scholman, Yasemin Tanriverdi and Niels Willemars for doing your job with a lot of motivation and seriousness, as well as organizing this contest. You guys rock!!

Congratulations to the winners of our little contest:

Men:

1. Michael Nieuwerf

2. Rodi Kosterman

3. Mo Freddy Liems

Groms:

1. Wassim El Hodayebi

2. Tom Franke

3. Lodewijk Waterhout

Women:

1. Melissa Peperkamp

2. Sammy Jo Wolbersen

3. Amèl Tanis

A Massive THANK YOU to ION for providing some awesome prizes

for our competitors!!

And follow @UnleashedWakeMag and @DomGranger on Instagram to keep up with the tour!

The post Road to Ropes 2015 Van Tour DownUnder appeared first on Unleashed Wake Mag.

DOWN UNDER OPEN 2013 from the Big Pixel Company on Vimeo.

The Format just a jam session, rounds of 10 minutes to show your best tricks on all the obstacles.
Divisions:
-Juniors (age 10-16)
-Ladies (all ages)
-Open men(17+)
-Pro men(17+)

The post 2015 Down Under Obstacle Jam , is Back appeared first on Unleashed Wake Mag.