“Wakeskating has always been a sideshow for wakeboarding, but now it’s growing like crazy,” says Florida’s Brian Grubb. The man leading that progression is Grubb himself. In 1998, Grubb turned from a career on the traditional wakeboarding circuit to the fresh new scene of wakeskating, in which athletes ditch their bindings to combine the freedom of skateboarding with the power of the tow rope. Since then, Grubb’s high-intensity performances and outrageous moves have kept him on the cutting edge of a sport that is constantly evolving. Grubb attests to the sport’s growth, especially over the last couple of years. “Now we have our own wakeskate magazine, our own video magazine, and we get 40 to 50 percent of the coverage in the wakeboarding magazines. It’s definitely getting huge.”
MORE COMPETITORS, MORE COMPETION
That also means more competition for Grubb, who’s had to step up just to keep up with wakeskating’s accelerated progression. In 2003, he won almost every contest he entered, including the Pro Wakeskate Tour, Vans Triple Crown, U.S. Nationals, and Worlds, while simultaneously finishing up a college degree. But in 2004, he slipped to third in the overall Pro Wakeskate Tour standings and stayed there in 2005.
It wasn’t until 2006 that he reclaimed the PWT overall title, though it was admittedly his most satisfying victory ever. “Now we have contests where there are 65 wakeskaters and 70 wakeboarders—so the participation level is way up. I’m a competitive person by nature, so I enjoy the contests now more than ever. Besides, it’s a great way to get even more exposure for the sport. It’s crazy to think that only a few years ago, no one was really doing this.”
WAKING UP TO WAKESKATE
Grubb was born in the winter sports playground of New Hampshire in 1980, but at age 11 his family moved to the Orlando area where he took to wakeboarding almost immediately.
Throughout his teens, Grubb followed the typical wakeboard trajectory – participating in countless competitions locked tight to his board by bindings and stiff boots. He showed promise, but a certain spark seemed to be missing. Then, when he was 18, he tried wakeskating.
Wakeskating hadn’t hit the public consciousness yet, but it struck a chord with Grubb right away. Because wakeskaters forgo bindings and simply wear shoes – like a skateboarder – they’ve got unlimited freedom to jib on water, using the wake, rails, sliders, and ramps to boost huge air and grind insane tricks. Grubb’s creativity was unleashed, and he found what he’d been missing: fun. He also found success. Within a year and a half, he devoted himself completely to wakeskating. “It’s a lot easier—you don’t always have to have this big boat with a huge wake, so it gets a lot more people out on the water. I also think it’s a lot more fun,” he says.
By 2001, Grubb’s amazing wakeskate innovations were turning heads. He won Wakestock (the first in a three-peat), and he was named Alliance Wakeboard Magazine’s Rider of the Year. As appearances in a string of videos – half a dozen in 2002 alone – introduced his radical, all-or-nothing style to even the most landlocked fans, Grubb’s profile rose, and with it, the popularity of wakeskating. Grubb’s domination of the 2003 season, culminating in the Vans Triple Crown win and his first National and World Championships, only proved what everyone else already knew: Brian Grubb was a force of nature, who would change the face of wakeboarding. He’s still leading the charge today, both in the Pro Wakeskate Tour and through massive exposure in videos, magazines and at demos worldwide.
WORLDWIDE STAGE
In addition to the ever-growing contest circuit, wakeskating demos and media trips have sent Grubb to showcase his sport all over the world. His riding has been center stage in pools, lakes, and even atop of floating river barges in exotic locations like New Zealand, where he traveled to film for the Red Bull Adrift DVD.“They built this big pool on a river barge so we were out there riding in the middle of the massive river—it was insane,” Grubb says of the Southern Hemi voyage. Grubb is still amazed by the attention and opportunities that didn’t exist only a few years ago. “Red Bull made a free video from the footage we got in New Zealand and gave away 17,000 copies in Alliance Wakeboard magazine. No one has ever done that before in our industry, given away a free, full-length DVD. It’s amazing.”
From there, he went straight to South Africa to wakeskate a 130-foot rail that was 12 feet high for another exhibition event. “It’s always twice as big and twice as gnarly as I think it’s going to be, but it was super fun. It’s crazy.”
Now that Grubb is finally done with school (he recently earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Central Florida), he’s looking forward a jam-packed schedule of contests, travel, and maybe a little bungee jumping with his buddies from Vertigo up in Washington state. “I’d like to get a good video part this winter, maybe do some fun trips. But I’ll always look forward to the contests and I’ll always want to do well.”
Grubb sees the hectic schedule and frenetic pace as a good sign that all is well in the burgeoning sport of wakeskating. “It’s growing so fast,” he says with satisfaction. “I’m just glad everyone else is finally having as much fun as I am.”
