The world’s best in wake congregated at Lake Powell this past weekend for Liquid Force’s annual BROstock festival. Fueled by Monster Energy, 2009’s BROstock proved to be bigger and better then expected once again! Twenty four of the best riders including Shawn Watson, Shane Bonifay, Rusty Malinoski, Phillip Soven, and Danny Harf came for the contest, but stayed for the fun and festivities.
The weekend kicked off Friday with a progressive wakeskate demo that featured the likes of Aaron Reed, Danny Hampson, and Brian Grubb, among others. The crew took it to the backcountry, where they sessioned over rocks and natural terrain. Earlier in the day, the pro wakeboarders got a chance to get accustomed to the monsterous wake of the LF BROstock edition Supra 24’, as they had a 2 hour practice session. The night concluded with premiers of both Collin Harrington’s Box of Fun and Billabong’s Out of the Pond to a boisterous crowd watching on the 36’ screen and sound system set up in the desert!
Saturday kicked off early with the LF DJ throwing down the beats for round one of the double-up contest. Round 1 started with 24 riders riding in heats that would eventually cut the field down to 16. From round one, the format switched to head-to-head as the 16 remaining riders would battle it out to make it into the round of 8. Once in the round of 8, all riders would be getting paid. Needless to say, the competition was definitely heating up. With the Supra 24’ BROstock edition the official towboat of BROstock, all competitors were guaranteed a consistently giant wake and that lead to some serious boosting!
After a semifinals round that eliminated Ben Greenwood, Harley Clifford, Jeff Weatherall, and Shane Bonifay, the final 4 consisted of Danny Harf, Chris O’Shea, as well as Liquid Force’s own Bob Soven and James Balzer, the spoilers of the event. Balzer, know for his wakeskating prowess, was a last minute fill in for the event as another rider backed out due to injury. He continued to impress round after round and was a definite fan favorite. Bob, the 17 year old phenom was impressive all day as he was able to take down some of the industry’s best, including Rusty Malinoski and his older brother Phillip. In the finals, Balzer stomped a clean backside 540 while Bob threw down a huge toeside 900 to claim the 3rd and 2nd spots on the podium respectively. In the end, however it was Monster Energy team rider, Danny Harf who dropped a wrapped nose grab backside 720 to claim the top spot. He had consistently been landing what was considered one of the most stylish and progressive tricks all day and was rewarded heavily for it. In the process, Danny walked away $12,500 richer and put his name in the history books of BROstock, a contest that is widely becoming known for producing some of the most progressive contest riding ever!
Be sure to tune in to FUEL TV August 25th at 8:30pm to watch the BROstock show and relive all of the action!
