The 5th stop of the 2011 Liquid Force Free For All Tour at Wake Nation Cincinnati featured SPY riders Travis Doran and Melissa Marquardt, free food from Chipotle, and giveaways from SPY, Skull Candy, GoPro, Sanuk, and TransWorld Wakeboarding.
SPY’s Travis Doran getting some air.
Melissa Marquardt was on hand to show spectators how it’s done.
It wouldn’t be a Free For All without hot sauce shots for SPY shades.
Next up, BROstock 2011, June 24-25 in Bull Shoals, AR!! For more info click HERE.
In the Pro Women’s division, all eyes were on top seed Amber Wing and former Pro Tour titlist Nicola Butler to see who would come out on top in the finals. But neither favorite would take the win in the six-woman final, as California’s Melissa Marquardt pulled off the upset to claim her first Pro Tour stop victory.
“I’m a little shocked, I didn’t expect to win,” said Marquardt. “But now that I have, I’m stoked about it.”
Marquardt, 27, of Canyon Lake, Calif. landed a massive Back Roll to Blind and a Toeside 540 in her final run to post the winning score of 71.67. Wing and Butler rounded out the top three, respectively.
Wake up with Melissa Marquardt and share a morning out of her daily life. The boat is your magical ticket to a wild ‘n’ watery ride, but beware the sea donkey. Life is better high above the lake.
SPY’s Melissa Marquardt and West Coast Riders kicked off the wake season hosting a BBQ and ride day at Canyon Lake, CA. The WSR crew Melissa Marquardt, Randall Harris, Eddie Valdez, Jacob Valdez & Justin Fisher know how to rally up the homies to stoke out the next generation of shredders.
SPY High Flying 4/20 Ride Day @ Pala Raceway in Concert with Jeremy McGrath, DC Shoes, Deft Gloves, Kawasaki, KTM, Transworld Motocross and Wahoo’s Fish Taco
SPY brought one of the largest crowds on record to Pala Raceway yesterday, as it celebrated the completion of the “SPY Shady Spot” portable lounge at this renowned moto venue with a different kind of ride day.
Hundreds of motocross riders, fans and industry folk showed-up to witness the first “Dethrone the King Holeshot Race” featuring Jeremy McGrath as the reigning king. Dozens of Average Joes (some less average than others) lined-up for a shot at the crown, and two Pros in Joes clothing wound-up toppling the The King from his throne! (Not that that King needs any excuses, but he got stuck good in the middle of some serious chaos off the line, with a sea of speed freaks bumping shoulders and grabbing throttles en route to the holeshot… What happened to “safety first”?!)
It was an all-SPY podium at the awards ceremony. Congrats go to SPY endorser and KTM’s own Mike Sleeter and SPY athlete Grant Langston. Sleeter was presented the Holeshot Winner’s trophy by none other than MC himself and the ever-creepy Matt “Smelly” Chong.
After grabbing some lunch from Wahoo’s Fish Taco it was time to dive into the industry-stacked SPY Mini Bike Relay. Team Deft Gloves took top honors, just nudging out the SPY team who took second, followed by The Easter Bunnies and Team Kawasaki in third and fourth place.
Special thanks to Jeremy McGrath, DC Shoes, Deft Gloves, Kawasaki, KTM, Transworld Motocross and Wing and the crew at Wahoo’s Fish Taco.
3 MC's fly over...Photo by Brett Hillyard
SPY Shady Spot at Pala
SPY's legendary MC, surfers Mike Losness and Parker Coffin
SPY's wakeboarder Melissa Marquardt, Alliance Wakeboard's Bill McCaffray and son
Winners of the mini bike race Logan Darien, SPY's "Smelly" Chong and Brian Foster
The DC crew strategizing the holeshot race
The calm before the storm. Who will dethrone the champ?
DAY 6: WEDNESDAY Sun burnt, tired and exhausted from having way too much fun the retailers rallied one last day to the Carlsbad Lagoon where we all piled onto the Liquid Force boat for another day of sunshine and shredding. SPY’s Jimmy LaRiche and Melissa Marquardt were putting on a show for us as everyone oooh and ahhhs could be heard around the boat. Thanks to Christopher for sending over Monster Energy truckers to keep the retailers from being completely burnt to a crisp. Another special thanks to TW Wakeboarding and Alliance Wakeboarding bringing out the long lens for helping shoot photos from jetskiis. And yeah, filmer Mauricio hanging on for dear life up top of the boat as he was filming for our yet to be released badass SPY Boot Camp 8/VAS Entertainment video!
After sun burnt lips and melted sunscreen, we dove into bags of In & Out then headed over to the SPY office for a tour of our global headquarters in Carlsbad. To end an absolute insane of a week at the beachfront mansion, SPY held an award ceremony dinner at Fidels, each receiving an engraved SPY Boot Camp 8 I-pod shuffle and a rad pair of Aerial 7 headphones for their flights back home. The final final send off party home was at the SPY night Wet Wednesday at Zenbu in Cardiff-By-The-Sea.
SPY Boot Camp 8 was an epic week…the Second Annual Winter Boot Camp is creeping up–stay tuned for more details!
Aboard the Liquid Force boat.
Alliance Wakeboard’s Bill McCaffray and SPY’s Steve B.
Sean showing off his captain hat wearing the Tron.
SPY’s Melissa Marquardt in the Eliza and Jimmy LaRiche in the Murena.
Melissa and Jimmy about to put a show on for us
Setting up the next maneuver
Boot Campers Sara and Kenneth chillin’ on the Liquid Force boat
VAS filmer Mauricio holding on as he’s getting the money shots up top!
Justin shredding!
Lauren’s not sure how Stevie B got carried away with the Watermans Applied Science sunscreen
Melissa shows Sara how to “sit in a chair” when learning to wakeboard
Online winner Sean crushing it again!!!
Stevie B on melted ice!
Jimmy and SPY’s Wake TM Aaron Grace at the wheel
SPY’s hard working gals Jessie and Arlene take a wild ride
Boot Camp 8 final awards dinner ceremony at Fidels
The SPY Boot Camp crew with Justin, yeah we know he wanted to hang with Hendo and the ladies…
After party at Zenbu for SPY’s Wet Wednesday
Hey yo Sean and Brett
Kenneth show SPY a good bye
A HUGE thanks goes out to our SPY staff, SPY athletes (especially snowboard sensation Stevie B), Mauricio and everyone at VAS, Transworld Surf’s rad crew, Kevin at Wakeboarding, Bill and Rusty at Alliance Wakeboard, sponsors Landshark, Monster Energy, DC Shoes, Liquid Force, Pala Raceway, Matix, Zero Motorcycles, No Fear, Aerial 7, INT Surfboards, Electra Bikes, Watermans Applied Science, Sanuk and Ogio. Also thanks to Harney Sushi for crushin’ it for us with your tasty eats and Nick at Creatures of Leisure for the leashes. STAY tuned for our SPY/VAS Entertainment DVD to be hitting retail shops nationwide…once you see the video for yourself, you’ll be begging to get aboard Boot Camp 9!!!
Check out the links below for more Boot Camp media coverage:
SPY’s pro wakeboarder Melissa Marquardt and the MAHFIA crew took the SPY van up to Mammoth this past weekend for the 6th Annual Roxy Chicken Jam. Sunny spring time shred through the park, dudes in chicken and bear suits, hanging with SPY team rider Sarka at the top of the pipe, enjoying the free concert in the village by N.A.S.A and The Bravery, sushi and one extra large Krispie treat later…let’s just say you could find plenty of SPY stickers all over the place. We even caught up with Roxy Chicken Jam founder Tina Birbaum on the chair lift up the park. A HUGE congrats to SPY team rider Sarka Pancochova for taking an impressive 3rd in the 2009/2010 TTR Rankings! Special thanks to Kim, aka ‘The Boss’ from Mahfia Productions for photography/filming and Bryan from Vitamin Water for keeping us gals hydrated. We needed it!
Seven winners.
Six days and six nights of Spy fun.
X Games 15. Party with Rob Dyrdek at his Fantasy Factory in Los Angeles.
Ride motocross with seven-time Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath.
Learn to surf at Surf Diva with Mike Losness, Luke Davis and Kanoa Igarashi.
Wakeboard with Melissa Marquardt.
Award ceremony at Transworld Media and K1 Speedway.
And plenty of good times in between…
The famous Spy van graced the LAX airport with its presence and welcomed the 2009 Spy Boot Campers for an action packed week. To kick things off they were taken to Encounter, a swanky cocktail lounge in Los Angeles then to the downtown Kyoto Grand Hotel to lounge and relax before the premiere kickoff night of partying would begin.
Into the night and wee hours of the morning they would soon discover each other’s party personas at Monster Energy’s X Games party at Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory. Plenty of celebrities and pros were mixin’ it up that night. A Carl’s Jr. food truck was rad enough to supply unlimited free food for all as well. Even the Canadian boot camper, Drew, had such a good time he woke up the next morning in the hallway of the hotel with a shiner underneath his left eye. We still don’t know how it happened!
At X Games 15, Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, the Spy Boot Campers were taken behind-the-scenes with ESPN’s Will from Marketing for an exclusive tour of X Games. They watched the street skate finals at the top of the tower to watch P-Rod battle it out for gold, just feet away from announcer Sal Masekela and skate icon Tony Hawk. After watching BMX, arms loaded with hot dogs, nachos and $12 beers, everyone was amped to watch the Super X-Men Moto finals and Freestyle Moto at the stadium.
After being in fast-paced LA, a chill beach day was in order, just north of Tamarack. Smashball, tan lines and local downtown Carlsbad shopping ensued after two long days of being in the sun and partying. A laid-back BBQ of kabobs and beer that night turned into a good old fashion pool party. Let’s just say some were thrown into the pool, clothes and all…
All geared up with their Spy moto goggles and personalized moto jerseys compliments of No Fear, the campers got to meet and ride motocross with seven-time supercross champion Jeremy McGrath at the new Pala Raceway. The Fuel TV film crew came to meet everyone and even took a few laps. Spy brought out 88cc and 110cc bikes for them to ride at the even different tracks offered at Pala. Despite the hot 90 something degree heat and wearing all dark gear head to toe, everyone had a huge grin on their faces riding and hanging with Jeremy and Spy crew. Later that night after plenty of pizza, beer buddies and more beer, they got to experience the local hangout in Encinitas for a dance party with the featured Monday night DJ spinning catchy beats.
With full sunshine and warm 70 degree water, the campers learned to surf with Surf Diva in La Jolla for a two hour private lesson. Spy’s surf team manager John Oda brought surfers Luke Davis, Kanoa Igarashi and Mike Losness to teach and surf with everyone. The small one foot to occasional two foot surf made it the perfect day for learning and trying 360s on foam longboards. Kailee Bradstreet from Transworld Business came out to take photos and surf some waves with us. It was a beautiful day for shredding!
For the final day of boot camp, everyone visited the local Carlsbad Lagoon to wakeboard. Spy’s wake team manager Aaron Grace brought wakeboarder Melissa Marquardt to help teach and hang out for the day. Everyone rode really well and had a blast hanging out on the Liquid Force boat. Editor-in-Chief of Alliance Wakeboard, Bill McCaffray, came out to meet the campers. After an afternoon of shredding the liquid gnar, they met the entire crew at Spy headquarters in Carlsbad.
Thanks to Transworld Media, for hosting the Spy Boot Camp award ceremony with a BBQ and Kona beer fest at their headquarters. Each camper was presented with a framed Transworld cover by Spy local rep Mikey Haney. To top it all off Billy from Transworld treated the campers to one last hoorah round of K1 go-kart racing.
DAY 7
The action packed week had commended and it was back to the daily grind. With nothing but huge grins on their faces they will remember the trip from the thousands of photos that were taken.
John Bennett, 29, Online Consumer Winner, Manchester, NH
“It’s amazing Spy gave me this opportunity. I wouldn’t have access to any of this. This truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Pretty rad. And thanks for the California sunburn they provided for me! I was super excited to have met Alliance Wakeboard’s Editor-in-chief, Bill McCaffray. It was really cool meeting him.”
Matty O’Connell, 23, SpareParts, Regina, SK, Canada
“Push ups can be a dance move too! This solidifies the fact that this is the industry I want to be in. I’m making the right choice working at a shop. You don’t have to wear a suit everyday to make a buck.”
“After this experience I want to push Spy even harder. They went out of their way and set this all up. You gain the respect on their end. I want to work just as hard to get the product into consumers hands. This trip also reminds me how much I love Socal. I want to move here!”
Drew Milliken, 24, Island Snow Board Shop, Kelowna, B.C. Canada
“Going into the trip, I had no real expectations. Spy, I can definitely relate. It’s like a big family. Good times and good company. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that everyone needs to win because it is so much fun!”
Steph Shedek, 21, McGrath Power Sports, Cedar Rapids, IO
“The boot camp experience was amazing. I’ve done a lot on this trip that I’ve never been able to do. Spy is amazing. It is an awesome opportunity they put together. It’s way better than I thought it would be.”
Ryan Cameron, 24, Jacks Surfboards, Corona Del Mar, CA
“Boot camp exceeded my expectations. I was surprised how Spy is so involved with their athletes. They have a very hands on approach. All of the athletes have a level of respect for the Spy brand. McGrath seemed so relaxed to be there at moto day and Losness was cool to meet on surf day. I got the real behind-the-scenes experience. It’s cool to see a face behind the brand. It’s very much an inclusive family.
This experience now makes the shop kids want to make consumer feel a part of the brand. Even six months from now, it’s more than just a sunglass brand. It’s a family, a lifestyle.”
Cassie Hudson, 23, Mainland Skate & Surf, Concord, CA
“It’s pure motivation. All the hard work at the shop does pay off. Boot camp has inspired me to have more ideas to improve the shop, especially with the economy and all. My shop is all about customer service. We have a small shop and Spy’s a smaller company. It’s good to know companies like Spy can reward accounts like this. Even with this economy, its awesome this can still happen.
It exceeded my expectations. Being actually a part of this entire week has been out of this world. When I landed in Los Angeles, I thought Ashton was going to jump out and I was about to be Punk’d. I felt very VIP at the X Games. When I thought the behind-the-scenes tour was VIP, Will, our personal guide brought us to an even better view. I was 15 feet from Ryan Sheckler and stood two feet from Tony Hawk and Sal Masakela!
It was all the little things. It made a huge impact on me. I’m so honored to have won.”
Jennifer Zdeb, 28, Brave New World, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ
“Boot Camp was amazing. It was a once in a lifetime experience. I was chosen out seven winners. It was unreal! One of the most exciting parts of the trip for me was being able to ride motocross bikes with Jeremy McGrath. We had great seats at the X Games and received VIP treatment at the stadium.
The Spy team themselves were by far the best people ever! The trip would not have been the same if it wasn’t for them. Partying with them at the Fantasy Factory or having them teach me how to surf was awesome. Spy is by far the most “rad” company out there! (rad was one of the California lingo words I picked up out there!) Thanks for an amazing experience Spy! You’re the best!”
For more photos be sure to check out our Spy Boot Camp Facebook page.
A huge thanks to everyone involved for making this year’s Spy Boot Camp 7 another memorable experience for all.
Thanks to our partners Fuel TV, Monster Energy, X Games 15, Ogio, KTM, Plan B, Vestal, Silver, Surf Diva, Liquid Force, Transworld Media and Kona Brewing Co. Thanks to the Spy crew for showing up and providing pure entertainment for all and also Alliance Wakeboard for the support!
