Edition 7
Page Fifty Seven
THE SHOOT
2014
Every year at Forward the time rolls around to start putting
the the Gear Guide together. This means a few things, a
lot of work, new gear to test out, and the annual wake trip
shoot. On the trip we find an epic location, source some of
the best toys, and invite a bunch on New Zealand’s best
riders to come out and play.
Last year our location was the (now dismantled) Dick Park
in Wanaka, an epic rail park surrounded by snow capped
mountains in the heart of the Southern Lakes. This year
we had to find something just as epic, which is no easy
feat. We settled on something at completely the other end
of the spectrum to Dick Park. Orakei Korako is a thermal
reserve between Taupo and Rotorua, and home to NZ’s
King of Wake (and national champ) Nik Gibson. The lake
is surrounded by thermal springs, waterfalls, and steaming
geysers- it is a whole lot warmer than Wanaka was.
We invited a bunch of New Zealand’s best riders, this year
we had an awesome crew consisting of; Nik Gibson, Paul
Maguire, David Stubbs, Logan Collier, Darren Bishop,
Jamie Barrow and Regan Carlyon. We had an awesome
support crew including Rewind Winches, Craig Wright and
Aaron Haugh (photographers). And for toys we had Nik
Gibsons wake monster (the most weighted VLX I have
ever seen), and a 2013 Malibu VLX to keep us entertained.
A huge thanks to everyone who helpes out, including the
boat owners, drivers, Malibu New Zealand, The Gibson
Family (especially Nik), Marty Tocker, Anarchy Cable,
and all of the distributors for providing us with shiny new
boards to ride.
We spent 2 days between Orakei Korako, Party Marty’s
hot pools and Anarchy Cable Park. A killer time was had by
all. Over the next few pages are a few of the highlights of
the 2014 shoot. Photo’s feature throughout the magazine,
on our facebook page, and throughout further editions this
year!
Enjoy the carnage. Bring on next year.