1. wake camp – final report

As promised – the final report of the first wakeboard camp in 2012 … not the last 😉
Here are some photos and recordings of Aljoša, Klemen and Peter.

Next wakeboard camp? Surely in September ;)[/box]

Teden dni sonca, mokre in slane (ter nekoliko hladne) vode, učenja wakeboardinga od prvih štartov vse do prvih invertov in naskakovanja plastike (kiker in slajder). Vse to začinjeno z družabnimi večer(jam)i in recept za nepozabno doživetje je končan. Med 23 udeleženci prvega wake campa je bilo predznanje zelo različno, od popolnih začetnikov ki še nikdar niso wejkali do izkušenih wakeboarderjev, ki so imeli že par sezon izkušenj. Začetniki so se najprej seznanili z opremo in osnovnimi pravili. Prvi poskusi so se večinoma končali v vodi, blizu štartne platforme, a kaj hitro so začeli padati prvi krogi in že po par dneh so nekateri začeli izvajati prve poizkuse vožnje z drugo nogo spredaj (switch), poskoke in ostale lažje trike. Drugo skupino, ki smo jo poimenovali “switch team”, so sestavljali udeleženci, ki so že znali narediti krog, cilj prvega dne pa je bila vožnja z drugo nogo naprej “switch” in “ollie” poskoki. Do konca campa s(m)o vadili obrate na vodi za 180,360 nekateri celo 540 ter obrate za 180 stopinj s skokom. V skupini izkušenih rajderjev pa smo se lotili kickerja, slajderja, od invertov pa raley-ja. V sklopu campa so bile podeljene 3 tedenske karte za Ski lift Pag: – Tomaž Primon je dobil nagrado za največji napredek v moški kategoriji – Tina Kotnik je dobila nagrado za največji napredek v ženski kategoriji – Klemen Pavačič je dobil nagrado za pomoč pri organizaciji campa Ob večerih pa smo dobro jedli, tu in tam kaj popili, ter se zabavali ob ročnem nogometu, biljardu in namiznem tenisu. Menda so bile v igri razne zanimive stave, a podrobnosti naj ostanejo znane le udeležencem kampa 🙂 Prijeten ogled slik in se vidimo naslednjič 🙂

Aljoša

What’s up?
Wakeboard Camp on Ski Lift Pag. Yeah, that’s what’s up!!
Before I start with everything else, the first thing I want to say is that the joke is on you! Yes, you, because you weren’t one of the more than 20 unique individuals who were there with me on the camp this week, and believe me when I say it, it was pretty damn awesome.
I’m not going to describe every day by day, even though I initially wanted to, but that would take me to long, and it would take you quite a while to read it as well, so I’m just going to shortly sum up the best of it.
So yeah, I was spending the last week on a some sort of pre-season break on the Ski Lift Pag, where the 2012 Wakeboard Camp took place. I was pretty hyped a while ago when I first found out about the camp and needless to say, the affordable price and love for wakeboarding itself made me sign up for it immediately. The waiting for the camp afterwards was quite hard, because the camp was first time on the water for me this year, but it was worth it and the timing was just right. This time, I’m also really really glad that the meteorologists were wrong, since their predictions also included rainy days during the week, but the whole camp turned out to be sunny and warm the whole time, only a bit windy perhaps from time to time but no biggie.
We left Ljubljana towards the paradise in a camper on Saturday night in the early hours, so we would be on the island a few hours before the Ski Lift opens, but we weren’t even the first ones to be there. I slept pretty much the whole trip from the Slovenian border and woke up already boarding on the ferry. I tell you people, travelling horizontally is the best.
We started riding the same day and it was just great to be back on the water again. Slowly, the rest of the crew began arriving on the lift as well, and till the end of the day, we were all set and ready for the opening party that we threw in the apartment later on that evening. Perhaps, if you’re wondering right now, how can so many people have a party in an apartment, you just should’ve seen how big the apartments are.
Our riding skills were quite different, some have already been riding before while some of them signed up for the camp with zero wakeboarding experience, but till the end of the week, we all made a progress and that’s what the camp was all about.
According to the progress the riders made during the camp, the last day, the Ski Lift awarded 2 best riders, who learned the most through the week with a free 7 days ticket to be used at any time they want to, while I got a weekly ticket for helping in organization etc.
I think I can speak in the name of every participant that the camp was super fun and a very unique experience that nobody regrets, and I’ll be finishing with a few photos from the camp, so enjoy.
Oh and P.S.: An information from the inside says that there is probably going to another camp this September again, so this time, I’m expecting YOU to be there with us, regardless of your history with wakeboarding, because believe my words, you’ll love it.
See you there!
Klemen

The whole week was great, but to be honest, the only problem was our condition and physical ability for wakeboarding. I’m sure next time we’ll be smarter and more careful and also come to the camp more physically prepared. I will personally next time wakeboard for 2 days and 1 day of recovery and 2 days wakeboard and 1 day recovery, etc… Everything was organized great and the accomodation was just perfect and the weather was great as well. Everybody on the ski lift were very helpful, specially our coach, who was a perfect instructor and always had time for us with future ideas how to develop and improve. (He also showed us every day who is the champ and what our goal is). It really was just as expected. Also thank you once again for the welcome fireworks, it was really an amazing sight to see. The atmosphere was perfect and so was the team spirit with all of the »wakeboard students«

Thank you for everything,

Regards, Peter