Some Can’T Wait To Catch The Waves

Like countless others, Taylor Shaffer lives and breathes for lake life in the summertime.

Shaffer’s a diehard wakeboarder. Every moment he can steal, he’s on the water. Often, though, he’s 10 to 15 feet above the surface, flying off the top of a boat’s wake.

“It’s kind of a cool feeling to slide across the water,” he says.

Shaffer knows wakeboarding. Forward, backward, upside down and every which way.

Though just 20 years old, he’s been shooting over wakes for four years. Plus, he’s somewhat of a pro. He’s an “area rep rider” for Fulltilt, a company that makes wakeboarding gear and compensates Shaffer with products.

He enjoys competing around the Inland Northwest. The next competition is on Lake Pend Oreille at Sandpoint on July 10. Then there’s one on Long Lake at Nine Mile Resort on Aug. 14.

Two other great lakes known for a “good scene” for boarders are Deer and Newman, says Shaffer, who also works at Loulou’s Sports Shop on North Division in Spokane.

The sport, whose forefather is surfing, is one filled with individual expression. When a rider flies over the pulling boat’s wake and catches air, usually some 6 to 10 feet of it, there are a handful of basic tricks, each with numerous variations.

Those include spins (360s, 540s and 720s), flips, rolls and something called a raley. That’s where the rider hits the wake, pops up and sails straight back from the rope - flying like Superman, with the board flung out behind him.

While fun, “it’s pretty easy to do,” Shaffer says.

He prefers spins, flips and grabs, where you reach down and seize the board.

The trick with spins is simple - keeping control of the rope handle while passing it around your back. “That’s my forte,” Shaffer says, noting that the thrill is in the big air.

Besides the standard moves, new ones are being invented every year.

Like a lot of other snowboarders, Shaffer took up wakeboarding to keep his board skills sharp year-round. While wakeboards are short and fat with two control fins, front and back, a snowboard is longer and thinner with metal edges to dig into snow.

Besides the foot gear, wakeboarding also has some big differences with its more difficult water-sport cousin, water skiing. The boat speed in wakeboarding is slower by some 10-mph, Shaffer says. Plus, the rope pulling a wakeboarder extends 5 to 8 feet above the boat, which gives the rider more hang time.

And air is what it’s all about.

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