Wet and Wild in Winlock
INT League Kicks Off Watersports Season at Winlock Waters

Posted: Sunday, June 20, 2010 10:25 pm
By Kimberly Mason / For The Chronicle

WINLOCK — “Huge tantrum … and a nice toe-side, backroll to — oh and he goes down on a whirlybird,” as the boarder hits the water.

The skies are grey, it’s cold, it’s raining. Everybody is wet or in wet suits. But music is pouring through the speakers on shore — everything from Lady Gaga to Led Zeppelin to the Beach Boys — and the spirits are as high as the wakes behind the boats.

It’s stops 1 and 2 on the INT Amateur Tour for slalom waterskiing and wakeboarding, held Saturday and Sunday on the Winlock Waters private lake in Winlock, where the competition is fierce — but friendly.

Amelia Lord, 12, has been skiing in competition for 3 years, but has been skiing since she could stand on skis. Amelia took first place in slalom in the junior novice division on Sunday, and first place in the hula hoop competition the evening before.

“It’s all about fun and family and having a good time. We spend the weekend and camp,” said Deno Maedgen, 41, Redmond. “We all run from the very beginners to the expert riders, we all ride together, we all have fun together.”

Maedgen is a member of Team Oly Riders, a group of 11 friends that travel to all the events. “The great thing about coming to an event on a private lake like this is that you are almost guaranteed pristine conditions for your ride,” said Maedgen. “Riding on Moses Lake last year it was so windy it was almost like riding on the Deadliest Catch.”

INT got its start in Washington State, said event announcer and organizer Craig Phillips. They have events in 27 states and conclude with the INT US Championships, Florida, in October. To earn a trip to the US Championships to represent their state, a rider or skier must place first in their division at the end of the season.

“We’ve got kids from 4 years old up to past 70 who ski,” said Phillips, “The one thing that separates INT from everybody else is that we are ability-based. There’s a division and class for everybody.” As the skiers’ skills develop, they move up in division.

Slalom skiers start at the novice level with a 75-foot tow line and speeds of 16 mph or less. As the skier’s ability grows, speed is added and the rope is shortened to add to the difficulty level. The fastest skiers ride at 36 mph. “When you’re going back and forth over the wake, you’re going almost double the speed of the boat,” explained Jacqueline Stocks, judge and competitor.

If the skiers make a clean run the first time through, they can bump up their speed — and therefore the difficulty of the run — the second time through.  Skiers make two passes through the course, starting at the entrance gates, passing around the outside of all six buoys and through the gates at the end.

The wakeboard divisions start at “mini outlaw” for riders 8 years old and under. Ability level and the tricks a rider is capable of determine their division. Riders are given two passes through the course to perform their tricks.

Steven Pooler, 23, Yakima, is a competitor that has also been driving the boats during competition for 7 years. A GPS speed control system is used to keep the boats at a steady pace, which is adjusted according to the ability of each rider.

The riders tug on the boat as they go back and forth behind it. “It’s not just about driving a straight line, I’m making constant adjustments to the boat to keep it in line,” Pooler said.

Two boats are in the water at all times, each making alternating runs. And different style ski boats are used for different styles of skiing.

Slalom-style boats are designed to throw as small a wake as possible, explained Pooler.

Wakeboarding boats are a deeper hulled, heavier boat, and are designed to throw a large wake for wakeboarding tricks.

Want to Go? Where to See INT Locally

Washington INT Event
State Finals, August 21 and 22, Winlock Waters

Oregon INT Event
September 11 and 12, Koppert Lake, Toledo

Thanks for the Great Season

Congratulations Team Washington on a Great US Championships!

Carrie Davis – Women’s Novice Kevin Kelley – Men’s Novice Kenny Holz – 4th Class (2nd Place) Jay Stewart – 2nd Class Jake Barnett – 1st Class (2nd Place) Kristian Dahl – SL Expert (1st Place) Kevin Dahl – SL Advanced (1st Place) Craig Phillips – SL Advanced Open Craig Phillips – Wide Ride Super (2nd Place) Jill Knutson – Pro Slalom (3rd Place) Buckweat Terry – WB Men’s Entro Henry Stewart – WB Men’s Entro Jonathan Radeunz – WB Men’s Novice Robert Williams – WB Men’s Intermediate Randall Smith – WB Masters Joe Spry – WB Masters Blake Parrish – WB Advanced Brenden Leib – WB Outlaw Buckweat Terry – Wakeskate Aaron Huntley – Wakeskate Open

*Pictures available online

We had an excellent team dinner at Coconut Joe’s on Thursday, the team was unified in our team t-shirts and strong winning spirit. Team Washington rose to their feet to watch our local pro slalom skier Jill Knutson go out and beat the boys. Jill scored 3.5 at 38 off, with the 6 buoy handicap, this excellent score put the new mom in third place. Baby Knutson made his adorable experience on state with mom to receive the trophy. The Dahl boys went out and showed us how slalom skiing is done in Expert and Advanced, they cut some line and had to pay an extra fee to get their first place trophies onto the plane home. Overall it was a great event, the water was smooth and the sun was a nice change from the fall Washington weather. We cheered on Team Washington from our well decorated tent during the day and danced with the Hula dancers at the awards banquet dinner when the sun set. Thanks to our competitors and their families for coming down! Congratulations to all of the US Champions.

Check out the pictures from the Winlock and Greenlake events on the photo page!

Bow Hill Lake was our final event of the season. We had a great time! Friday night Ski Master’s hosted a band. While the band played, the campfire roared, and the boats pulled skier’s and wakeboarder’s under the lights. Saturday we had a great event and even finished up a little early. We finished up the weekend with the awards party and a nice drive home in the pouring down rain! Thanks for the great season, we will have pictures up on the photo page in the next few days. A big “Thank you” to the tour team and all the volunteers who helped through out the season.

Greenlake INT Video

It was sunshine and smooth water for INT stop 1! Special thanks to those of you who came out to Greenlake on Sunday, May 25 for the INT League Greenlake Open hosted by the Lake Sammamish Ski Club. It was a beautiful day out on the lake. We kicked off the day with slalom skiing, pro skier Jill Knudson and her 5 year old daughter both competed. Jill scored an epic 2 balls at 38 off 34mph, which qualifies her for the INT US Championships in October. Midday, the crowd went wild for an awesome kite board demonstration. INT gave away a pair of Costa Del Mar Sunglasses to Jason Roberts, who entered the drawing just by pre-registering. We finished off the day with wakeboard competition, we saw quite a few new INT riders out throwing down some huge tricks.

Our sponsors were out at the event hanging out with the latest and greatest gear. Monster was serving up the Monster Energy drink. The guys from Sturtevant’s showed off some of the boards they have in stock at their store in Bellevue. The Sturevant’s crew gave away water bottles, chap stick, and three $50 gift certificates. Mark Lord from Seattle Water Sports and Ski Masters Ski School was in attendance and skied along with his two lovely daughters. We were also excited to have Michelle Michaels from the Wolf 100.7 radio station out playing some tunes and reporting on the skiing and riding.

Thank you to those that volunteered and helped out that the event. We could not host this event without our wonderful volunteers and supportive sponsors.