Parks Bonifay (Pic: David Williams)

I was recently having dinner on the pier of a restaurant at a local lake in my home town when a boat came by pulling a wakeboarder. He was throwing some sick tantrums and crows. I overheard a lady in the booth next to me commenting on the massive amount of height he was getting off the wake. About that time the boat circled back, throwing a huge double up where the rider proceeded to rip off one of the largest indy tantrums I have ever seen. I thought for sure the rider would pass out from altitude sickness, but he landed the trick and rode away while people on the pier began to clap and talk.

Parks Bonifay at the Sacramento tour stop (Pic: David Williams).

So that was when I decided that I would dedicate my next column to the art of going big. I then began to think. Who out of all the riders blowing it up on the water today would be able to teach it the best. Then I, being so quick to spot the obvious thought of none other than the 1999 Big Air Champion himself, Parks Bonifay. Now Parks has been going bigger than most people could ever dream of since back when he was still pooping in his diapers. I immiediatly got the king of hair (oops, I mean air) on the phone and he proceeded to give me his recipe for how to become a frequent flyer.

"The first thing you will need to do is get out about 18 to 20 feet from the wake. You will then start a slow progressive cut back towards the wake. Build your cut up harder and harder as you get closer. This will, in turn, apply more pressure to your line. Hold your edge all the way up the wake. As you near the top begin to straighten your legs out. With your legs straight and the rope low and near your waist you will began to pop off the wake. Be sure to keep your head up and look ahead so you can spot your landing. On your way down be sure to absorb the landing well so you don’t slip out."

These techniques may feel awkward at first but just keep at it and you will see the difference. Once you have gotten it down going wake to wake, try it off the double up. Once you master it off the double up, try throwing in some spins or grabs. Stall them out and spin slow. You also may want to throw a few pillows in your boat for the other people, because if you do master this correctly you will have some chins droppin'!

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