A different kind of high

MANILA, Philippines - There’s always room for thrill and adrenalin rush for professional wakeskaters Brian Grubb of the US and Dominik Preisner of Germany. They traveled to the Philippines for an epic “Winch Session” at one of the most beautiful spots in the world, the famous rice terraces of Banaue. Commonly referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the rice terraces with their majestic backdrop served as a perfect location for a unique wakeskate session.

Grubb and Preisner were brought to the Philippines by Red Bull International.

Even for one of the world’s best wakeskate pros like Grubb, the Banaue Rice Terraces proved to be a real challenge. He said,  “This was my seventh trip to the Philippines and this is my biggest project ever! Since I first saw the drawing of these huge rice terraces on the back of the P1,000 bill, the idea of having a session there wouldn’t let me go. It was only a drawing but it looked like a perfect winch spot and probably a super scenic location. And it was! The whole project was a real adventure for all of us in the team. It is incredible that we were wakeskating at such a fascinating place!”

The spot covered four pools with a total length of 80 meters. To keep the scenery’s natural look, the setup was kept as simple as possible: the only man-made obstacles being a wooden log slider and the custom winch setup. Both riders had a blast performing a whole bunch of tricks and spins.

Respect for the environment was a priority from the beginning of this project. The team made certain that the plants and wildlife were neither damaged nor disturbed at any time during the event. All aspects of the wakeskating project were agreed with the locals, taking into consideration their traditions and culture.

Seeing these pictures was just plain awesome for me!