Christine Cameron Interviews C. K. Rogers

AWA/AZBW Boarder Of The Month

Note From Interviewer Christine Cameron: Wakeskating is on a smaller board than a wakeboard. The rider wears shoes and performs skateboarding-type tricks. It is "pretty cool" and definitely takes some talent

1. What is your name, and where do you live?

My name is C.K. Rogers, and I live in Mesa, Ariz.

2. How long have you been wakeskating?

I have been seriously wakeskating for three summers.

3. How did you get into wakeskating?

I got hurt wakeboarding a few years ago, so I decided to wakeskate until I got better. Wakeskating felt a lot more natural to me, and I loved it, so I just never stopped.

4. What was the first trick that you learned? Describe how to do it.

I would say the first trick was a heel side wake to wake 180. It is like doing
it on a wakeboard. The only difference is you have to suck the board up with you when go wake to wake.

5. What trick took the longest or was the hardest to learn? Why?

A toe side wake to wake shuv-it: For some reason this has been my biggest "pain in the butt." It was the first kind of wake to wake shuv I learned. Then I lost it, then I could do it again, and now I can’t land them again. A heel side one is easier to me for some reason.

6. What is your favorite aspect of wakeskating?

My feet don’t hurt in bindings, and it feels a lot more like surfing and skate boarding.

7. What do you like most about the AWA?

I like watching the younger guys and the groms get better and better every contest, and how they are so into it.

8. What is you most memorable experience in wakeskating?

When I first started wake skating, Brett E. and I set up a few sliders in the canal on the Indian reservation, and a bunch of us would go ride the canal behind my golf cart in the evenings after work; it was so great. Then we were no longer allowed to do that there.

9. Where do you ride and who do you usually ride with?

I ride at Firebird International Raceway under the supervision of Ed Fisher (a national champion). I ride with Joey White and Joe Shipka. Little Josephiny and I spend a lot of hours, lately, riding together since the rest of the Firebird guys (Joey White and Jimmy Wolf) have been hurt.
10. Describe your perfect day.

It would be to wake up, sell five cars at my shop before noon, then have Josephiny pick me up. Next we would have a Gyro at George’s Gyros with extra gyro sauce from across the street. On my perfect day, we would be at the lake by 2 p.m., each taking two or three sets.

Then, I would be home by 7 p.m. to eat one of the unbelievable meals that my wife cooks, load up the bikes and be at Speed World Motocross Park by 8:30 p.m. By 11:30 p.m. I would be back home with Brookelynn.

11. What do you like to do when you are not wakeskating?

I like/love my work, the Dunes, the MX Track, Prerunners, the Colorado River, to skate, and to surf when I go home to visit my family.

12. Is there anybody that you would like to thank?

I am very thankful to Strat at Liquid Force & REEF; I love my Liquid Force 43 Wide Impulse. They have been real good about hooking me up the last couple of years. REEF makes the best wakeskate shoe, in my opinion. I ride the Byerly and love it, thanks to REEF.

And, Kronik Energy Drink is a new sponsor for me this year; thanks to them for their support.

Excel also is new; they make the best wetsuits and life jackets I have ever ridden with, and their life jacket is so comfortable. I cannot even explain how huge of a shout out I need to give to Big Joe Shipka. He supports us 110 percent and really makes all of this possible for me.

Also, I thank little Joe; we pull each other every day, and he helps my riding a ton. And, probably the most important thing in my life is Brookelynn. My thanks are to her for all she does for me, for understanding all the time I spend at the lake, and for the time she puts in to pull me at the lake. Finally, I thank the AWA for the hard work they put in to make these contests in Arizona possible.

Recreation Is Mobile.®