This Has Everything To Do With Wakeskating...

nick

As most of you know, I'm a bit of an eccentric who grabs hold of ideas and doesn't let go of them until they've been turned into what I want them to be. I spend the majority of my time with a backpack, a wakeskate, and a camera, exploring the world with my friends. If I'm gonna do something, I want to do it right. A few years ago, I moved to California on a few days notice, then came back later that year to Anna Maria Island where me and some friends built a houseboat to live on.

As almost none of you know, a year and a half ago I latched onto a new idea that had been on the backburner since around 2006... On November 9th 2010, I found myself in south Florida on a little surfing/winching road trip and I met up with a friend down there named Erik Montgomery. After a rad little surf session and some italian food with Erik & his brother, we were watching the gopro footage when I noticed a drawing on Erik's wall. I told him that I also had a little short stack of those kind of drawings of my own.

Hours of brain-storming/number-crunching conversation later, we decided that night that it was about time wakeskating had it's own full-scale winch park, and we decided we were gonna be the ones to build it.

The next 6 months were spent searching the land-for-sale websites, doing laps around Florida checking out acreage, and making more stacks of drawings of our dream wakeskate gaps.

The afternoon of May 10th 2011, me & Erik drove up to Suwannee County, FL to check out 12.62 acres that claimed to have a forest full of 200 year-old Live Oaks.

On June 21st 2011, I signed the papers and paid in cash.

This tree knew Mark Twain and Tobias MacIvey

This song is called Resurrection Fern

Since most of the property is under canopy cover & there's no asphalt for miles, it stays 10°-15° cooler than in town in the summertime

Sometimes if you wake up early enough, you can hear Fleet Foxes echoing through the woods

Until I build myself a real cabin, we've been living in apartments made from shipping containers we bought from the port of Jacksonville

Erik and his girlfriend Alexa have really made theirs into a sweet little home

When autumn came, the maple forest turned vibrant gold then dropped it's leaves

By the beginning of winter, we had the winch park mapped out and it was time to start clearing

With TJ Giesey joining the crew, there were now 4 of us living & working full time in the forest

The hippie & Indian in me was crying, but I knew it would be worth it once the winch park was built

It's really easy to appreciate a giant bonfire that lasts 3 weeks in the middle of a North Florida winter

With the clearing done & the grades set, the idea of a winch park in a forest was one step closer to becoming reality

Only a single Oak was taken out for this project, the rest was maple, gum, and scrub brush- TJ getting cosmic under the newly opened skies

Happy New Year

Building a winch park is much more manageable when you have the proper toys... er, tools

We've already moved several hundred truckloads of dirt, clay, sand & earth - Erik perched on the moon

With the first setup nearing completion & everything coming together exactly as we imagined, I've been mindskating this thing non-stop while we work on it

Worktime always has to be balanced with chillin time - TJ & Keith branching out

The past 6 months have seen the hardest work of my life, but I've enjoyed every minute of it. There's something so gratifying about working towards the sickest idea I can imagine... Having a fun-loving hard-working family living & working day in & day out to make our big dream come true has been crucial. There's no way I could have taken on this project by myself and I couldn't be more stoked on the crew I've got beside me- Erik, TJ, & Alexa.

I'm not gonna show everything that's going on right now, being at a midpoint of one very important process in the construction, but you'll see it all soon enough... When it's ready... I have kept this project under wraps for long enough & I wanted to share with all of you what's going on up in the forests of Suwannee County...

After all-

This is for wakeskating.

much love,

`nick t

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10735 City: Jefferton

Amazing! Congratulations nick! I have all of the respect in the world for you guys...this was a brave move and an amazing accomplishment.

supermanotorious · Backside 180 Joined: 05 Apr 2010 Posts: 518 City: Phoenix

amazing dawg Crazy Eyes

overstreet31 · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 6:10 pm Post subject:

Wow...such an amazing journey. Thanks for sharing!
Best of luck to you! Smash

nick · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 6:16 pm Post subject:

At the risk of sounding SUPER cheesy-

This is seriously just the beginning.

`

DRAGON88 · Dragoon Joined: 01 May 2004 Posts: 1020 City: Portland

Gnarly Dancer 42 · 360 flip Joined: 21 May 2007 Posts: 5121 City: kalamazoo

holy crap that's so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

spowell · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 6:31 pm Post subject:

so good, blew my mind

scott a · "a" is for angel Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 4126

Log cabin ftw!

Looks like such a fun project.

masi · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 6:34 pm Post subject:

texasT · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 6:39 pm Post subject:

wow...

nick you are one crazy talented person and it's awesome to see that you are finding even MORE ways to give back to the sport.

keep it up mayne!

fastgreens · Kickflip Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 3563 City: baytown

that's really cool nick... you're living the fvcking dream!

TannerC · Backside 180 Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 1694 City: Nanaimo

Dang Nick,
So good to see.
Can't wait.

G.K.D. · Frontside 180 Joined: 31 Dec 2009 Posts: 404 City: Sydney

yeah Nick!!!... When you first showed me all the pics of your new place, I was amazed at the little wonderland you were creating... good to hear you're making progress.

poopiepantz · Pop Shuvit Joined: 05 Aug 2009 Posts: 122 City: of Roses

It's official... I have a man-crush on Nick T... You have realized a long-lived personal dream of mine. You guys got BALLZ! Sooooo much respect. I hope I speak for all wakeskaters when I say "thank you". What a huge step for wakeskating!

If I can put two and two together, I am REALLY looking forward to the Suwannee Pro stop of the wakeskate tour.

Cheers and Congrats Nick!!!!!!!

btw, did you guys operate that big equipment? Looks fun.

jeff · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 7:30 pm Post subject:

Totally Awesome!

carive · Frontside 180 Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 403 City: Manila

nice one!

bob. · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 8:37 pm Post subject:

Yeah!!! You guys are killin' it up there! Awesome photos as well, I can hear the Fleet Foxes echoing through them. I can't wait to shred up there and adventure through that forest Cool

Sagittorious · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 9:08 pm Post subject:

Wow! Truly innovative, first the houseboat now this! Kudos to you sir. Smash

EASTWOOD · Posted: Jun 12, 2012 9:10 pm Post subject: