B.C.’s first provincial cable wakeboarding championship highlighted a busy weekend of watersports action at Abbotsford’s Albert Dyck Park.
The Water Ski and Wakeboard B.C. (WSWBC) wakeboard championships were held on Walmsley Lake, located within the park. The provincial championships in the traditional boat-towed version of the sport were contested on Saturday, with the cable-driven event running Sunday at Valley Wake Park on the east end of the lake.
“This is the first provincial event we’ve ever had for cable wakeboarding,” enthused James Balzer of Valley Wake Park, which boasts two electrically powered cable systems and is in its second year of operation at Walmsley Lake.
“Everything went really well. We had probably a dozen riders from Vancouver Island and some from the Interior, so they were coming from all over the province.”
Local highlights included Abbotsford’s Daniel Dyck taking first place in the pro men’s boat-towed division, with fellow Abby native Balzer finishing second and Alberta’s Nick Doresy taking third. Doresy was the champ in the cable competition on Sunday with Balzer second and Keaton Roper third.
Balzer said that the provincial championships were a “test run” for Valley Wake Park – the local facility is set to host the cable national championships in 2015 and 2016.
“We’ve got the opportunity to host a lot of big events, and it’s exciting,” he said.
“This is a really good way to grow the sport. We’re getting a lot more people out on the water because the cable (version of the sport) is so accessible.”
