Author Archives: Jake

FRESHER EVENT – The Beach Party – 10 Oct 12:00PM

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The Beach Party. It’s the first event of the year and it’s guaranteed to be a big one. Selling out for the past two years, we take a coach of eager freshers to a local cable where they get to try wakeboarding for cheaper than anyone would dream possible!

Wakeboard beginers instruction at the IC Wake freshers event 2011-2012

Tuition is provided for every level

Here’s what we offer:

  • Transport to and from the venue.
  • An afternoon of wakeboarding.
  • Free tuition by cable instructors.
  • Free rental of all gear.
  • Food and drink afterwards.
  • Party with Reading University (they have a ludicrously good ratio).

All of this is yours for just £15!
To get your ticket, check out this page.

Wakeboard beginers instruction at the IC Wake freshers event 2011-2012

All equipment and tuition provided

There really isn’t an easier way to try wakeboarding. Simply meet at the Union at 12:00pm sharp with a towel and some beer money, jump on the bus and we’ll take care of you from there. You’ll be back at the union for around 10:00pm.

The beach party really is a great way to introduce yourself to WAKEimperial and see if the club is for you. It’ll be busy compared to normal which means if you know you’re going to end up at WAKEimperial, you may want to sit this one out. However, for those of you who are unsure, come down and get hooked!

Below are some of the pictures of the beginners from Beach Party ’11.

THIS YEAR – what’s new for 2012/2013

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Get ready for a long post boys and girls. This will explain everything you need to know about the upcoming year.

Membership

This year, membership will cost £30. Buy it here. This entitles you to the following:

  • Discounted riding as detailed here.
  • Access to all of our events.
  • Access to our regular Wednesday sessions.

Most importantly, if you buy before the Beach Party, you can choose from one of the following:

  • A free ticket to and two free drinks at the Beach Party.
  • A free regular Wednesday session, including transport.

Note that the regular Wednesday session will have to be taken between 1st October ’12 and 30th April ’13. Once you’ve bought membership, make your choice by using the contact form to let use know which option you’d prefer.

Finally, this year, every member of WAKEimperial will get a membership card as proof of your membership. This is a requirement of the local cable and will be needed on our Wednesday sessions.

Regular Sessions

Our Wednesday sessions will run similarly to previous years but there have been some changes in the way the minibuses operate. Minibuses now must be cancelled four days in advance if the club is to incur no penalty.

This means that we will keep track of ticket sales and if we have insufficient numbers at midday Saturday, we’ll have to cancel the minibus for the upcoming Wednesday. You’ll be refunded fully of course for the minibus transport cost.

Affiliation

Arguably the biggest news of this year, we’re changing cable. We’re returning to Liquid Leisure!

For those of you who don’t know, Liquid is a super social cable. Modern facilities, including changing rooms, a hot room and a sauna make life of the water too easy. The cable itself has great instructors, plenty of obstacles and good opportunities for flat water tricks that will encourage you to push your riding to the next level regardless of where you are at currently.

For details on the affiliation, check this out.

Events

We’ve already got a heavy first term lined up but have plenty of events in store for the rest of the year as well. In the first term, watch out for:

  • The Beach Party
  • The Halloween Special
  • A Weekend in Sheffield

For some idea of what to expect throughout the rest of the year, check out our events page.

That’s all from us

Make sure you keep up-to-date with everything at WAKEimperial by joining us on facebook.

See you on the water.

SHEFFIELD WEEKEND TRIP

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The Sheffield weekend has now been finalised and we are ready to go! With limited tickets available, don’t delay; go to the club’s ticket page now!

When?

The trip will be held on the 17-18th March `12. We will be departing from Acton Town (Piccadilly line) and/or Richmond (District line/Overground) at 8:15/30am on Saturday 17 morning, and will return for 8:00pm on Sunday evening.

The Cost

The cost of the weekend is £30.
This includes:

  • Ridingall weekend

    The IC Wakeboarding team ready to hit the water. Notice the large crowds around us

    Great cable + low crowds = happy riders !

  • Transport from London
  • Equipment hire (Wetsuit, Board, Helmet, etc.)
  • Camping fee for Saturday Night

If you’re wondering, that’s over £70 value in a £30 ticket! The only essentials not included in the ticket price are food and drink. You’ll also need basic camping equipment — but we can get you some if you haven’t got any.
This will be a seriously cheap weekend so I recommend taking full advantage.

Tickets

An initial batch of 8 tickets has been released and is on sale on the club’s tickets page. Ticket sale will close either when sold out or otherwise by the 5th March 2012.
If you miss out on the first batch, please contact us and we may organise an extra vehicle and release a second batch of tickets.

The Weekend

Wakeimperial (IC Wake Club) waking up from sweet dreams of raleys, 36o's and more ...

Campsite 1 minute away from the lake !

Easy Sunday morning, waiting for the cable to open

We will be riding all weekend.

Saturday: We’ll leave from Richmond/Acton Town at 8:00am, and aim to arrive at Sheffield before mid-day, when the cable opens.
We will ride at the cable until close at which point we will head to an inexpensive pub in town to eat and get some refreshments.
We will be staying at the lake overnight. You will need a sleeping bag at least — and if you have a tent, bring it too. If this is a problem, then the club has access to plenty of equipment – just let us know what you need before 5th March 2012.

Sunday: We will ride throughout the day, for as long as people want. When everyone’s had enough, we’ll head back to London.

The Cable

After scouting it out last term, we’ve realised that this is one of the best cables in the UK. It’s got a few incredible obstacles as well as a really friendly atmosphere. After all, Sheffield is renowned for being one of the most sociable cables in England.

Extremely versatile obstacles to suit every riding level !

Feel free to check out the cable’s website here and in particular, have a look at the variety of kickers and sliders they have.

More Information

Sheffield Cable's pet goose.

You'll get to meet Sheffield Cable's pet goose !

Check out the pictures and report from the 2011 Sheffield trip !

For more information, send the club an e-mail at or use the contact-us form.
If you’ve got questions about non-members attending this trip, again send us an e-mail at the above address.

THE WINTER JAM REPORT

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The Winter Jam

As you know, a few of us at WAKEimperial went down to Prince’s this weekend to compete in the first of Uniwake’s events of 2012.

Imperial had a solid representation with seven riders turning up to compete. Unfortunately, Oli had to forgo his place in the competition due to illness, instead coaching WAKEimperial from the sidelines.

Men’s Beginners


Tom Jones; an unusual treat

The comp kicked off with Men’s Beginners. Jake and Tom stepped up anticipating some serious competition. Although Tom had a few tricks up his underused sleeve, his variety of obstacles was not quite enough for the judges which left only Jake in the final five. He was given two laps to prove himself, but the pressure proved too much as he fell on a simple slider, something that would have been executed with style and ease at the end of last season.

Women’s Intermediates

The much-loved Danni-B was the next rider for Imperial in the Women’s intermediates. New to this category, Danni did not know how she would fare. Fortunately she’s come a long way since last years beginners category and her combination of steeze on the rails as well as a few kicker tricks led her to second place.


Danni-B searching for the handle

Men’s Intermediates

In the Men’s intermediates, we had Gary and an injured Tim. Gary, last year’s beginners champion, knew he’d have to pull out all the stops to impress the judges. We got to see a sweet transfer or two as well as some impressive switch stuff. We may have even seen a raley attempt if the operators didn’t fork so much. Sadly, this was not enough for the final round and left Tim to prove Imperial’s worth.

Even with a busted shoulder, Tim still managed huge raleys off the dock which got the judges attention. They loved the 180 transfer and the scarecrow off the kicker, so much so that Imperial took home first place in this category.

Men’s Advanced


Textbook 50-50 on the flat bar

Finally was Men’s advanced. Antoine has built up his repertoire since last year, adding a couple of tricks to blind. Unfortunately, everyone else had improved their game as well meaning once again, Antoine was left trailing just behind. Next year, our flat-water man is going for a podium. We just need that 313…

Wrapping Up

All in all, it was a solid effort by Imperial College’s Wakeboarding society. We achieved some decent results with eyes on even more success next year. Check below for the full gallery. And a big thanks to our special event report and photgraph, Clare Desmet, which relentlessy shot in excess of 600 pictures throughout the day

Peace x

 

 

THE WINTER JAM

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It’s Competition Time!

Another Uniwake Event, in 2011

In just over a week, the first competition of this year will be held at at Princes Cable Park, just South of Heathrow (here). It’s a competition organised by Uniwake that the majority of wakeboarding clubs throughout England will compete in.

The Event

The event is being held on Saturday 3rd March 2012. We will travel on a minibus, departing from the Union at 9:45am and will arrive back at around 6:00pm.

This event will cost £10. This includes transport, riding and equipment hire. There are a very limited number of tickets available so head on over to our ticket page as soon as you can to book yourself a slot.

Check out the Uniwake event page here.

Format

The Winter Jam will have 7 categories:

  • Men – Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
  • Women – Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
  • Wakeskate

Meanwhile, at the 2011 Winter Jam...

 

It will have a jam format. This means that after a period of free riding, each category will be allocated a certain time frame (somewhere around 15-30 minutes) in which every rider in this category rides. Judges will be placed in various places around the lake and will be scoring all riders. Judges will then compare and rank each rider, after which prizes will be awarded.

There really is something for everyone here. The Beginner category is perfect for those progressing onto obstacles whilst intermediate and advanced offers something for those with a wider variety of tricks. For more specific details, see the Uniwake event page linked above.

 

It promises to be a great day, particularly for those who haven’t competed before. The friendly format makes it very easy to get involved and see what competing can be like. For those who want a challenge, I assure you there’ll be riders giving you a run for your money.

If you’d like more information, please feel free to e-mail the club at  or using our contact-us form.