The world famous Banaue rice terraces of the Philippines have proven to be the ultimate playground for an epic wakeskate winch session!
BANAUE (Philippines), October 24th, 2013. Professional wakeskaters Brian Grubb (USA) and Dominik Preisner (GER) 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 are considered to be the Eighth Wonder of the World and were the perfect playground for a unique wakeskate session! Even for one of the world’s best wakeskate pros like Brian Grubb this spot proved to be a real challenge: “This was my seventh trip to the Philippines, and my biggest project ever! Since I first saw the drawing of these huge rice terraces on the back of the 1000 Peso 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 us and the team. It is still 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, such as Brian ́s stylish FS and BS Lipslide Shuvit Outs.
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 were agreed with the locals, taking into consideration their traditions and culture.