Redmond native to return to Northwest, compete in wakeboard event

Professional wakeboarder and Redmond native Nick Jones will return to the Northwest July 8-9 for the fourth stop of the 2011 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour on Lake Tye in Monroe

By Megan Managan • June 28, 2011 1:39 pm
Professional wakeboarder and Redmond native Nick Jones will return to the Northwest July 8-9 for the fourth stop of the 2011 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour on Lake Tye in Monroe.
Professional wakeboarder and Redmond native Nick Jones will return to the Northwest July 8-9 for the fourth stop of the 2011 MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard Tour on Lake Tye in Monroe.

It might not exactly feel like summer yet, but it will when the MasterCraft Pro Wakeboard tour stops in Monroe the weekend of July 8.

The tour, which has been making stops around the U.S., features Redmond and Kirkland native Nick Jones.

“I’m excited to ride for my hometown crowd,” he said. “It will be great to have my friends and family come out.”

Jones, who graduated from Juanita High School in 2005 and grew up in Redmond, has long had a love of water sports, but it originated in the frozen version of precipitation. As a kid, he loved snowboarding, hitting the mountain as often as he could.

Jones said in the summer he and his family would go boating in the San Juans and he saw a wakeboarding competition in Victoria one year. He thought it looked cool and after a friend won a wakeboard in a QFC contest he bought it from the friend and has never looked back.

“I got hooked on it,” he said.

When his family moved near Lake Washington in Kirkland his passion for the sport only increased. After graduation he headed south to Florida, the U.S. mecca of wakeboarding.

“It was my passion,” he said. “I did it everyday and it was my dream (to go pro). I thought what better time to try than now? All the best in the world live down here so you see really quickly how good everyone is.”

Jones said there are lakes everywhere and with a low cost of living he and all his friends live on the lakes, making practice and enjoying it a breeze.

“Plus you can’t complain about the weather,” he said.

Despite an injury which slowed him down for a while, Jones said he’s been making big progress in the last year, finally hitting the stride he always knew he could.

Now, Jones has had the chance to travel the world. He recently finished third at the Wakeboard World Series competition series stop in Brazil, his first pro podium finish. Earlier in the year he traveled to the Philippines and Mexico and after the stop in Monroe, will head to Italy as a member of the USA Wakeboarding team for the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation’s world competition.

So far, one of his favorite places to ride has been Brazil.

“The culture down there is great,” he said. “Everyone comes out and the crowds, they are amazing. They are so stoked on the sport.”

When the tour comes to Monroe, the first time a wakeboarding pro tour has been to Seattle area since 1995, Jones hopes he can edge out his competition.

“I’ve been working my butt off on a couple of tricks,” he said.

The pro men’s division qualifications begin on Friday, July 8 at 11:30 a.m. in Monroe. The competition will take place at Lake Tye, located just off Highway 2 in Monroe.

The pro men’s finals will start on Saturday, July 9 at 5 p.m.The event is free on Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. for the preliminary rounds and features pro women’s and amateur junior pro competition.

Tickets for Saturday’s finals, which begins at 10:30 a.m. are $13 for adults, $5 for ages 6-12 and free for anyone under five. Tickets for adults are $7 if purchased online at www.prowakeboardtour.com.