Posted: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 08:16 AM - 13,227 Readers
By: Charles Bryce
Lake Travis High School student Austin Dodson is just as comfortable with a video camera in his hands as he is showcasing his wakeboarding talents.
The 17-year-old senior-to-be is among the competitors in the Advanced division this weekend at the 2011 Wake the Desert 12th annual Ski Skeller Sports Wakeboard Tournament on Lake Nasworthy.
A wakeboarding instructor at LakeLessons.com in Austin, Austin is a talented rider and didn't disappoint the enthusiastic crowd Saturday at Middle Concho Park.
"I feel like I did pretty good," Austin said after his run. "I hadn't ridden in awhile, so I had a good, fun time. I just do it for fun now."
Last year, Austin qualified for the Wakeboard Nationals. In addition to teaching the sport, Austin also produces and directs video projects posted on Internet sites such as slayshtank.com and wakeboarder.com, sharing his talent in film to help promote the sport.
"I realized that I could make a career out of it, so I started working for a few companies," Austin said. "I make a lot of videos for them, and I'm planning on going to film school in California soon."
Austin always looks forward to making the trip to San Angelo to do some videotaping and exhibit his wakeboarding skills.
"Every year I've been out here, it's just getting bigger and bigger, and it's great to see how small it was when I first got started and how big it's grown," said Austin, who pulled off some 360s and a 540 on Saturday.
San Angeloan Dylan Bolts is competing in the Advanced division for the second straight year. Near the end of his run Saturday, Bolts pointed to the crowd before executing his final trick.
"That was for the old famous Fashion Air," Bolts said. "That's one of our trademark tricks around here in San Angelo."
Bolts got a little boost of energy from the local crowd, and he said he was pleased with his performance.
"I felt like I had a pretty good run," the 21-year-old said. "We had tons of fans out here. I love it.
"I never really try to set up a formation or anything. I just go out there and wing it and go with what I feel. A lot of people try to set up a run, but whatever I feel at that moment, that's what I try to do."
This is the first time competing at Wake the Desert for Marble Falls resident Jack Guenther, but he has been impressed with what he has seen so far.
He got brave enough to attempt a "Whirlybird" for the first time, and he said he was excited about pulling it off.
"I wasn't planning on doing it today, but my friend taught it to me on Monday of this week," said Guenther, who is competing in the Expert division. "It was my very last trick, and a fall wouldn't be too big of a deal on my last trick."
Even though he admitted to feeling a little "intimidated" by a larger number of competitors than he's accustomed to going up against, it was hard tell since everything went so smoothly for him.
Saturday's final results and the list of qualifiers for today's finals were unavailable at press time.
Today's action begins at 10 a.m., with the finals scheduled between noon and 5 p.m.
The cost for spectators is $3 per carload at the gate. Depending on which side of the lake fans want to watch from, they can either drive down Red Bluff Road or Fisherman's Road.
