The Toe Jam Wakeskate series is back for its sophomore year, and after an impressive freshman showing, the 2008 version will have some big shoes to fill.

Fortunately Rock Star and O’Neill are on board again as sponsors, and they’ve even added a four stop in Canada. This year’s Toe Jam tour will consist of three qualifiers, each offering a $10,000 purse, and each giving contestants a chance to earn a spot in the main event, the Byerly Toe Jam Orlando, FL. A total of 16 riders will compete for the crown in the September final, with the 6 main event champs from last year earning and automatic invitation. The remaining 10 spots will be filled by the 6 division qualifiers from this year’s tour, along with 4 wild card entries.

The first event is coming up, April 17-19 at The Projects, so stay tuned for full coverage. WAKEOrigin will be bringing you all of the action this year, so even if you can’t witness the best wakeskaters in the world in person, at least you can get your fix online.

Check out the full press release after the jump.

The Hyperlite wakeboard team gathered in Northern California recently to relax, recharge, and to take advantage of the incredible late season conditions Lake Shasta is known for. Fortunately for us they also brought along a video camera to capture some of the best free-riding we’ve seen. As an added bonus, there are some good shots of the 2008 gear, as the official purpose of the trip was to shoot video and images for the 2008 Hyperlite catalog.

As the season here in the Northwest starts to wrap-up, this video makes us wish we had a Shasta trip planned sometime in the near future to extend the season just a little bit longer. Hyperlite has put together a great team, and if they have plans to release more videos from team trips in the future we’re all for that.

Check out the video after the jump.

Brandon Thomas is coming of the best season of his young career, with multiple video performances capped by numerous contest wins, proving that Brandon will be a force for many years to come.

To commemorate his quick rise to the top of the wakeskate world Hyperlite has bestowed him with his very own pro model wakeskate, the Vinyl. But who cares about that, the real reason to be excited is that Hyperlite is giving you a chance to upgrade your wakeskate to a brand new 2008 Vinyl 108.

Check out the full details of the contest, as well as how you can enter, after the jump.

The day after its founder’s and namesake’s birthday Reed Hansen took the honors at the inagural event of Byerly’s 4th Toe Jam wakeskate tour. As the premiere wakeskating event, the Toe Jam series attracks the best wakeskaters in the world, partly for the quality of competition, and party for the relaxed and entertaining atmosphere.

Reed combined solid riding behind the Wakeboard Edition Sea-Doo and made easy work of the 10 rail obstacles on the course to best impressive riding from the likes of Brandon Thomas, Brian Grubb and suprise performer Nick Taylor. The overall level of riding in this years first stop of the Toe Jam Series proves just how quickly the level of riding is improving.

The full details of today’s final round, along with the dates of the remaining tour stops are after the jump.