WakeORIGIN has just heard that pro wakeskater Silas Thurman, the man behind the bi-level LF SST wakeskate, is leaving Liquid Force to head up Company Wake’s wakeskate division. While no official announcement has been made yet, we expect to hear something shortly, which means Company is charging head first into wakeskates.

Silas was responsible for the SST, a board that the rest of the LF wakeskate team loves so much they ditched their own pro models to ride. He’s also team manager for Nike 6.0, and is actively involved in growing their watersports program. Together with Company, the two should make a great team that will continue to bring innovation and durability to the wakeskate community.

We wish all parties involved the best of luck, and look forward to seeing what Silas and Company Wake come up with in the years to come.

Nike wants to hook you up with a free pair of their new Air Mogan wakeskate shoes, so they’ve devised a little contest in order to give out five pairs of their special edition shoes. To win, all you have to do is submit your best illustration of the Nike 6.0 wakeskate team.

The five best drawing of Nick Taylor, Matt Manzari and Ben Horan, as chosen by Nike 6.0 will each win a pair of Mogan shoes. You can submit your handiwork to editor@wakeboardingmag.com, or mail it to:

Wakeskate Contest
Nike 6.0
One Bowerman Drive, MH-2
Beaverton, OR 97005

You’ve got until May 8th to submit your original artwork, so get to work.

Stop two of the Byerly Toe Jam wakeskate tour should prove just as eventful as the first stop. The second installment of this years tour will take place at Texas Ski Ranch located in New Braunfels, TX. The setup at TSR includes a cable park that will host the slider course, as well as a private lake where competitors will ride behind a Mastercraft X-Star to battle it out on the wakes.

Qualifying took place yesterday, and despite strong winds, the level of riding was still impressive with Nick Taylor pulling a backside 3 off the kicker, and George Daniels hitting a boardslide kickflip off the incline rail. Today is the bonus wake session behind the X-Star, and should prove just as impressive. Saturday is the main even though, with much at stake. The top three riders from the finals will advance to the Toe Jam main event in September at The Projects. The finals kick off at 9am, and will run until a winner is found. If you’re in the area, head over to Texas Ski Ranch to witness the best wakeskaters in the world battling it out. If you can’t make it out this weekend, don’t worry, WAKEOrigin will bring you the results of each round of competition.

The full list of qualifying riders is posted after the jump.