Whether an amateur skier or a ripping pro, fall is always a favorite time of the year to get wet. The muscles are seasoned as well as the confidence. Same as all you retailers, this can also be the time of the year to remodel. You guys are questioning your merchandising and cleaning out inventory getting ready for more. While the skier is questioning his or her ski, fin setup, and most of all technique. Many times it is this prep time that leads to success the following year.

Team HO had another outstanding year. Will Asher, coming off arguably one of the greatest years of all time winning the Masters, World, and finishing #1, backed it up with another solid year. After winning the Pro Swerve in early June, He won the British National Slalom title again! Maybe his biggest win of the year came just a few weeks ago at the Diablo Shores Pro-am. This event is operated be our own Greg Badal. Will won the event in 2006 and was looking for a repeat and he got it. The event came down to the last 2 skiers of the tourney. It was Will vs. Jaime. Mano y mano. Not only did they end up in the head to head final but they even tied here. Will took it in the playoff to win the Diablo back to back. His last event of the year was the Boardstock event. Slalom at a wakeboard comp??????????

This was the 2nd time we have competed in this big party! It is held on a huge lake with hundreds of boats ripping it up during the comp. This did not stop Will as he ran 41 off in the semis. Granted, this was a 4 buoy course. But just for kicks, next summer set up a course on a public lake on the weekend and go out an try to just make a pass. But 41 off are you kidding. Jaime and Will ended up right where they were the previous weekend, tied! Will could not quite pull off the playoff finishing 2nd. Will finished 2nd for the year and also graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business. Congrats, Will.

Our grom team had a killer year also! The Wilson Brothers are definitely the future of slalom skiing. It is incredible how good they are at such a young age. Brooks ,17, won the Junior Masters, finished 2nd at the Jr Us Open (he won in 2006), and 2nd at the US Nationals. Brooks is already running 39 1/2 off in practice and competed in his second US Open (not bad for a 17 year old). His little bro KC is a ripper also. He won the regional as well as the US National in the Boys 2 age division. The most impressive thing is not only what a cool kid he is but he ran 3 1/2 at 38 off in a tourney this summer. Did I mention that he is 13 years old? Can you even imagine this!

Greg Badal killed again as usual! I do not think anybody has improved this much after starting skiing so late in life. Greg started skiing 10 years ago. Now he is the Masters Men US record holder with 3@ 41 off. He destroyed the competition in the Big Dawgs Championships. After winning a qualifying event in Cali he took the finals in Florida beating an international field. Keep up the great work Greg!