Banaue rice terraces become wakeskate playground in Red Bull stunt

 

With permission from the mumbaki, religious leaders of the Tuwali tribe, Grubb found himself and German wakeskater Dominik Preisner riding the ridges of the thousand-year-old rice terraces in a project sponsored by RedBull.

 

"To actually see it in person and just to be up on the mountains, it’s a journey just to get here. And then to finally come up on the ridge and to see the viewpoint, and it’s like seeing the actual picture from the bill and it’s like, it’s just kind of an amazing thing and it’s like, humbling to be up here on the mountains and to see this. And now to have permission to ride it has been just amazing," Grubb said in a video produced by RedBull Media House.

 

With a rail and gap set up, the two were able to ride three or four different lines, as well as perform tricks.

 

The rice terraces, considered the Eighth Wonder of the World, proved to be a unique wakeskate playground, especially with its beautiful natural scenery.

 

However, conservationists were critical of the stunt.

 

"Wakeboarding at the terraces? It is a stunt totally inappropriate to the site. And stunt it is. The world heritage property and the local residents should not be exploited," Augusto Villalon, president of the Heritage Society, told AFP. 

 

For its part, Red Bull had said respect for the environment was a priority from the beginning of the project. "The team made certain that the plants and wildlife were neither damaged nor disturbed at any time during the event. All aspects were agreed with the locals, taking into consideration their traditions and culture," they said.

 

Grubb explained that they timed the project for the rainy season, as they needed water in the pools. "This time of the year they’ve harvested all the rice out of here, so there’s no rice in these terraces that we wanted to ride in. But they need water to farm here and it’s just part of the process of life here," he said.

 

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