Two words, one name, Rob Corum. I remember the first time I met Rob, at Shaun Murray's Back Yard Tour in 2003. I got his number and we have been friends ever since. If you don't know Rob, well, you are missing out. A great guy, awesome wakeboarder with endless style, and a friend that everybody needs.

Mr. Corum has been there every time i've needed him. He has helped me out with so many tournaments, clinics, trips to Orlando, etc. I have so many stories. I wish I could tell them all, because every one of them will have you hurting from laughing so hard. Like running out of gas in the new 2004 X-Star on Smith lake after 2 tanks that day. We swam the boat to a boathouse, found a 5 gallon gas can, used it and taped a $20 bill to the handle. It was just enough to get us to the truck. And all this happening at night. Or being in Orlando and cramming 8 people in his dad's BWM that is made for 4 people at the most, driving all over and him talking in his sleep. And the time we put 12 people in a cab, went to eat then bowling in Huntsville with one guy nearly going
to jail and me becoming single... again. Oh Lord, I could go on forever.

Rob is the guy you usually just hear about because he is never in one place too long. Every time I talk to him he is somewhere different. He reminds me of Uncle Matt from Fraggle Rock, a cartoon from way back in the day. Right now he is probably out in Park City building a snow man, so he
can ollie it. Come summer he will be traveling from state to state judging to Pro Tour, riding in grassroot tournaments, hitting any rail jam he can, and helping the Hyperlite rep all over the southeast. Oh, and he has a girlfriend that is usually right beside him all the way. All I can say is that she is very understanding. To bad not all girls are as cool as she. And his family are the nicest people I have ever met. His dad has always welcomed me to stay with them. This guy cracks me up. We talk about riding motorcycles and welding, or whatever else we feel like. His sisters are cool too. I can't ever remember which one is who. Saving the best for last, his mom. What a wonderful woman and i will leave it at that... (you know what i'm talking about Rob).

The main thing, Rob is not only a great friend, he is still my favorite rider. I caught up with Rob and asked a few question. Enjoy and keep an eye out for him in your town:

When and where were you born?
June 22nd, 1985 Colorado Springs, CO

When was your first time on the water? Age?
Who knows? The earliest photos we have are from probably April of 86' about 10 months old or so, both of my parents were there from the beginning. They both still ski now.

Does your family ski? Who?
Yep they sure do, my dad and mom both skied way before they knew each other, and all three older sisters skied at The University of Alabama in one way or another.

When did you start wakeboarding? Who got you started?
I got up on a skurfer, which was one of my mom's friend's boards, around six years old. The first wakeboard I ever rode I was about nine years old it was an H.O. Eric Perez Pro of a close friend of mine got for his birthday; that was around 94'. Then I finally got a Wake Tech Byerly Pro in 98' at 13 years old. This is when I consider really getting serious about wakeboarding.

Who are some of the people you have looked up to within the sport of wakeboarding?
Probably this guy named Matt Westbrook, who was my oldest sister's boyfriend at the time. He was completely self taught, and didn't know what was cool at the time. He taught me all switch and regular FS 180s. We were lame in the day, because we didn't flip, now we're cool cause we still don't flip.... weird. We didn't even know there were mags or movies at the time so our influence was strictly our own creativeness.

How much time do you spend on the road with wakeboarding?
A lot, literally every weekend in the summer is booked up with either a contest, clinic, or judging a contest. I try to promote the sport as much as possible.

What places and states does the sport take you?
This past summer I traveled to every state in the south, also: Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; St. Paul, Minnesota; Austin and Ft. Worth, Toronto and Oklahoma City. I already have planned for next year to go to the Philippines in March, Toronto again, around the south and Florida, and hopefully get to hit up Europe.

Favorite place to ride?
Lake Ouatchita, AR
Gum Lake, FL
Lake Mitchell, AL
Gravity Research, GA

Who are your sponsors?
Hyperlite Wake MFG. and Ambush/Buywake.com

What board and bindings are you using?
Sub VI with Audio and a Tribute as a jib stick.

What boat do you normally ride behind? Whats your favorite?
I’ll ride behind anything, but normally 210, 230, or X-Star. My favorites are Malibu 23’ and X-Star.

Who are some of your favorite pros to hang around on and off the water?
Jeff House, Derek Grasman, JD Webb, Jimmy Trask, and Bryan Hutton; some other honorable mentions: Jimmy Lariche, Erik Ruck, Chris O’Shea, Kyle Alberts, Aaron Rathy and Dano

Who do you see being the next "big name" on the pro tour?
Two words… Harley Clifford.

Who are some of the people you ride with?
Anyone with a good attitude on their shoulders. Taylor Renfroe, Matt Sims, Phil Aslinger, Ryan Hill and all those dudes I mentioned earlier. I just like to have F-U-N when I’m on the water.

Is the sport heading into the direction you want it to or would you change some things? If change, what?
It definitely is taking steps in the right direction; just look at the discussion boards, the average wakeboarder is beginning to comprehend what good style is and what makes a grab or rail hit legit. The Pro Tour is adapting to new judging formats that make it more fun for not just the riders but the spectators as well. Mags are having better articles and photos, and Movies are using bigger budgets with more unique aspects and better riding.

What do you think about the small grassroots tournaments vs INT?
This is a touchy subject, but I’ll give it to you straight… A well run grassroots contest is the most fun time and relaxing type of contest there is, it also has the most potential for progression. I believe, and hate me if you don’t agree, but INT has sold out what wakeboarding is all about; it is run by a bunch of waterskiers with a chip on their shoulder. Waterskiing isn’t a bad thing; a lot of wakeboarders think that. However, having waterskiers run a wakeboard contests is like having Payton Manning pitch in a world-series game. I’ve been involved in wakeboarding contests for about 7 or so years now; I’ve run grassroot style contests and INT contests and I’ve never been a part of such a rip off as INT. With those contests I felt like a used car salesman, it’s like one of those pyramid sales scames.

Do you think wakeboarding is going to suffer any during this troubled economy?
It already has begun; last year was a slow year for the wakeboard industry, primarily due to the oil industry. I don’t mean just gas, boards are primarily made from petroleum, then they have to be shipped to the dealer to be sold, this is why we have seen such a spike in board prices. Already this year we have seen The Standard Quarterly close its doors, probably due to a loss of investment money. I personally don’t think they will be the last company to shut down shop, especially with two new board companies on the prowl. But at the same time it just means riders will have to be smart about when and how they ride. I’ll be doing much more winching next year for sure.

What are your plans for the 2009 season?
Just trying to do my part, whether it’s contests, demos, winching, clinics, photography, judging or whatever can help our sport. I’ll be busy doing clinics across the south, and quit a few local contests and clinics with Rambo Marine and WakeFactory, and judging pro tour and WWA world-series events too.

Rob, thank you for your time. You have and continue to do a lot for the sport. Do you have anything else you would like to add as we wrap this up?
Thanks for the complement; hearing stuff like that is what makes me try harder to promote the sport. There truly are too many people (you know who you are) to give thanks too, here are a few that I have the room for: First off my mom and dad for not just keeping a boat hanging around and dragging me around whenever I needed it, but for being just super supportive also. My sisters and girlfriend deserve a thanks for pulling me around as well. Jeremy Baker and Greg Nelson at Hyperlite. Brandon Lee and "Diamond" Davis at Ambush/Buywake.com. Spencer Norris at W.I.T. Productions, Ian Zinner at Dirtbag Productions, and Jason Stephens Photography. And last but not least thanks to you Dustin, for letting me do this interview.