Date: 10/7/03
Author: David Williams

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"The riders in this video are either trained professionals or just damn lucky. Please don't try these tricks without some style and always wear a CG approved vest"

- Delta Sessions credits

I laughed, I cried and I got a little bit wet (from the boat spray of course). Some videos make you want to grab your board and get out on the water, but this one made me feel like I just got back from a session. I must have really gotten into it because I actually felt a little worn out at the end.

Delta Sessions is a pretty unique experience as far as wakeboarding videos go. It feels almost strange to see Northern California scenery in a video and even weirder to see nothing at all from the state of Florida. I always wondered what types of video guys like Shaun Murray, Parks Bonifay and the other top Orlando pros would watch. After all, they're the ones starring in most of the videos on the market. I'm betting that Delta Sessions is just the kind of video for them. Fresh scenery, fresh riders and fresh style.

The appropriately named Delta Sessions is a wakeboarding movie mostly filmed on the California Delta in northern California. The Delta is a labyrinth of sloughs making up 1,000 miles of waterways constructed by farmers in the 1800's. It's fed by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and water passes through the Delta on its way to the Pacific Ocean. The result is an incredible amount of flat water for the ultimate wakeboarding paradise. There are also a few other Nor Cal lakes that add to the beautiful scenery of this video.

Delta Sessions features some of Northern California's top riders, including Cody Ramsey, Mike Schwenne, Mike McMillen, Cobe Mikacich, Jacob Lockin, Josh Storrer, Chris Williams, Greg Nelson, Chris Dykmans, Aaron Aubrey, Arun Frances, Kevin Bird and several others.

While I watched it for the first time, I started making a note of the riders that were especially impressive to me. By the time the video ended, I think I pretty much had a list of everybody in the video. So, I had to watch it again and raise the bar a little bit. After running through it a second time, although all the riders tore it up, Chris Williams and Aaron Aubrey stuck out in my mind.

I always like to watch Chris ride because he's got a lot of unique moves such as his C5. It's also incredible to see a guy of his size getting so much air, yet keep everything so smooth. I think Aaron's riding captures the stereotypical "westside" wakeboarding style in a nutshell. Big, floaty, smooth and spinning like a top.

There are also a couple of big names in this vid that you've probably seen before such as Greg Nelson and Cobe Mikacich. They had some great parts as well, including some wakesurfing from Nelson. In fact, we even get to see some wakesurfing from Greg's wife, Evelyn Nelson (formerly Evelyn Zerr), which makes the rolling of the credits at the end a pleasure to watch.

I liked the mix of angles they used for all the riding. There were no helicopter shots, but you got shots from all sides of the riders. They made good use of a trailing camera man that wakeboarded behind the rider to get a unique perspective. In fact, you'll see cameraman Arun Frances in this position featured in both of the latest issues of Alliance and Wake Boarding.

The soundtrack for the video is also comprised of Nor Cal talent, with many of the bands made up of wakeboarders themselves. Although I'd never heard any of the music before, I was instantly hooked. The opening tune, Slick Twist by Void, was a perfect beginning and really sucked me into the video. From there the sounds bounced around quite a bit showcasing a lot of different musical styles. I was stoked to find out the soundtrack is available separately on CD and ordered a copy right away. Check out the full music listing in the beta version of our new Video Buyers Guide.

The DVD extras were more pretty much an extension of the video itself with more Nor Cal riding. It also included a trailer from The Archives, a little-known video featuring Cody Ramsey and Mike Schwenne.

So should you buy Delta Sessions? Without a doubt. This has the potential to be the most unique video in your collection and you'll often whip it out and revisit the smooth Nor Cal style of riding. No respectable video collection would be complete without it.

Click here to check out even more details of Delta Sessions, including the full soundtrack, in the beta version of our upcoming video guide.

To pick up a copy or get more info on Delta Sessions, go to www.WestsideConnection.net.

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