Sessions: The Magically Creative Wakeboarding of Shredtown

The Shredtown crew, consisting of Andrew Adams, Chris Abadie, and Davis Griffin in Athens, Texas, has been creatively creating some of the most unique wakeboarding setups for ten years. What started as a blog where the threesome would post homemade videos of themselves riding and winching in spots near their home lake quickly turned into a powerhouse of wakeboarding creativity.

Over the years Shredtown has popularized the urban side of the sport, with their pro model Slingshot that can withstand the ultimate concrete beatings, and with Chris Abadie winning Real Wake gold in the 2015 X Games (and then bronze in 2016). They have also evolved from amateur video makers to legitimate film pros, as evidenced by the much-heralded "Drop the Gun" in 2014 and the subsequent Real Wake sections. On top of that, they created the Shredtown Jamboree, which for two years set the standard for unique, fun, legitimate wake park contests. That has since morphed into the Valdosta Yard Sale series, which continues that legacy in a big way.

If it weren't for Shredtown, there might not be groups like the VWC/Space Mob/Yard Sale gang, and the urban shredding of riders like Dom Hernler, Felix Georgii, Blake Bishop, and others might not have gotten the recognition (or even the chance at recognition) they all deserve.

You might think after ten years that the Shredtown boys are at the tail end of things, either physically or creatively, or both. But you'd be wrong. Andrew, Chris, and Davis are just as passionate and just as motivated as ever. This past summer they rebuilt the Shredtown compound with some new features, and continue to search for new, insane winch spots, while working on the latest Shredtown pro model board and bindings. Of course, one name has also become synonymous with Shredtown, especially when it comes to photography. Actually, two names: The Golden Bear, AKA Bryan Soderlind. "Bear" has been shooting with the Shredtown crew for nearly that entire decade, and his latest trip lived up to the precedent they've set together over the years.

Here is a look at some of that still-photo magic that only seems to come from Soderlind making the trek out to mid-Texas and meeting up with three fellow creatives.

Stay tuned for more posts from this combo... we're going to dig back into the Soderlind/Shredtown archive and look at some of the classics from over the years and tell the stories behind the photos.