It’s difficult to say how many times I’ve sat down to edit Ian’s footage. Over the past year, I’ve tried to do it many times. I’ve put upbeat songs to an edit, thinking that he might want it that way. I’ve put slower songs, hoping to get the right feel. I’ve always left it aside feeling unsatisfied, like it wasn’t good enough. This is the first time that that I feel like I’ve put it together in a way that makes sense to me. In all honesty, it’s a detail at the end of the edit that allowed me to finish it. I don’t know why I only noticed it now but it somehow has put me at ease.

Before you watch, I would like to explain that I didn’t know Ian that well but I often thought that we would become good friends. I would like to explain who Ian was as a wakeboarder.

Back in the day, Ian was a really good snowboarder. Able to spin 720s off the booters, his skills outdid his body as issues with his ankles forced him off the slopes. Retiring from the board, he picked up an outboard boat to do some fishing and some skiing on the Red River. Once he hit the water, standing sideways, he couldn’t get enough wakeboarding and by the end of his first Summer of riding, he felt that he had learnt all that he could behind his boat and he purchased an Epic wake boat in late fall.

I met Ian after having read his “March Riding in Winnipeg!?” post in the Wakeworld forum. Ian was thinking about dropping his new boat in the Red River because some of the ice had broken up clearing a few clear paths. With his new boat, he was itching to ride and he wanted to know if it was too early to put his boat in the water.

When I saw an Epic boat parked at the St. Vital Mall in April, I drove up and said Hello! called him crazy, and went and bought a wetsuit so that I could join him. After that day, I spent nearly every other day with Ian, riding in his boat, enjoying the early Spring. I have never seen anyone push himself so hard to get better at wakeboarding. Ian would wrap his ankles up in braces and shred as hard as he could. I’ve never seen anyone pull himself out of the water as often as Ian, beaten, with a bloody nose.

At the first competition of the Summer, I thought I would thank Ian for all the pulls he had given me and get Ian behind my boat. He had been working on a few inverts and was amped to show me everything he had learnt. Usually, it’s a treat to ride behind a different wake boat, but this wasn’t true for Ian because he busted his ankle and limped away from the docks with a fractured ankle.

Intent on not letting his injured ankle ruin the rest of his Summer, Ian took to wakesurfing and planned a trip to Australia to do some touring and to ride. He left in good spirits but due to medical reasons, he had to cut his trip short. He sent me this message when he returned to Winnipeg:

“After spending about a month in Sydney with some weird symptoms, I was very recently diagnosed with 'diffuse pontine glioma' - an inoperable tumor of the brain stem.

Tough news but in reality and I wanted you to know and not leave you in the dark. I look SOO forward to getting out on the river again and shredding when the high water drops just a few short months from now.”

Last I spoke to Ian, he had told me that things were going quite well and that he was again looking forward to going wakeboarding with me. I didn’t know it at the time but this would be the last conversation I would have with Ian.

In early May, I was driving on the South Perimeter bridge over the Red River and I thought that I should call Ian. I wanted to find out how he was doing and ask him if he thought he was going to be able to come ride soon. About a half hour later, I received a call from his good friend Adam and I learnt of Ian’s passing. Honestly, it hit me like a ton of bricks and having footage of him stored on my computer left me with an uneasy feeling not really having had the chance to really get to know him well.

Coming back to his edit, the thing that allowed me to finish the video was Ian’s wave at the end. If you are new to water-sports, you should know that a wave to the boat after a fall is to let everyone know that you are okay. When I put the film together and left it mostly uncut, trying to preserve as much of Ian’s riding as possible, the last wave somewhat left me at peace knowing that Ian was alright.