The Most Iconic Watersports Athlete Ever | Parks Bonifay - Ep. 68

It would be hard to argue that anyone single person has done more for the sport of wakeboarding, both on the water and off, than Parks Bonifay. You can tell he lives, eats, and breathes this lifestyle, and it shows. Parks was the youngest person to ever waterski, invented several tricks, filmed tons of video parts, won even more contests, and has pushed the boundaries of what is possible on a wakeboard. While a lot of riders might step away from the scene as they end their riding career, Parks has embraced the sport, continuing to keep up with the evolution of wakeboarding. You can feel the passion in his voice when he speaks about riding, Parks is truly a gem in the watersports industry. Ski baby, ugly board graphics, Byerly, knee injuries, getting banned from the masters, MTV cribs, Jackass, video parts, barefooting behind an F1 car, Ronix, Wakelab, and the future of the sport. Hear all that and much more in Episode 68 of the Grab Matters Podcast! Follow Parks: https://www.instagram.com/parxxx/ Thank you to our sponsors: Liquid Force: https://www.liquidforce.com/ 15% OFF Driftline use "grab15" at checkout: https://tinyurl.com/yvksusym Grab Matters Merch | https://www.grabmatters.com/shop Website | https://www.grabmatters.com/ Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/grabmatters/ TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@grabmatterspodcast Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/grabmatters Hunter Thane | https://www.instagram.com/hunterthane/ Chapters: 00:00 - 2:00 Intro 2:20 Ski Baby 10:00 Why is Parks still involved? 12:00 Shifting from athlete to ambassador 13:50 Why is wakeboarding special? 16:00 Waterskiing 17:20 Ski baby 21:00 First time wakeboarding 27:00 First sponsors 30:00 X-Games 33:30 LF’n Wheel of Questions 38:20 Freemotion 44:40 Hyperlite 47:10 Shane Bonifay 52:20 Byerly influence 56:50 Biggest win 59:55 Knee injuries 1:10:00 Contests 1:13:00 Banned from Masters 1:18:40 Question from Raph Derome 1:25:30 Wakelab 1:28:30 Rail riding 1:39:30 MTV Cribs 1:42:10 Driftline “Deserves Some Love” 1:43:00 Parents inspiration 1:49:20 Jackass 1:54:45 Ronix 1:58:25 RedBull 2:11:00 Currently 2:14:10 Setup 2:22:00 Future of wakeboarding 2:29:30 Thank you’s Links: Parks Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjqjl0Qal44 Wakelab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpcZJDcFkWw Incomplete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W-SKoK8zrI Shane Bonifay Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNnN6UOeVOo&t=7685s