Aaron Rathy Reflects On His First Pro Tour Win

How was your riding going at home before the WI tour stop?

I was riding good before the stop. I pretty much took off BROstock at Lake Powell just to make sure I stayed healthy and could keep riding a lot. Adam Errington and I were riding together most of the week just having “bro off’s.” It’s pretty much old style judging and we go best of three rounds. Its my favorite way to ride before a contest because you find yourself in pressure situations, so you get a lot of experience without too much consequence besides getting showed up by your homie. Adam was riding sick as well.

What were your expectations going into the stop?

I showed up to win. After getting second to Harley in Texas I wanted it that much more. There’s so many good riders now that you gotta keep your fingers crossed and take it one round at a time. But once the finals came around and I found myself top seed — it was on!

We saw you do a couple tick tocks in your run, once at the end of the first pass and once in the roller section in the second pass. That can be a sign of indecision, but in your run, it looked to be just good course management. Was it shallow at the end of your first pass so you resorted to a glide? Then you saw huge rollers and just did a toeside back roll? What was going through your head?

Yeah, I changed my mind a few times because of rollers. And with double ups in the finals, it made our second passes pretty hectic. Toeside back roll to switch Pete was definitely a strategy move. I was riding against three of the most tech riders so I felt like under the circumstances it was the right move.

Is it true you were intending on going for a switch HS 1080 on the double up and then pulled back to 900? That was one of the smoothest landings ever.

Yeah I was thinking ten. I need a specific pop to hit it and didn’t get it, so bailed out at 9.

We saw Parks Bonifay storm down to the dock to congratulate you as you landed on shore.

Yeah, it was pretty rad having Parks and all my friends stoked for me. Parks has seen it and done it so many times — its cool he was that stoked for me winning.

Does this win feel as good or better than you thought it would?
It feels perfect! I’m pumped, and I wanna roll with it.

Which riders do you think are the best on tour right now?
Phillip Soven, Harley Clifford, Andrew Adkison, Rusty Malinoski for sure and Adam Errington and Jimmy LaRiche are also right there with consistent runs.

Who else do you have to thank other than your sponsors who helped you achieve this goal?

My parents, family, everyone in the OGC, Jeff Heer… All the people who ran the BC tour, and everyone else who has helped me along the way.

What’s next?

Keep winning, I’m leading the King of Wake at the moment and wanna keep it that way.

What advice would you have for anybody aspiring to get to this level?

Just to keep working hard and never be satisfied with your tricks cause they can always be better.