Motor Action Media interviews one of the biggest names in the Jet Ski world and beyond — Mark Gomez.
Motor Action Media: Mark, you’ve become a huge icon in the Jet Ski industry. But let’s rewind, how did you get involved in this sport?
Thank you Anna, I had been riding stand ups off and on since the age of 7 ½. It wasn’t until 2004, when an old friend of mine helped fix my brother’s 550 and took us out to Oceanside for our first time. I was terrible, I didn’t have a lick of wave knowledge but I had enough riding ability at the time to navigate around on my brothers 550 to jump a few foam balls, drink a bunch of salt water but still make it back in without sinking. Riding in the surf that day changed my life because from that day moving forward I knew that this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. With the help of my brother Philip, I bought my first 550 SX and got a job working to learn at Pacific Motorsports Jetski Shop where I still continue to work on and off today. For the first few years, I spent all of my money on Jet Ski parts upgrading, fixing and riding 2-3 times a week during the summer. During this time, the dream expanded quickly after meeting some of the most iconic riders whose style I am still inspired by in Oceanside. Riders like: Joe Kenney, Ross Champion, Mike Serlin, Randy Laine, Craig “Fuzzy” Boyd, Jerro Fleming, Eddie Bettencourt, Taylor Curtis and many more. In many ways these guys inspired me to become a professional rider, on and off the water. Most importantly, these guys instilled the core value of what the freeride is all about — camaraderie and paying it forward to help another family member-rider out. Years later, being able to help up-and-coming riders out means so much more since those guys gave me the same support. Because of these guys, many other friends I have met, event promoters, and the sponsors that have all supported me along the way, I have been able to reach the level of riding I have today. From where I started just over 10 years ago to where I am still building my self toward today, I am forever thankful for their support and inspiration.
MAM: You’ve obviously come a long way since you started out. What would you consider to be your greatest accomplishments so far?
My greatest accomplishment so far has been being voted the 2013 “Best Overall Rider of the Year” and then the 2014 “Best Freerider of the Year” in the Pro Rider Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards. As well as my first personal landmark achievement of being awarded the “Joe Kenney Rookie of the Year” award in 2008. The 14-year-old me would be kicking myself if I didn’t acknowledge and appreciate that. Again, I cant thank everyone along the way enough for their support toward these achievements.
MAM: I was there when you won that Vintage Ski World Championship; you actually lapped me on the track… You had a spectacular performance; how have you gotten so good on a ski that everyone has “forgotten”. And what keeps you loving vintage?
For over 5 years, the 550 was my everything out in the surf. Even after I got my first major sponsorship and SuperJet. Instead of looking at it like a stepping stone, and never going back, I consider the 550 my foundation just like it was for our entire industry. That ski belongs to my brother Philip. We used to go out and ride together every other month before I got my driver’s license and could take myself. It has always been fun to take his 550 out to Oceanside when my main ski was broken down or if I was transitioning between new skis. It started to get addicting because instead of getting frustrated about its lack of power and handling, I challenged myself to adapt to and exceed its expectations of performance by doing some of the surf maneuvers and airs that I do on the Rickter. To do such things, I had to really hone in my balance, speed, control, and timing. Which at the end of the day made pulling off these maneuvers twice as rewarding. As a kid I always watched JetDreams, seeing the legends shred so smooth on the skis helped pave that foundation. To be able to implement the newer, more modern tricks and style while riding the 550 just makes it that much more exciting and freakin’ cool from where I came from on it years ago.
Competitively racing the 550 was inspired after being at the races and watching the first Vintage 550 line up take off from the line. Immediately after pacing around like the kid at park who didn’t get to go play with the rest of the kids; I tuned up my brother’s 550 to practice racing. I blew it up…. then rebuilt it for longevity and top end performance and then hit the track. This became one of my favorite classes to race because it is extremely challenging, especially when I am racing against one of the Vintage class best racers I ride with on the local tour, Charles Sims. One of my favorite races was a few years ago at Lake Perris when I had just fixed an exhaust cooling melt down minutes before my Vintage moto. I forgot to tighten a hose clamp from the water box and on lap 2 of 5 I had a decent lead and it popped off! I realized my engine was suffocating with exhaust and lifted the hood mid-race. With Charles Sims closing in on me and after all of that work to get to this position I decided to remove the hood and throw it off into the water so my engine could breathe. This was a gutsy move that worked out for me. I kept the ski above the water in the turns to finish the last 3 laps and claim the victory to qualify for the World Finals.
The 550 again has set the foundation for my riding, giving me the gift of having respect and constantly challenging myself to ride stand ups to the best of my ability — working around the highs and lows of any Jet Ski’s performance characteristics. I realized after years of trying to make a 550 into an aftermarket freestyle ski and expecting more out of modifications, I now appreciate how much fun a simple limited 550 can be by carrying tons of speed into riding them. This has helped me become the rider I am today, which is why I will never let my love for riding the 550 go away. Until my brothers 550 starts breaking down; then I’ll ride my Rickter for a few more months until I can afford to fix it! [laughs]
MAM: Like I said earlier, you’re an icon. What do you think you have done to set yourself a part from every one else?
Thank you Anna, It’s an achievement to hear this from you, my sponsors, and others who I have been around. Like I said before I owe a lot of my success to those who have inspired me and set great examples. Our industry has been going through a very strange and rough path over the last few years and one of the riders who really set the strongest example is Ross Champion. Despite what people thought or said, Ross put himself out there, dedicated everything and made himself a career transforming into the world’s best freeride athlete. There are many great riders out there, but from what I learned from Ross was that in order or get to where you want to go as a professional athlete in this sport, you have to acknowledge who you are and promote yourself to make sure you and your sponsors get a return. Ross did all of this, and still maintained being one of the most humble and genuine personalities I have ever met. Ross acknowledged the rough and almost uncertain path ahead and at the end of the day, through his dedication and strong will, made it happen. With the changes in the world and social media’s growth and marketing value, I have pushed ahead with the dedication, mindset, and passion that Ross inspired and adapted to promoting myself and sponsors on social media — exposing myself and sponsors to new many more people around the world and generating opportunities such as my recent DTV Shredder backflip experience. As my brother has always said to me, the further you go the further you see. I can be set apart in anyway you perceive from my history and intentions to push ahead, I never like to judgmentally evaluate what I do over other riders because I’m constantly being inspired by things that they do differently themselves.
MAM: I know you’ve had some awesome machines, but your new Rickter EDGE is pretty mean. Could you tell me about it?
Getting on board riding for Rickter and TC Freeride has catapulted my ability and progress more than I could ever imagine in a year’s timeframe. Last September I was one of the first to debut the new Rickter EDGE hull at the Blowsion Surf Slam contest. It was a large gamble hopping on a hull for the first time just two days before a major contest. However, the EDGE’s handling characteristics for my aggressive style of riding and aerial maneuvers really shined, making the adapting timeframe short and I moved right back into progression. Now, having a few more months of making some modifications that directly benefit the way I ride the ski, I have never been more comfortable and able to rip as hard on all around conditions. I believe the EDGE is one of the best all around professional hulls on the market. Rick Roy is constantly raising the bar in quality and handling improvement by taking rider’s feedback and applying to the production. The EDGE is only two inches shorter than the Previous Evo1 model, yet feels shorter like the XFR/XFS platform in maneuverability and the ability to flip in all conditions. The entire hull including the bondline has been changed to accommodate more aggressive handling. When I set the nose into a wav,e this ski rails a turn harder than any previous model which is exciting for how I like to ride.
MAM: I’ve heard some whispers about you hitting the Freeride World Tour, can you tell us what you’re planning this season?
It has always been my goal to travel and compete in the IFWA World Tour. From what I have seen it is absolutely fun, exciting, challenging, and most of all — expensive! I decided over the last few years to focus more on national freeride and racing events with my current sponsorships. This way I could get myself out there and grow my abilities as a rider. I have always told myself that I would not plan to go on tour unless I knew that I could go toe-to-toe against multi-time World Champion, Pierre Maxient. With my current and growing progression, along with five confirmed international tour stops, this is the year I have to do it. Best part of it all is that Pierre has committed to the entire tour as well, so it will be that much more challenging to get the title! I have most things set in place. Thanks to Rickter, I can confidently say that I have the best equipment out there to depend on and get the job done. Depending on my results, I will hopefully gain some momentum to propose a marketing plan to a company for additional sponsorship. Because of all of this, I have been under more stress than I ever have over the last few years. I have lots of goals and expectations with a lot of expenses and not enough time to generate the money on my own. I am going to be leaning on my family, sponsors and friends more than ever because I cannot afford to do this on my own right now and will be giving it 120% of my ability to get out there and take on the best riders from around the world and bring back the 2015 world title at the Blowsion Surfslam contest in September!
I know you hang out with the Bright Brothers and the “OSide” crew a lot on weekends. Could you tell me what a day with the crew is like?
The Oside crew has produced some of the best riders in the world. I feel now more than ever that has proven itself because the crew pushes each other to be better riders every single time we ride. Zack Bright came into this industry with an all around progression missile strapped to his back, and I have been trying to catch up ever since! Jake Bright is as ballistically ballsy as it can get with his unique, corked-out, go big style. There are many other guys who we ride with at Oside throughout the week who all rip in their own unique way. With the IFWA contest looming and the fact that Zack, Jake, and I are all competing has brought us closer together as friends to get ourselves together to ride multiple times in the week. Tanner Thomas is in Alaska, but has put his time in at Oceanside to be a part of the crew. He is my best friend in this industry and that kid inspires the hell out of me; showing me what hard work, dedication, progression, and making it happen is all about! Every ride, we all push each other to try new things and progress our riding more so than we ever have in years. We do our best to take cameras out there and capture that progression to build excitement, exposure, and hopefully rally support from our sponsors and friends to help get ourselves on the entire tour. If you want to see some exciting stuff I highly recommend coming out to Oceanside or any event when the three of us are riding at the same time, because it gets a little crazy!
I know you’re pretty stoked about the DTV Shredder, for those of us who don’t know about that adventure, could you fill us in?
Last April, I participated in the Wavedaze event in Virginia Beach. During the fun event I had the opportunity to meet Nitro Circus personality “Streetbike” Tommy Passemante. The surf conditions that weekend were as close to dead-flat as it could get unfortunately, but from what little he saw it was enough to spark an idea. Months later, Zack Bright, Ryan Solomon and I were contacted by Tommy for an incredible opportunity. Turns out Tommy partnered up with Ben Gulak, owner and developer of the DTV Shredder. A personal sized Tank Scooter that makes its own trail. The goal was to backflip the Shredder. Because of the way the Shredder and stand up Jet Skis are ridden, it seemed to be an ideal match, especially finding a group of Jet Skiers who would try skying a jump upside down with a tank attached to their feet! In October, just after the World Finals Zack, Ryan, and I found ourselves at the legendary Pastranaland compound. We started the trip out trail riding the stock version of the Shredder on Pastrana’s back yard trails and mini bike tracks getting used to the way they operate. A few days later, the 40HP custom Shredder named “Shredzilla” showed up. We installed foot straps onto the board just like our skis in order to keep us attached during the gnarly gyration we could only imagine happening while flipping a tank and we took to the foam pit! Zack Bright nailed the first ever Shredder flip like a boss, and we all followed behind proving that it’s possible, pioneering the start of a new breed of land Jet Skis! [Laughs] It was an absolute unreal experience being there, meeting Travis Pastrana, and back flipping a freakin’ tank to dirt!
Last question (and most important), Mark why do you love Jet Skiing?
Wow… this is actually a hard one because where do I start?! Jet Skiing is the way I express myself in life. As many of my friends know, I don’t usually make a whole lot of sense on land [laughs], but when I’m on a stand up (preferably in some surf), I’m in my own element pushing, my physical and mental limits every time, and feeling great. I’m addicted to riding because every single time I ride anywhere, the conditions are always different, forcing me to adapt in order to ride the way I want with or against whatever the conditions are. I took a huge risk dedicating my life to my passion. I have struggled and continue to struggle mentally and financially more so than ever. Behind all of the social media posts and occasional travels and events I live an extremely unbalanced life. Relationships with my family and friendships have all been affected by it. With the guilt of debt constantly looming over my head I get more stressed out than ever lately with bigger expectations and slow growth in support funding to make it happen. Through the highs and lows I acknowledge that I chose this path and I sure as hell intend to see it through to the best of my ability, no matter how long it takes. My main love and reason behind this dedication has really been the people I have connected with around the world along the way. These connections have expanded the horizon of possibilities in my life. Not only that but the amount of inspiration I get from everyone is incredible to be a better person and rider. As of right now I feel as if I have met a quarter of the people and been to an 8th of the places in the world I’d like to travel to and ride at. Sharing these adventures with my family of riders who share the same passion has created some of my life’s most fulfilling experiences so far..,, and just to think I’m only a quarter of the way through life.
MAM: You’ve got some people to thank don’t you?
I couldn’t do this at all without the support of my family, friends, sponsors, and most importantly the rest of the Jet Ski community who support me including readers like you. Mystik Lubricants, Hydro-Turf, WORX Racing Components, Rickter/RRP, TC Freeride, Liquid Militia Clothing, JetPilot, DASA, Bomber Floating Eyewear, Skat-Trak, Impros, Thrust Innovations, Blowison, KMG Racing, Hot Products, Cold Fusion, Champion Timepieces, Pacific Motorsports, Performance Fiberglass, ADR Crankshaft, Patty’s Cakes & Desserts, Jet Renu and The O-Side Crew.
Want to see more crazy footage of Mark Gomez? Check out our Daytona Freeride video.