2003 Chevrolet Avalanche - Maple Leaf Madness

Believe it or not, water does warm to a liquid state in the Great White North. And it's a big country with a lot of lakes and rivers, perfect for someone who wants to put on some water skis and learn how to fly. As a ski jumper, Ryan Dodd has flown far - 211 feet at age 16, 230 feet at 18, and all the way to University of Louisiana at Monroe on a skiing scholarship. He's good at it, too. As of press time, he's ranked Number One in the world for Junior Men Jump, Tricks, and Overall.

That's probably why GM, more specifically Vortec, decided to sponsor him and why the company eventually gave us a call. Vortec wanted us to build up Ryan's '03 Avalanche, and we wanted the story. So we got to work, while the crew at California Correct Craft in Norco, California, got busy with a matching Nautique Air Series 206 boat. It took us a few months, but, like the great continental railroad, us and California Correct Craft finally met lakeside and joined our halves of the rig. Ryan, by the way, was pretty darn excited about the project, keeping in touch with us every step of the way - not that we can blame him. If we had a bunch of strangers tearing apart our ride, while we trained on a waterway 1,000 miles away, we'd be excited, suspenseful, and generally a nervous wreck. But he's a laid-back guy, and when he showed up to take the truck back to Louisiana (the boat stayed), he liked what he saw. And we hope you like it, too. The story's in the photos and captions. Read on.