Real coaching, on demand
Pro wakesurf coaching, bottled.
Elevate Wake Academy turns the coaching that world-ranked pros Emma Galusha and Ryan Deese do on the water every day into a course you can run behind your own boat — anywhere in the world.
Meet your coaches.
Emma Galusha
#3 in the world · pro women's skim
Emma grew up in Pittsford, New York, spending summers on Keuka Lake — waterskiing at five, then wakesurfing from age eleven. She entered her first competition at nineteen, turned pro in 2023, and finished her rookie season ranked 5th in the world.
Today she rides a signature pro-model board by Kanuk Board Co, competes at the top of women's skim, and — as a qualified yoga teacher — leads the mobility and injury-prevention training that keeps riders on the water for the long haul.
Ryan Deese
#2 WWA Nautique Surf Series · pro men's skim
Ryan has spent eight years competing at the top of pro wakesurfing, finishing #2 overall in the 2025 WWA Nautique Surf Series men's skim division. He rides his own signature board, the Deese Mode Carbon Pro.
With Emma he runs WakeSurf Florida — coaching year-round on Lake Tarpon and running summer kids' camps back on the Finger Lakes, where riders as young as six get up for the first time. That day-in, day-out teaching is what this course is built from.
Two riders, one wave. The log so far.
Emma Galusha, eleven years old and on the water since she could waterski, catches her first wave on Keuka Lake in upstate New York. She never really gets off it.
At nineteen, mid-pandemic, she enters her first competition. Meanwhile Ryan Deese is already years deep into pro competition — building toward eight straight seasons at the top of men's skim.
Emma turns pro and finishes her rookie season ranked 5th in the world. Kanuk Board Co gives her a signature pro-model board; Ryan rides his own — the Deese Mode Carbon Pro.
Ryan finishes #2 overall in the WWA Nautique Surf Series pro men's skim. Emma climbs to #3 in the world in pro women's skim.
Partners on and off the water, they coach full-time — running lessons and charters on Lake Tarpon, Florida, and summer kids' camps back on the Finger Lakes where it all started. This course is that coaching, filmed for you.
What you get
A step-by-step video course
Ten lessons that take you from your first getup to riding ropeless — and landing your first 360 — in the exact order the coaches teach on the water.
Personal coach feedback
On the Premium tier you film your own riding, send it in, and get a personal breakdown from a world-ranked pro. The one thing no free clip can give you.
Learn on your own boat
Everything is built to run behind your own boat, on your own lake, whenever the water's good — for you, your family, and your kids.
Why Elevate was born.
Almost nobody learns to wakesurf from a professional. You buy the boat, hand a beginner the rope, and everyone teaches everyone else from half-remembered YouTube clips that all contradict each other. People plateau — not because they can't ride, but because nobody ever showed them the right order.
Emma and Ryan spend their summers fixing exactly that on the water, one rider at a time. Elevate exists to bottle that coaching: the same progression, the same fixes, the same drills — filmed properly so anyone with a boat can follow it.
If you've never been coached by a professional wakesurfer, this is the fastest way to change that.
Why learn online
Learn on your schedule
Watch before the season, on the ramp, or between sets. The lesson waits for you.
A reference you keep
Rewatch any lesson, any season, for life — including every future update.
A fraction of on-water lessons
One-on-one coaching runs $100–150 an hour. This is the same method, once, for life.
The same progression, filmed properly
Slow-mo breakdowns, on-water and dry-land demos, and the mistakes to avoid — clearer than any single session.
The trophy cabinet.
The receipts behind the coaching — every line of it earned on the water.
Emma Galusha
#3 in the world
Pro women's skim division
Top-5 rookie season
Turned pro 2023 — ranked 5th globally in year one
Signature pro model
The “Emma Galusha Pro” by Kanuk Board Co
Qualified yoga teacher
Leads the course's mobility & injury-prevention training
Ryan Deese
#2 WWA Nautique Surf Series
2025 overall, pro men's skim
8 years on the pro tour
Competing at the top of pro wakesurfing
Signature pro model
The “Deese Mode Carbon Pro” skim board
Head coach, WakeSurf Florida
Year-round lessons, charters and kids' camps
Riding this week, on Instagram.
The coaches post real sessions, drills and comp runs — the same riding you'll learn in the course.
@emmagsurfsEmma Galusha
@deese_modeRyan Deese
