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This is a thread about cable parks. We need a thread about cable parks, because no one knows that they exist. Let's get to the meat of the matter, what is a cable park?  It's heaven. What do you do at a cable park?  Heavenly things. Video will help. Feel free to just randomly click a spot in the middle of this video and enjoy yourself. The opening voiceover has a pretty good introduction, but I don't expect you to have to attention span for something like that just yet. http://vimeo.com/59545808 So what, do I need to grow out my hair and hit a tanning salon and use words like dude for this? Nope. Hell, you can be 4 if you want.  Ok, so it's wakeboarding but without a wake, that sounds pretty terrible. Ok, so you didn't have time for the video, that's cool, we're all busy. Here's a SHORT tutorial video(sorry for the music) of a 'loaded air trick.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNyjTPBbx-U Ok, you have my interest but I don't have a board, a life jacket, a helmet, or a friend that will leave the basement. All are available for rent of for free at the park. Just show up with some clothes you don't mind getting wet. Even a friend will be provided. Remember, pretty much no one knows about these places. They are tailored to knew people with 0 experience. Want a private lesson? Don't bother. They will start you out on what's called a 2.0. A small cable that just runs down a line and back... You will be on your own with the operator, and the only other people around will be other's learning. Great. Except I'm a huge manbaby and will be embarrassed following in the water while I'm trying to learn Jesus. Guys are the worst about this. Everyone falls. Pro riders fall off the starting dock daily. Sure, their falls are probably cooler than yours because they weren't being a manbaby but whatever, stay home and curl something. I've wakeboarded behind a boat, how similar is this? You definitely have a head start. Actually, if you have done any board sport(skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing) you are going to feel at home. If you already love hitting rails\obstacles on a snowboard you are going to start looking forward to the summer the same way you look forward to first snow. Never touched a board of any type? Me either. I was still fine. Fine, fine. What's this sort of thing gonna set me back? Trying it? Plan your trip. Call ahead and ask about first timer specials. As long as you aren't trying to hit them up on a Saturday mid-summer, they want you out there learning. $20 bucks for a pass and all equipment is normal for that sort of thing. Gonna start hitting it up regularly? You're looking at $25 for 2 hours, $35 for 4, $45 for a day pass. Rentals are gonna run you $15-$25. Gonna drop in 3-5 days a week, an annual pass is gonna run you 750-1200 and you'll want to buy your own equipment. Probably comparable to golf? Sold, where abouts can I find these mystical places that no one knows about? http://www.wakescout.com/directory/...k/north-america If you are in Texas or Florida, you're golden. California should have already blown up but being California they managed to gently caress it up of course. Don't get me started. Chances are, if you live near civilization and the water is decent at least 3 months out of the year, someone is trying to build a cable park near you. Hope I've inspired someone to try it out. I know it's early in the year and I really don't recommend you start as a beginner with the water as cold as it is right now, but try and give it a shot in that magic time around late April when school is still in session but the water has warmed up. It's really a very friendly atmosphere and you don't need anyone that knows what they are doing to accompany you, but if you are in middle\north TX area and want someone to hold your hand, PM me. Questions? Ask away!
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| # ? Feb 22, 2013 00:10 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 00:00 |
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Whoa, this is cool. I found one near me that looks pretty cool, only an hour away to boot!  http://wakenationcincinnati.com/
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| # ? Feb 22, 2013 03:47 |
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Tenchrono posted:Whoa, this is cool. One of the first in the states, and well done. Same company has one in Houston that isn't quite up to the same standards, but still good. Very beginner friendly, no rough turns.
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| # ? Feb 22, 2013 06:12 |
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Those videos are awesome and I live maybe 15 minutes away from this place. Their website doesn't have anything about pricing though, or really anything at all: http://www.theprojectspark.com. I might give them a call tomorrow to ask about pricing and hit them up on Saturday though. Is $20-30 an hour about the average? I have no experience with anything like this, aside from kneeboarding at a cable park when I was a teenager, so I'm assuming that an hour will be more than enough to tire me out. When they say an hour though, does that typically include waiting in line at the dock for your turn? Thanks for the thread by the way. Orlando can be pretty boring, so I'm stoked to give this a try.
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| # ? Feb 22, 2013 06:16 |
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I've been going to cable parks for 4-5 years now and they are seriously the best and cheapest way to get into wakeboarding. Boat riding is cool and all, but you simply don't get anywhere near as good a variety of obstacles (which is important for beginners too), and it's far more expensive than cable riding (£25 for 15mins on a boat, same prices for 2 hours on a cable). Cables can be extremely tricky for beginners though in comparison to boat riding since you start on a dock as opposed to the water, and the build up of tension in the rope on a boat will typically be a lot smoother and give you time to find your footing, whereas the cable will unforgivingly yank you off the dock. Once you're up though it's easy after that (until you get to the corner), but it is very technical so beginners tend to struggle at first. For UK riders, here is a list of the most popular cables in the UK (let me know if I missed any out, there has been a surge in recent years): JBSki (London) - http://www.jbski.com/ Liquid Leisure (London) - http://llski.com/ Box End Park (Bedford) - http://www.boxendpark.com/ (by far my favorite) Sheffield Cable Waterski (Sheffield) - http://www.sheffieldcablewaterski.com/ WMSki (Cirencester) - http://www.wmski.com/ Festival Wakeboard Park (Basildon) - http://www.festwake.com/ Wake MK (Milton Keynes) - http://www.wakemk.com/wakemk-cable/ There was another one in Middlesex (Princes Club) but they got closed down. They had a fatality a couple of years ago under a boat by an unlicenced driver and poo poo got real. That may or not be why it shut, but it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine it. If you're looking for a cable wakeboarding holiday, I would also highly recommend the following two places from experience: Hip_notics Cable Park (Antalya, Turkey) - http://www.hip-notics.com/ This place is absolutely amazing and the owner and staff are super friendly. It's also, in my personal opinion and drawing from friend's experiences, the best cable wakeboard park in the world, regardless of your ability. Thai Wake Park (Bangkok, Thailand) - http://www.thaiwakepark.com/ I went here last summer with a big group of friends and this cable is great, and worked superbly as a home-base for travelling in the region. The obstacles aren't however as well maintained as other wakeparks in the world, but you can still do a lot worse in East Asia. For UK students, if you think wakeboarding looks interesting then there is literally no better time to get in to it. Some cables will have ludicrous student discounts if you're with a club. Don't know if your university has a club? Find out! If all else fails, you can check the Uniwake website to find out what student clubs are in your area. Uniwake also runs tons of great student events and comps, so get involved! Trying to make some gains??? Apart from the swimming, wakeboarding is not cardio. It requires an incredible amount of balance and coordination, and gives you a lot of endurance strength. Doing it often enough will give you a super strong upper-body, hella strong legs (make sure to squat when you land or get used to your chronic knee pain), and you'll grow wings. I guarantee that you will feel the burn after just one session. OBAMA BIN LinkedIn fucked around with this message at Feb 22, 2013 around 15:31 |
| # ? Feb 22, 2013 14:16 |
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Paper Triangle posted:Those videos are awesome and I live maybe 15 minutes away from this place. Their website doesn't have anything about pricing though, or really anything at all: http://www.theprojectspark.com. I might give them a call tomorrow to ask about pricing and hit them up on Saturday though. Another great cable in Florida is McCormick's http://www.skimccormick.com/. I know somebody who went there not long ago and he thought the obstacles were great and the staff were friendly too.
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| # ? Feb 22, 2013 14:21 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 00:00 |
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Paper Triangle posted:Those videos are awesome and I live maybe 15 minutes away from this place. Their website doesn't have anything about pricing though, or really anything at all: http://www.theprojectspark.com. I might give them a call tomorrow to ask about pricing and hit them up on Saturday though. Your time does include 'line time.' Generally the shortest pass is 2 hours, and yes that will be more than enough as a beginner. Many of my friends ride daily and still don't go more than an hour. I'm not sure if the projects is strictly a public cable park. It may be more of a camp\pro playground, but definitely check it out. I'm just not sure if it's beginner friendly. OWC(orlando watersports complex) is friendly for sure, they have a GIANT beginner cable. I'll be dropping in there next week to check out their sweet sweet pool gap obstacle.
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| # ? Feb 22, 2013 18:18 |
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