Do you know about wakeboarding? It's been around a relatively few years now but is still little known to those who aren't truly avid water skiers. It offers the opportunity for multiple skiers to skim atop good skiing water at the same time without needing their own boat.
I was one of those who grew up without a boat and the opportunity to water ski much. Translation: I don't water ski well. But I had the opportunity to ski not long ago at Terminus Wake Park right up the road around Cartersville and found it to be a great way to experience the thrilling sensation of swiftly skimming a very forgiving surface that doesn't break your bones when you fall and hit it.
Here's how wakeboarding at a cable park works. A number of construction crane-like towers are set up strategically around the edge of a body of water, typically a man-made lake, and have a number of cables shooting from it dozens of feet above the water. Each has ski ropes attached to multiple carriers that swing around the system. Wakeboarders standing ready at a starting "dock" on the lake catch (with assistance) a rope handle as it comes their way and are gently pulled out into the water.
The self-regulating system maintains an optimal speed no matter how many skiers are on the cables at any time. And if – as in my case – you fall, you're never far from the shore and a short walk back to the dock to start again.
For those water skiing hotshots out there, a cable park offers cables and perhaps an entirely separate lake with various "obstacles" of the sort used in skate parks and snowboarding parks. Wake parks provide ramps, rails and transfer boxes, which are essentially a combination of the other two elements, for those who can handle water skiing acrobatics.
Get the picture? If it's all new to you, go online to some of the wakeboarding parks I've outlined below and check out their photos and videos. There are also plenty of videos to be found at YouTube.
Several things to keep in mind as you're looking over the different parks in the South. Most have similar operations with similar equipment but some are considerably bigger than others and some have considerably more sophisticated systems than others. Some parks offer one-hour experiences, others start at half-day duration, and most offer full-day tickets. Some are open only a few days a week, some most days of the week. Some, limited daytime hours, others go into the evening.
Kneeboarding and wakeskating are similar watersports that utilize slightly different boards that are ridden in a somewhat different manner. Some wake parks may be better than others for those particular disciplines.
The South is, of course, a great region for any kind of watersport and there are some good wakeboarding cable parks ranging from Texas to the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast, as noted by Shannon Starling, president of World Wakeboard Association (WWA).
"When you live and breathe watersports, the South has all of the needed aspects – the accessibly of great freshwater lakes and streams, affordable lakefront living and a lot of great people to ride with. There are great spots all over the world and any rider should try to ride them all. However, the South has the perfect climate for year-round riding. What more could any enthusiast ask for?"
WWA is a 27-year-old wakeboard rider-formed organization that sanctions major wakeboarding events in 27 countries.
Starling pointed to product development geared toward all ability levels, more user-friendly boats, and the increase in two-tower parks and full-size wake parks as elements that have contributed most to the recreation's rapid rise in popularity. "Most of all, it's about the lifestyle we all want to live," Starling said.
Below are some of the best in the Atlantic Coast states, including the Peach State.
Terminus Wake Park
The closest major wakeboarding park to Atlanta, Cartersville's man-made Terminus Wake Park is one of the biggest and most elaborate in the South. The Terminus system has two full state-of-the-art six-station cable systems, whereas many parks have only one of this size. It has separate lakes for beginners, which gets you used to simply skiing on the cable system; one for intermediate-level wakeboarders, which helps beginners get a feel for circling the full system and have the opportunity to try out a few of the parks smaller obstacle features; and the lake for advanced "shredders" who can enjoy the challenge and sheer excitement of braving the wake park's most fearsome features. Terminus offers a distinctive series of park features and sliders, many of which are unavailable anywhere else in the country.
Terminus Wake Park, 171 LakePoint Parkway, Cartersville, Ga., 470-315-0155, http://terminuswakepark.com
Tucker Lake is about five-and-a-half hours by car not far from Raleigh, N.C., and home to Hexagon Wake Park, which bills itself as "America's largest cablepark." It's variously called Hexagon Wake Park and Hexagon Cable Park. Tucker Lake is a 30-acre spring-fed lake with white sand beaches that has two water slides, a rope swing, picnic areas and other recreational opportunities besides wakeboarding, and the Wake Park does not include the opportunity to enjoy the beaches and other elements of the lake. However, if you choose to purchase tickets for the overall lake experience, Hexagon Wake Park will take $10 off your wakeboarding run, according to a company representative.
Hexagon Wake Park, 3025 Allens Crossroads Road, Benson N.C., 1-877-WAKEPARK, www.hexagoncablepark.com
If you're headed to the Sunshine State for a little vaca, there are two excellent wakeboarding parks on the Gulf Coast side of the state. About six hours away by car just outside Tampa, McCormick's Cable Park has been in operation since 2008 as a newer feature of the McCormick's Ski School, a family owned and operated enterprise established in 1954. McCormick's has a boat lake and a main cable lake, each one long rectangular lakes, nearly bisected by a long narrow strip of earthen barrier. The park uses a two-tower cable system and features three kickers, four rails and two transfer boxes.
McCormick's Cable Park, 2020 Mccormick Lakes Way, Seffner, Fla., 831-681- 4441, http://skimccormick.com/?page_id=62
A couple more hours south, in North Fort Meyers, Revolution Cable Watersports sits on 20 acres of wetlands with plenty of trees and native vegetation that also includes a 3/4 mile nature trail. Revolution uses a five-tower cable system that allows for seven riders at a time, and runs about 20 miles an hour, a setup that is comfortable for not only wakeboard, but also kneeboard, ski or wakeskate. Advanced riders can take advantage of various ramps and rails.
This cable park is very popular not only with wakeboarders but also wakeskaters.
Revolution Cable Watersports, 17590 East St., North Fort Myers, Fla., 239-656-3000, www.revolutioncable.com
About three hours down I-75 south, almost to Florida, Valdosta Wake Compound offers a less refined but no less exhilarating wakeboarding experience in some of Lowndes County's most swampy terrain. The wakeboarding ramps and other features here are ingeniously devised out of inexpensive materials and positioned strategically in the swampy terrain. Don't expect every obstacle here to be precisely engineered high-density polyethylene ramps and rails and such but the materials appear on videos to serve their purpose just fine. One cable is dedicated to beginners and intermediate-level wakeboarders, the other to advanced wakeboarders
Valdosta Wake Compound, 2314 Old Clyattville Road, Valdosta, 229-375-3060, www.valdostawakecompound.com
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