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PTR: Wake Nation Grand Opening


BoddaH1994
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After many months of construction, Wake Nation - the Midwest's only cable wakeboarding park is finally open to the public! Having eagerly followed this project ever since Bill Mefford spoke about it at ACE's Winter SOAR event in February I just had to take the first opportunity I could to come and check it out for myself!

I must admit that this wasn't my first time there. I had stopped by in March and met Nick Binkley, one of the managers, who gave me a brief tour of the construction site which at the time was just beginning to take shape. It was at that time that he told me that the park would be open May through October. I honestly thought he was kidding. October? In this area it gets COLD some days in October! He told me he that some people are very serious about the sport and would be willing to challenge the course no matter what the weather conditions. Today, being the first week of May, it was less than 60 degrees out -- jacket weather -- and boy was he right!

I was a little apprehensions about making the long drive up there from Kentucky with the fear that no one would be there, but just as Nick had speculated, there were a handful of die-hard wakeboarders that were eagerly hitting their 9 acre lake as if it were a 90 degree day in July.

Let me start with the basics. Cable wakeboarding is a lot like regular wakeboarding, except there's no boat! Each thrill seeker is towed around the circular lake using a complicated German-manufactured cabling system that pulls riders along the coarse from above.

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Wake Nation utilizes a cable system that is not unlike a ski lift. Many would argue that cable wakeboarding is actually easier for beginners than regular wakeboarding since you launch from a dock rather than attempting to maintain a standing position on the water when towed from a boat.

I can honestly attest that spending about an hour and a half at Wake Nation was an incredible experience... and I didn't even touch the water! Simply watching the array of beginners to experts either challenge the course and put on a great show or challenge the course and fail miserably is hours of entertainment in itself.

Some individuals were able to put on a great show for the "audience" of about three dozen that watched from the dock, patio or even the parking lot.

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While others hit the lake only to get a hard lesson in humility...

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I must admit that I'm not versed enough in wakeboarding to really tell you how challenging the lake is, but from what it seemed there were three major obstacles installed.

This one was wakeboarding's response to a skateboarder's grinding rail where true balance is really tested...

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Another was one that was actually installed -- or at least moved to its current location -- while I was there. This one was kind of a hybrid of a ramp and a rail. They were able to do some incredible jumps off of it.

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And there was a good 'ol fashion big jump too!

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There was clearly a challenge to hit the big jumps and some people would stop it nothing to stay on their board when landing their tricks.

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One thing that I can assure you is that Wake Nation definitely made me rethink my definition of "air time."

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Inside the gift shop you can get Wake Nation t-shirts as well as other memorabilia.

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Plus an assortment of wakeboards for the pickin'

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Wake Nation is definitely worth checking out... not just for the sick jumps, or the awesome tricks or the totally new and innovative experience... check it out because you can check it out for FREE! Visit Wake Nation's web site for details about how you can try Wake Nation for FREE!!

I spoke with some of the patrons at Wake Nation and they were excited about KIC's interest in their new sport. I suspect that KICentral members would be shown respect by the die-hards.

Information on Wake Nation is as follows:

Wake Nation - Located in Joyce Park

201 Joe Nuxhall Way

Fairfield, Ohio 45014

Park Open Daily 10:00am - Dark

Cable passes are available in the following increments:

One Hour - $20.00

Two Hour - $25.00

Four Hour - $30.00

All Day - $35.00

All of the equipment you need is available for rent. All you need is a bathing suit. Concessions are available too. If you're not into this extreme sport feel free to stop by and hang out on the patio and watch this daily spectacle.

www.wakenation.com

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Great PTR, Ryan. You're making me want to go there even more than I already do. Yesterday when Kat and I were heading down to KI, I brought up that it was Wake Nation's opening day. She and I were talking about how we both want to go.. it looks like a lot of fun.

I've never touched a board in my life, but I'm definitely willing to try that.. in fact, aside from swimming and some fairly advanced board diving, I've never done any real water sports. But I'm always up for a new experience.

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Great PTR, Ryan. You're making me want to go there even more than I already do. Yesterday when Kat and I were heading down to KI, I brought up that it was Wake Nation's opening day. She and I were talking about how we both want to go.. it looks like a lot of fun.

I've never touched a board in my life, but I'm definitely willing to try that.. in fact, aside from swimming and some fairly advanced board diving, I've never done any real water sports. But I'm always up for a new experience.

I think it'd be cool to have an unofficial KIC meet up there.

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