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Boddah1994
01-27-2010, 07:16 PM
From the desk of the legendary Bill Mefford:

Wake Nation To Add A Second Lake
In 2010 For Kids And Beginners
Soon Anyone Age 5 Or Older Will Be Able To Wakeboard


(Cincinnati, OH) – It may be winter now, but they’re already thinking summer at Wake Nation…Following a highly successful inaugural year, Wake Nation Cincinnati will be expanding for the 2010 season.

Wake Nation, Ohio’s only cable wake park, announced today that it is adding a second body of water, called The Practice Pond, featuring an “easy start” cable system designed by Rixen of Germany especially for kids ages 5 and up, and wakeboarding beginners.

The half-acre Practice Pond will be located adjacent to Wake Nation’s 10-acre main lake where riders can wakeboard, water ski, kneeboard, and wakeskate WITHOUT A BOAT. On the park’s main lake, riders are pulled around at speeds of 18-20 miles per hour by a circulating cable system that runs 35 feet above the water.

The new Practice Pond is designed to give children and beginners a place to learn to ride a wakeboard at a slower speed than on the main lake. The Practice Pond will have a starting dock on each end of the pond, creating an easy “up and back” system to facilitate more “launch” repetitions and generate a faster learning curve. The new easy-start system is the first and only one of its kind in the USA.

“The Practice Pond will be a great addition to the entire Wake Nation experience,” states Wake Nation CEO Peter Kennedy. “Its main purpose is to teach kids and beginners how to properly get up on a wakeboard or water skis.”

On the Practice Pond, when a rider is preparing for a launch, the cable is not moving (as opposed to on the main lake where the cable is constantly moving at approximately 20 miles per hour.) When the rider is ready to start, a Wake Nation instructor will start the overhead cable system and the rider will be gently pulled onto The Practice Pond water at a relatively slow speed.

Holding onto a ski rope, riders will be pulled across the Practice Pond for approximately 250 feet. Wake Nation instructors will provide coaching and be able to instantly increase or decrease the speed of the ride (depending on a rider’s proficiency) to create the ideal learning environment.

At the end of each ride, the cable will stop and the rider will walk out of the lake and get into line at the other start dock for a return trip. Instructors will be on both start docks to provide free tips, pointers, and advice, and riders may also purchase more in-depth one-on-one lessons from Wake Nation instructors.

“We know many of our customers have never wakeboarded before,” says Kennedy, “so we’re always searching for ways to make the learning process faster and easier - and this new system is a great addition to our park.”

The Practice Pond will also allow the next generation of riders to experience wakeboarding for the first time. “Last year, we had some customers who wanted to bring their children out, but the kids were too young to ride the big cable,” said Kennedy. While the minimum recommended age to ride on the main lake is 10, anyone age 5 or older is welcome to ride on The Practice Pond.

Construction of The Practice Pond will take 2-3 months to complete, Kennedy added. It will be ready in time for Wake Nation’s 2010 season, beginning May 1.

Wake Nation, located in Fairfield’s Joyce Park, opened to rave reviews in May, 2009, as only the 7th cable wake park in the USA (others are located mostly in Florida and Texas.) The closest cable wake park to Wake Nation is more than 600 miles away.

In addition to The Practice Pond, Wake Nation will open its second season with new and improved jumps and obstacles on the main lake to challenge experienced riders. Wake Nation will be hosting a professional wakeboarding event next summer as well as several local tournaments.

At Wake Nation, both parking and admission are FREE. The park is a “pay as you play” facility with ride time starting at $25 for two hours. Private lessons, group discounts and parties are available. Season Passes are available now at a discounted price of $525 until April 1 when the price will increase to $550.

Wake Nation will re-open for daily operations on May 1, 2010 and run through October. Hours are 10 a.m. til dark.

For more information go to www.wakenation.com.

T-Bird
01-28-2010, 09:27 AM
Not surprised they are building another cable, but I am kind of surprised that is will only be a 250 foot run and then you have to stop.

swilson
01-28-2010, 05:33 PM
If I'm not mistaken that's just one configuration of the rixen little bro. It can loop around in an oval with a different setup (not sure if thats changable on the fly I would think it would be), and you can catch some wicked resistance for air tricks around those corners. :)

TduB
01-28-2010, 07:26 PM
dude....

not opening till may 1st?

I'll be on the lake in march... (hopefully). anyone got a boat i can buy? haha

07Malibu
01-28-2010, 10:51 PM
Hell..if it wasn't for the rain (and ice on the lake) I was half tempted to hit up Ceaser's last Sunday! Thank God for drysuits!!!!!

Boddah1994
01-29-2010, 12:56 AM
You've got to remember why they're doing this -- for the kids and the beginners. It's going to be an excellent tool to teach people how to ride. If more people can learn to ride, then they'll have more return visitors. Not to mention that the age to ride it is only 5, so more families can learn and ride together. Over all, it's a really good business decision to build this.

TduB
01-29-2010, 10:27 AM
beyond the business decision, i think its a great way to advance the sport and teach more people how to ride. sure, it'll bring more business in, and keep more business there. There's still the issue of what to do in the winter... cable's 35 feet high... superpipe is 22 ft high (and you already have a natural start, the bottom of the lake)
Coming winter 2010-2011: Pipe Nation?
I know.. i'm dreaming

Wake Nation
02-04-2010, 07:37 PM
The Practice Pond will feature the 1st portable Rixen 2 tower system in the US. It's called the Bro in the Box. Pretty sweet.

http://cablewakeboard.com/articles/post/rixen-bro-in-the-box/

T-Bird
02-05-2010, 11:14 AM
So is this very similar to a System 2.0? Are you going to set up sliders on the Bro in a Box? Where are you going to build the new lake? Are you going to build it where the driving range is or on a soccer field?

Wake Nation
02-07-2010, 02:48 AM
It's very similar to the 2.0. We are not planning on having sliders on the Practice Pond. We really look at it as the beginner cable. We plan to have all beginners start on the Practice Pond before they graduate to the Big Cable. This will ensure that all beginners have a successful wakeboarding experience they 1st time they come out. Hopefully that will make them want to come back for more. It will also reduce the line at the Big Cable, meaning more ride time for experienced riders.

Once in a while we'll add sliders to the Practice Pond for special events... like our WWA event this summer and "season pass holder day".

The Practice Pond will be located at the end of our driveway (south-west corner of our property. We wanted to fit it in our property, that's why it's 250 feet. We measured it out on the big cable and it seemed to be the perfect legnths for a beginner to get up and ride for a bit.

Pipe Nation is a killer idea. Call me to talk about your brother's snow makers.

See you this summer,

Pete

Wake Nation
02-07-2010, 03:04 AM
BTW, If anyone has any suggestions for the 2010 season, let us know. We always want feedback.

zoolew
02-08-2010, 07:09 PM
BTW, If anyone has any suggestions for the 2010 season, let us know. We always want feedback.

i had an idea for a feature. it would be like a small pond elevated out of the lake, like the ones you winch through. leading up to this pond would be a kicker or maybe a rail even. the pond could not have anything in it, or maybe a small slider of sorts. then at the end of the pond there would be a down kicker or even another rail, like a roller coaster or something that you could get some air off of. i dont think anyone has something like that in a cable park, atleast here in the US, so it could be wakenations signature thing. kind of like the giant roller coaster box at OWC.

Boddah1994
02-11-2010, 02:12 AM
So, was the length the determining factor in choosing the portable model?

Wake Nation
02-11-2010, 10:57 AM
It definitely helped the decision because we did not need big anchors to hold up the towers. When u need big anchors, that reduces the size of your lake. We also wanted something that can travel around the country.

swilson
02-25-2010, 10:31 AM
Pipe Nation, that would be sick!