Is cable the future of wakeboarding?

Read this article and see how you feel. I thought its great. I love riding cable and I hope that its more accepted soon cause its defiantly going to help the sport.

http://www.grindtv.com/blog/3772/is-cable-the-future-of-wakeboarding3f/

I hope they start putting cables everywhere. It would really help the sport, and i really enjoy the cable!

meh...i always liked how under the radar wakeboarding was compared to other "action sports"

I hope they start putting them everywhere too. They should put wakeboarding in the x games too!

some of pros I talked to said its started to head that way. It wont completely replace boats but it helps the sport grow for the guys that can't afford a boat.

Ive believed for a while that cable is the future. Ill probably get slammed here but I really think cable is going to be the mainstay of our sport while boat becomes more of a niche eventually. Cable is just more accessible, and as the sport grows and more cables pop up, as we can see already in the states it will get more and more coverage. A cable in or at least nearby every major city would be amazing and explode the amount of riders into the wakeboarding. I think Germany has about 70 or 80 cables alone which is crazy if you compare it to the US which until recently only had 3 or 4 I think, with like what about 10 new ones finished or finishing soon?

I love boat also, dont get me wrong, I learned on boat. But cable is amazing fun and only a good thing for the sport.

Never rode cable, but I wish they were everywhere. I'd be all over it.

Logically it makes sense... but I doubt you'll see this transition for years. Very few people with adequate capital to start a cable park are actually willing to do so. Until an actual corp/company sees the potential for profit, you can bet that the boat will continue to be the mainstay of our sport.

My $0.02

No Doubt about it Cable is the future of our sport.

I wish there were cables in az

Cables will never be the future because of states like California who are so against cable parks and the fun they could bring to the community. SCREW PEOPLE WHO LIVE AT SANTEE LAKES, the cable would be the best thing to happen to SD in 15 years

Its not about people in Cali being against fun, its more the fear the ins. companies have of people looking to blame someone else for injury rather than themselves. Honestly the whole blame someone else has become more of an American trend

Globally cable will be the future of the sport. It wont take the place of boat but it will reach way more people. Its already bigger than boat in europe.

I think the future is the Winch.

every sport's popularity depends on one thing,the number of requirements,i mean look at skatebording (which in this day and age you need practically nothing more than the board itself)vs something like surfing(where you need the waves, the board,the maintenece,so you see how the less you need the easier and faster a sport will increase in popularity,,so for behind the boat wakeboarding you need somebody with a boat,the gas,the rope and board setups,and somebody to drive,but with cable all you really need is some cash for the time,your setup and a ride to the park,and for whinching you need even less it's just up front cost,after that all you need is the winch,the gas,your setup,and a body of water,so i think if cable and whinching suddenly explode yeah the boat maybe taking a back seat,but that will require time andalot of money,so i think for now the boat will remain the biggest wakeboarding instrument.

i think theres alot more people with boats and jetskis than cable parks to use, so i dont think cable parks will be more popular than wakeboarding behind boats anytime soon

unless the cable is V8 powered and I can smell the exhaust fumes then I guess it will never replace a boat IMO.

how can they call it wakeboarding when there is no wake?

the fact of the matter is that if you're riding behind a cable, winch, or a boat its still
wakeboarding. Do you really think they should call it something different?

I think cables will start catching on, and will eventually become very if not more popular than boats. But it will never replace being behind a boat and I still see wakeboarding behind a boat growing aswell.

The wakeboarding industry is in trouble. Every industry is in trouble at the moment. Board sales need to rise and so does everything else. More cables in the US will promote board sales and extras. Most of the cables here in the US have yet to really tap into the possibilities of cable. Compared to some of the european cables and CWC there really isnt a cable that compares here in the US.

If everyones local cable park had the same quality as parks like CWC I think alot more people would be hooked.

I wakeboard and I havent rode behind a boat for probally a year. I can ride behind a 230 any day but I much rather go shred rails. The system 2.0 is the funnest thing Ive ever done on a wakeboard. Rails and cable setups are the future. Wake Lab is a look into the future.

Time will only tell. People will always ride boat but to promote the sport getting people on cables that might never buy a board because they dont have access to boat is key for the sport.

I do enjoy wakeboarding but to me not being a advanced/core/ rider and older than most wakeboarders the trip out on the boat with friends and family is 75% of the trip the water sports are just filler/fun to me.I have not ridden a cable yet.It does look like fun and i will try it but it will NEVER replace my boat and the good times we have on it.

I call bull on the injury risk even out here in Cali. There's skate parks all over amd more coming. If you can get away with a skate park, why not a cable park? More to it than that. How much sales tax would say, three cable parks bring in? We could use it.

Big things gonna be happening on the cable here in the US next year from what I have heard.Good!!
The womens boat tour is about done anyway.

Unfortunate,but true.

There was a cable here in Cali in the 80's at oakwood lake resort. Torn down and shipped to the land of oz after about 5 years of no profit. I would love to see more cables pop up till then we'll just keep boating

Both Cable parks and Boats are prohibitive in some way. Boats are expensive. Cables are a pain for permitting, space, and cost. In order for there to be a revolution in our sport, there needs to be an accessible, inexpensive, reliable option available to people.

Winches are closing the gap... They're making wakeboarding available to a wider audience. The Sesitec System 2.0 is a great step toward small-scale cable-park style environments as well...

There are 52 cable parks in Germany. If they can do it there,they can do it here.

I agree with you chris. But they need to find a way to make it a little more cost efficient to open a park.

there are these two supporting groups for cable systems and the like

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=75825708190#/group.php?gid=82470323968&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=75825708190#/group.php?gid=75825708190

Cable is definitely going to play a huge part in the future of Wakeboarding, and the intelligent companies in the industry are well aware of it. Hyperlite throwing it's full support behind riders like Nick Davies is a perfect example of it.

Along with the 2.0 and winches, wakeboarding is branching off from simply boat riding these days. That said, boat will probably always be no. 1 for me, but it's an exciting time to see where the sport is heading.

"the fact of the matter is that if you're riding behind a cable, winch, or a boat its still
wakeboarding"
so, i could take my surfboard to the cable park and "surf", i don't think so, thats not surfing, and you need a wake to wakeboard.

I think cable has a strong strong future...

nothing will ever replace the boat, but cables at least can bring wakeboarding to the masses... and that is what the sport needs to grow into something where everyone involved can make a good living.

It sucks that these days some of the best riders in the world are stuck working at Denny's every night because wakeboarding just isn't paying out like crazy.

Reguardless, cables will be a huge part of wakeboarding (System 2.0 is an amazing product)

.... and wakeboarding is wakeboarding. Its called a wakboard because as you go through the water, it makes a wake....I know, I know, don't get on my case, but it will shut Joeshmoe up.

David W.... as a late birthday present to all of us, from you.... want to ban this guy?

I think cables in the U.S. will continue to grow and progress the sport, but I don't see boat riding going anywhere.

My main reason for this is that although cable riding is great for the individual rider, it is not as nearly family friendly as boating. I think that boating is largely responsible for the growth of our sport because it is easily accessible to the family. A small family can load up the boat and spend the day together. Dad can ski, little ones tube, teens and older can wakeboard, mom can surf, etc. I think that boating will continue, along with cables to grow the sport.

Chris very true, big changes coming.

winching, and even cable sometimes, are not the best place to first learn how to wakeboard.

and yes joe, you would be riding a surfboard at the cable, so you'd be surfing at the cable

cable is the future of wakeboarding! it's just not right now.

I live in Michigan and ride the boat, but come on the cable is an awsome tool.

Mike I disagree. We have BBQ's, etc at our cable park and it's always as much as the boat if not more fun and it's still a family environment (there are plenty of families that spend time out there wakeboarding (or cableboarding, whatever).

Im really stoked my article and question created such a debate. Its good to get guys thinking and voicing thier opinions thanks alot

Definitely. There are so much reasons for that:

- Big time cheaper
- No maintenance of anything, just strap your board and go. More time to wakeboard.
- Near you place. I live 30 mins away from the park. Can be built near a big city. Can ride after work. Can ride before work. You have 4 hours - you go ride.
- You keep your equipment at the park. No need to carry around boards, wetsuits...
- Better obstacles.
- Bigger air-s.
- Softer wipeouts.
- More friends. The whole local community is at the cablepark. Parties, beer, even watching the latest wake movie on a big screen with all your wake buddies.
- Many many girls
- You can stay over nigh in the bungalows
- You can get drunk and get back by the public transport

Less money, more riding. Leave the boats to boaters.

Best of all you can go by yourself.

going to the cable and shredding on ur time is also amazing

Cable is coming! there are already sites like http://www.cablewakeboard.com that are built to promote cable wakeboarding specifically. While boat will always be a huge part of the sport (as it should be) but cable will help grow the sport. There is currently 10 operating cables in the US, it won't be long before more beginners are learning on a cable rather than a boat! The WWA series last year had more prize $ for cable than boat, that should tell you something.

A-dub, have you ever surfed? no one surfs at a cable park, if anything they would call it wakeskating and why do they call it wakeskating when there is no wake?
Nick, you can take your wakeboard down a ski slope, its not wakeboarding.
cable parks are made for skiers and kneeboarders(why are their handles so small) they are not wakeboarding handles, they are skiing/kneeboarding handles.

jo, what is your point?? Cable is going to get big.Your pedantic arguments are not going to change that. The topic of the thread is the future of wakeboarding and the cable. You are off on some silly tangent about who knows what...........

Is cable the future of wakeboarding?
No

Cool.End of thread. Settled by the expert.

Cable is cool but its never going to replace boat. Both can flourish together, this isn't a winner and looser situation.

System 2.0 = Wakeboard handle

How many people can just go wakeboard on a boat (as a percentage of the U.S) ???? Very few.

You need water - lake/river/intracoastal - that takes out a lot of people

You also need the boat - with that comes a lakehouse/towe vechicle, insurance, friends to come with, gas, etc etc

These two things alone make wakeboarding expensive and hard to do....

Cable brings the great sport to the masses.... clearly the future. If you cannot see that you are just stupid....


Lets look at a place like LA. ~4 million people, so that puts about 2.5 million in the "wakeboard age" range.

Of that many people, how many can actually get to a lake/river/delta with a boat and ride? 1,000.... maybe more, but doubtful.
I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say 1500... thats .0006 of the population.

You are telling me if LA had a cable park or two that somehow .06% of the population would show up.

NO WAY.
Clearly with gas the way it is, and lakes water levels slowly dropping year after year pretty soon cable will be the only thing left.

The point of the arguement isnt cable canceling out boat. But only cable opening the door to soooo many more people and allowing them to ride everyday if they want. Cable in the future could be more then 75% of the sport. That 75% of people arnt the pro guys o r the avid guys who ride all the time. These are the people who might ride 3 or 4 times a month at thier local cable park.

Having a thriving sport involves more then just having a bunch of really active people but you have to have a price market. People who buy the lower end items. Selling a 100,000 beginner boards is going to help the sport alot more then selling 10,000 advanced boards.

Anyone think about how many boards you are going to go through riding cable? Think the board companies aren't getting wise to that?

Cable is hugely popular in Europe. Because of cost. I do not want to see cable replace boat. I think that can co-exist.But the more cable parks you build, the more popular boarding will become. Why? Because it is affordable.

Boating is really costly. Great,but expensive.

jo shmoe whats up with the anti cable vibe? Just curious, normally that attitude stems from riders who have never ridden cable, or only ridden it once and written it off after finding it too difficult compared to what they are used to.

Until very recently most of the pro boat riders would have turned their nose up at cable, but now after the advent of system 2.0, wakelab and the rise of cable in the US you can really see the attitude shift and the respect they give cable this year.

Its really a bit childish to say that its not wakeboarding just because the towing device is different. How limiting is that school of thought? The most interesting thing to happen to wakeboarding, and what will ensure its future is the rise of winching and cable. The ability to innovate and expand the wakeboarding experience. Without that it would have been doomed to remain a niche sport that would eventually stagnate, how many more 180's can you add to a spin or an invert?

Cable very well may be the future of wakeboarding, but it will be a localized phenomenon only. California is the largest watersports market in the world, and we have exactly zero cable parks. As far as I know, we're not particularly close to getting one either. California is run for the most part by idiots who will probably not let very many cable parks be built due to environmental concerns, endangered species etc. etc. yada yada yada.
Who in their right mind trying to make a profit in business would want to beat their head against the wall trying to get a cable park built with all of the hoops that the state and local governments make you jump through? Now if you can partner with a city, so that the city actually wants a park, I think a lot of the roadblocks can go away pretty easily.

OMG! Theres no wake! It's not wakeboarding!

When Jo Shmoe hits rails, he goes railboarding.

"Cable brings the great sport to the masses.... clearly the future. If you cannot see that you are just stupid...."
This coming from a guy that lives in wisconsin(how many cables in wisconsin?) clearly the future, don't hold your breadth.
mark, why the little ski handles for cables?
i never said riding the cables is not wakeboarding.
IF you are going to buy a wakeboarding boat, then you are going to buy a boat that puts out the biggest wake possible, you are not going to buy a jet boat with a fancy wakeboard tower, if you bought a jetboat, i would say "where is the wake?" so the cable parks are a substitute for poorly performing wakeboard boat(no wake)i don't know too many people that ride behind a boat that has no wake. so, cableboarding is wakeboarding. it is like riding behind a jet boat whith a fancy tower on it with no wake(better than nothing).
i live in northern ohio and the chances of a cable park being built here are slim to non. its also interesting that wakeboarders will pay $20 for one hour on the cable park, but find it hard to give up ten bucks for gas after riding four hours behind a boat with a wake.

Here in the Netherlands there are around 15-20 cable parks. I've 2 cable parks in my surrounding clockwise and anti clockwise within 20minutes drive.

Will cable riding the future? No, but it is a great addition.
All the riders are much more accesible at the cable parks, then on the boats. A lot more action is being seen. I think I know more then 10 riders in my surrounding which can do inverts like double S-bends, whirly birds, toe-side raleys. There is a lot of action on the cable and you just can keep on going for hours and hours (some people can, I'm already tired after 10minutes and need a (short) run to the bar ;-) .

Do not mistaken, I love to ride behind our boat. That is my #1 focus on wakeboarding. But I ride 2 times in the week behind the boat and during weekends some nice family/friends days with the boat. These moments are priceless. For the rest I'll wakeboard behind the cable because it is much more accesible.
The learning curve is much faster behind the cable then behind the boat (more time). When I leave home to wakeboard for 2 hours, I actually wakeboard a full hour with the cable and with the boat I hope to get a single set of 20 minutes.

Rails and other obstacles are much easier to learn behind the cable.

At last I want to say that cable riding is cheappppp. A full year of membership for the cable is e400,- . I can wakeboard from march until october as much as I want. For e400,- I just can fill up our SAN230 for 1.5 times. That is about 13-14 hours of running the boat, which equals in best case 4.5 hours of riding (3 persons in the boat). No cost of harbour, insurance, other boat costs come into account then.

I love the cable, and I really hope that more are built in the US in the near future (especially out west!).

jo schmoe is just in need of a little education. Perhaps he should take a short drive to this place: http://www.wakenation.com/.

i would say "where is the wake?" so the cable parks are a substitute for poorly performing wakeboard boat(no wake)i don't know too many people that ride behind a boat that has no wake. so, cableboarding is wakeboarding. it is like riding behind a jet boat whith a fancy tower on it with no wake(better than nothing).

This couldn't be further from the truth. Try throwing a raley or any kind of invert from the flats behind any boat. Now do it on the cable. Huge difference.

The cable has a unique set of dynamics that makes it completely different from riding behind a jet ski or boat with a small wake. You can get huge air with no wake. Once you dig in and hook your board it's like holding onto a rope attached to a rocket. The line yanks you out of the water with considerable force.

Why is it that you need huge handles to ride? And judging from your comment about riding the cable being the same as riding behind a boat with no wake, you clearly have never rode a cable before. Next time you take out your mad awesome boat, do a raley, s bend, or heck even a roll off the flat water with no wake. Let me know how that works out.

"Why is it that you need huge handles to ride?"
not huge handles, just regular wakeboard handle
heck, just change the name of this site to cableworld

The reason they have smaller and almost always wood handles is if the handle slingshots up in the cables that pull they will not mess up the pulleys at the corners.

I joined this board in 2005. I learned to wakeboard on a cable (TSR). Back then I would ask question about Cable and no one respond or I would get a "who cares, it's cable" type of attitude. The attitude has definitely changed over the years torwards cable.

I recently rode behind a boat for the first time since I learned a lot of tricks on the cable. While I was able to do most of tricks first try on the boat, I still thought cable was more fun. I also couldn't get nearly as high behind the boat as I can on the cable which was kind of a bummer...

i sure hope so!!! i'm lucky to find a 3rd on a Sat. morning & being from Iowa where there are not alot of lakes & windy conditions most of the time a riding conditions aren't the greatest.

Hey joe, a bigger handle covered in grip would make it nicer, but its not a prerquisite and it certainly doesnt hinder the riding potential of cable.

If my crew and I can throw 3's, 5's, 7's and even 9's with the small handles then I really dont think its a limitation. Hell, look at Nick Davies with his 10's and BS 9's.

Again, I think youre getting hung up on some inconsequential details. But its pretty clear you're not going to change your mind, thats cool, its your opinion after all.

I would only suggest at some point if you get the chance, take a trip to a cable park and spend at least a week there if you can. If you dont like it after that fair enough, but at least you'll have a more balanced view, and perhaps understand why some of us love it so much. Peace!

word!!!

cable parks are awesome, but why the crappy little wood handles?

insurance, durability, safety

I am going to make two categories of wakeboarders. Those who got into the sport for the sport and those who started doing it because they were serious boaters. I feel like as long more cable parks are getting built they will take over for those who are not as big on boating as they are on wakeboarding. I boated many years before climbing on a board and although the cable IS fun nothing will replace the boat.

cable is cool, but I don't like how the handle is always so high....