Cable Park near Charlotte, NC

Sorry if you got excited about the title haha, but I know the owner of a private ski lake northeast of charlotte, nc... i was wondering what you guys would think business would be like in that area for a cable park? my uncle has been wanting to invest in some sort of business, my dad and my brother are both great carpenters, and i'm a mechanical engineer (or will be in june) and I think we could build a park (with some help of course from actual contractors). But the market for such a business is the main concern. so what do you guys think? anyone from that area?

Have you heard about the East Coast Wake Park? You should check it out...Here is some more information for ya.. http://www.eastcoastwake.blogspot.com/

CH

i want a job at a cable! so let me know where i need to move to an i will build it an work there!!

on topic.. yes i think a cable in or around charlotte would be huge! i mean you can really ride all year round here so there wouldnt be much down time.. an i do think there is enough wakeboarders around to keep it busy... i for one would buy a season pass if there was a cable like OWC here....

BUILD IT PLEASE!!!!

Chris - We are stoked. I sent you an email.

yes, unemployed professional civil engineer here. I live south of Charlotte and would love to lend any help that you guys could need. I realize it's a long shot, but i seriously think a cable would do well in the area. Good luck Rob.

One of the first cable parks in the US was in NC. It failed, but was under poor management. It sat there unused for years and was recently dismanteled and if I'm not mistaken is the one Ft. Meyers is now using.

^correct.

yes but that was way back when.... wakeboardin has come a long way since then... cant not campare that one to one nowadays

^^true, but the reason it failed is because of poor management. They didn't even have a sign for the park, the guy who ran it opened it when he wanted to, etc.

Trivia- Mark Kenney used to ride at that cable. The tribute video where he was riding cable was at that park.

Darin Shapiro and Parks used to also ride that park. I think a park in NC would do well. I would definitely expect it to do better than a park in Cinci, Kansas City, or Oklahoma and to my knowledge, the cinci and kansas city park are doing fine. The most expensive part of these cables is digging a lake and/or buying a lake and if you already have that then you are just paying for the cable. The number I have always heard is $1 million for a new cable system, but again, you can always do something like Ft Myers getting a used system. If you put in top of the line obstacles like McCormicks did, people will come. The rails at McCormicks are pretty much as good as the projects except it doesn't cost $20 for a 20 minute jet ski pull lol. If you don't build good obstacles, it will fail.

The park at Ft. Bragg failed because it was run by the Army and they never did any kind of marketing whatsoever, plus they had a ton of strict regulations that prevented them from putting any kind of rail or obstacle in there. I always got the impression that it was originally there more than less for the benefit of the soldiers who were stationed there and not as much for the general public. They eventually got one of the early rainbows from the tour, but it was too little too late. I want to say that Kai, the guy who originally ran the park, went on to run OWC when it first opened, if I'm not mistaken. He left right around the time that cable parks actually became somewhat relevant to wakeboarding on a larger scale and although a local shop came in and tried to salvage the park, it just kind of died.

I think people seriously downplay how expensive it is to successfully run a cable park and it kind of makes me laugh every time someone asks "why isn't a cable park near my house???" It seems that the majority of people are only talking about the costs to buy the land and the actual cable; not that many people have touched on the marketing budget, the astronomical insurance costs, payroll, not to mention all the other stuff that you probably need to have at a cable park like concessions and pro shop inventory.

I think it will get better with time, but I still feel like the number of areas that will really successfully support a cable park are few and far between. Case in point, even tough it's the largest population in the state, I think a Charlotte park would last for maybe a summer. There are a bunch of riders here and a bunch of people that would be really stoked on it, but getting wakeboarders to go to a cable park is like bringing sand to the beach. You're going to have to figure out how to get everyone else there in order to keep it going. I've always thought that the only place a cable park would work around here is Myrtle Beach, simply because of the sheer number of tourists that come through every year. But who knows...I could be totally wrong...

I had thought about that too... But, the costs involved would probably be huge... And who really knows what the insurance would be... You would have to probably go and talk to the people that run them in Florida and see what is really involved, and that is if they would divulge their true costs.

That being said though, you could get people into the sport that might not have the means to go get a boat and what not. You could have birthday parties etc.

Good luck, I would make the trip up from Columbia from time to time.

I would be interested in a cable in or near charlotte..that would be about a 45 minute drive for me.

Also noting the myrtle beach idea. I have been there several times and near the airport is that new shopping center area (Like Mayfair in Wilmington) and it has some huge ponds that I am sure would be big enough to set up a cable park.

Check out the East Coast Wake Park. Doesnt have a cable YET, but it is North Carolina's only rail park.

www.eastcoastwake.blogspot.com

High risk liability insurance is very expensive but if you shop around, its not hard to get. Definitely stay tuned for whats in store at The East Coast Wake Park. A full cable system is what we are working towards but definitely isn't just going to pop up this summer. However, a 2.0 is way more realistic and is in store for us at the park very soon. We have already have a huge variety of rails in our SeaDoo lake, and an awesome setup in our winch park including a 6 and 1/2ft stair gap with hubbas thats in the works as we speak. But also have lists after lists of new rails to build and 2 other lakes to build in. Its going to be a great summer and we are excited about it getting warm. Hope you guys will come check us out.... http://www.eastcoastwake.ning.com

CH

wakeparkproject.com

Josh! what's up bro? long time no talk...hope things are going good in FL. I'm sure you're still killin it on the cables

Big Air Ben, all good buddy, a lil chilly in SWFL now but hopefully it won't last long. Good to hear about new cable ideas and talk. Hope all is well at TSR, oo and cablewakeboard.com

yeah the wakeparkproject.com is one of my main sources for info on all this. i'm trying to get together a business plan, hard to find time when finishing your senior year for mechanical engineering haha. thanks for all the considerations guys, if this thing is to be successful, i want all the info i can get on everything.

to note some points, yes i've thought about insurance, marketing, having a shop... sponsorships would be huge and really helpful for the shop. i also wouldnt mind having my own clothing line sold in the store haha.

look into cablewakeparks.com as well. have built most full size cables in the US! proven and, great group of guys, including current park owners!