It's not wakeboarding, it's wakesurfing. With a big enough wake it's pretty easy to do, although you start out using the rope. Once you get into the "pocket" (the area of the wake that's steep enough to surf) you can throw the rope into the boat.
Just check out the pics in this thread
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/1/72547.html?1057302438 to see examples of wakesurfing with and without the rope.