Wakeboarding in Germany

This past Sunday, a Hungarian (Atilla), a Brit (Tim) and an American (me, of course) all set off for Germany for a day of wakeboarding. I was particularly excited since I had just recently been researching my wakeboarding options when I met Tim who said he and a friend were going.

After a quick 1.5 hour drive and a flash of the passports we were in Pfullendorf, Germany, where there is a cable system set up on a small lake. It, being my first time using a cable system, took me a few times (ok, maybe 7 or 8) to get the hang of the dock start. During which, the dock worker kept trying to give me pointers in German. But after the few bad starts, I was up and running…err…wakeboarding. Thankfully, among the pros doing railings, 360s and tricks I had never seen before, there were a few other novices that I could share my pain of learning with.

For those not familar with the concept, wakeboarding on the cable system is a completely different experience than behind the boat, which is what I am used to. There is no wake, no spray on the face, no “pick-up service” when you fall, no music, and you wear a wetsuit (although the wetsuit might have been more due to the cold weather than the cable system concept). The worst part is that if you fall along the course, you have to get out of the water and walk back around to the dock to start again. The best part is that the water stays great all day long and you can go continuously, until you get tired, that is. Afraid of falling and having to walk back around, I didn’t do anything too exciting (that, I am technically a huge wimp), but I still had a great time practicing my technique and just getting back in the water.

After our 2 hours were up, Atilla, Tim and I sat down lunch and then began the trek back home. But before saying goodbye, we made plans to go out again either back to Germany, down to the French region of Switzerland to another cable system, or out on Zurisee behind a boat.