Quick to learn, open to everyone and with Lake Como as the backdrop: seven good reasons to step onto a board at Como Lake Cable Park in Colico.
A board under your feet, a handle in your hands and a cable pulling you across the water: wakeboarding is easy to describe and hard to forget. If you have been wondering about it for a while, here is why it is worth a try, and why to try it here, in Colico, on Lake Como.
1. You learn fast
Wakeboarding is considered one of the fastest board sports to learn, and at the cable you soon see why. There is no boat: the cable pulls you, and nobody has to circle back to pick you up when you fall. Before you go in, the instructor shows you how to hold the handle, how to bend your knees and where to look; then you're off, and the first few metres are where you fall the most. You fall, you start again, you try again: every attempt lasts a few seconds and the next one comes straight away, so your body learns fast what your head hasn't worked out yet. A run lasts 15 minutes, and often by the end of your very first session you find yourself standing on the board, gliding across the lake.
2. There is a set-up made for beginners
For your first steps there is the System 2.0: two towers about 100 metres apart, on which the instructor sets the towing speed to your pace. Before you go in, they explain how to start, and at the end of the session they answer all your questions.
3. It really is for everyone
You don't need any experience of surfing, snowboarding or waterskiing. Wakeboarding suits every age and every level: some come for the first time with friends, others train to learn a new trick. And there is always someone cheering from the dock.
4. A full-body workout that feels like fun
Legs, core, back, arms and balance: after a few runs you will feel it. It is a complete workout that doesn't feel like one, outdoors and on the water.
5. It is a green sport
The cable is an electric towing system and the park runs on 100% renewable energy. No combustion engine and no fuel: just the board, the water and the sound of the spray.
6. There is always a new trick to learn
Once you are up, wakeboarding keeps surprising you: your first turns, your first jump, then ollies, tantrums, backrolls… In the customer area you will find the levels and the trick list, the park's leaderboard and Wakeboard TV with the riders' videos: every step forward has its place.
7. It is not just wakeboarding
While you wait for your turn, or while whoever came with you relaxes, there is the chill area with loungers and umbrellas, SUP and the trampoline to dive into the lake, the waterpark with its slides, and a sunset aperitivo. A whole day, not just a run.
How to start
- Book your run online, picking the day and the time.
- Get to the park at least 20 minutes early, for registration and membership at the front desk.
- Equipment and instructor are included in the run: bring a swimsuit, a towel and the will to give it a go.
Membership is required, for whoever comes with you too, because Como Lake Cable is a sports association affiliated to FISSW: it includes the federation's accident insurance. All the details are on the Prices page.
The best way to understand wakeboarding is to try it. See you on the water!
