Wes Johnson

WJOHNSON@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Thirteen-year-old Peyton LaRue carved a graceful arc through the water, throwing a torrent of spray as he finally mastered his first turn at Springfield's newest place to have fun.

A few splash-crash landings before were well worth the effort.

"I've wakeb oarded behind boats before, but this is my first time being pulled by a cable," said Peyton, beaming a wide smile after emerging from the Ski Shack's Cable Wakeboard Park lake behind the business on South Campbell Avenue. "There's no boat wakes or other boats to watch out for, and it's easier getting in and out of the water here than on a boat. It's way fun!"

Missouri's first cable-powered wakeboard park held its grand opening last weekend, drawing dozens of people to the 600-foot-long, 100-foot-wide man-made lake. Owner Greg Mustain said he also brought in multiple truckloads of sand to create an instant beach along the lake's east end.

"We've had an amazing response after your first (News-Leader) story about the park ran," said Mustain. "People have been calling in from out of town wondering when we'd be open. This wakeboard park will allow so many more people to get into the sport who before didn't have access to a boat or a lake. Even if you have a boat, it's such a different style of riding. It's a great place to learn."

The lake is about 4.5 feet deep at its east end where wakeboarders launch or from an elevated platform and is close to 7 feet deep at the far end, where a floating ramp, steep jump and elevated rail let adventurous wakeboarders try out extreme stunts. Louis Hill, 20, is a wakeboard instructor at the park and emphasized the cable-powered system is designed for people who've never locked their feet into wakeboard boots before as well as riders who have advanced wakeboarding skills.

"If you want to come out here and learn to ride a wakeboard and just cruise around, you can do that," Hill said. "If you're more experienced. you can go ahead and try the jumps."

So far, riders have ranged in age from 5 to 60. One rider had two artificial knees and still enjoyed the course.

Hill, who has been wakeboarding since he was 13, demonstrated how the cable system works. Wearing a helmet and life jacket (mandatory for all participants) Hill held onto the cable and took a flying leap from a launching platform on shore. He skimmed across the lake, throwing spray and doing tricks on the three water obstacles.

An overhead cable pulls wakeboarders through the water at speeds from 2 mph up to 30 mph. A trained operator onshore controls the rider's speed, and brings the cable back within reach if the rider takes an unexpected spill.

After 15 minutes of intense jumps, high-speed runs and tricks, Hill zoomed back to shore, breathing hard.

"Doing 15 minutes on the cable is a real workout," he said.

During his Sunday afternoon visit, young Peyton got a workout, too, but wasn't quite ready to tackle the floating jumps.

"I think if I could come out here a few more times then I'd give it a try," he said.

His younger brother Salem, 9, wasn't quite ready for stand-up wakeboarding, but he still enjoyed skimming across the water by kneeling on the board.

Asked if he was ever scared, he emphatically replied, "No! It was fun!"

The boys' father, Blaine LaRue, said he has a boat and frequently takes it to Table Rock Lake to go wakeboarding. But on a day where rain likely would wash out a boat trip to the lake, LaRue said the new wakeboard park proved to be a great alternative.

"I think it's awesome to have this right here in Springfield," he said.

"I know some bigger cities have wakeboard parks, so it's great that a city the size of Springfield has one. I just hope Springfield will support it."

There are 39 wakeboard parks across the country, but the closest one to Springfield is in on the Kansas side of Kansas City.

Mustain said the Ski Shack's wakeboard park eventually will branch out with other activities beyond wakeboarding. He envisions offering stand-up paddleboard yoga classes on the water, stand-up paddleboard lessons, birthday parties, company picnics and wakeboard competitions.

"With our own lake, there are so many options for what we can do," he said. "Even if you don't want to wakeboard, it's a great place to come out and watch. And since we have trees growing along the edges of the lake, they block the wind. Since we've built it, this lake has never been un-rideable because of wind."

If you try the cable and get bitten by the wakeboarding bug, the Ski Shack offers a complete line of wakeboards, helmets, life jackets and accessories.

The store also sells a wide range of boats designed for pulling water skiers and wakeboarders, including a new line of boats that creates a particularly large wake that's ideal for wake surfing.

The Ski Shack has been in business in Springfield for 20 years and also has stores at Baxter Marina and Indian Point Marina on Table Rock Lake.

Send your Outdoors ideas, tips or feedback to reporter/columnist Wes Johnson at wjohnson@news-leader.com; or call 836-1243. Find Wes also at

Facebook.com/Wes.outdoors.

About the wakeboard cable park

Located behind the Ski Shack business at 5539 S. Campbell Avenue, the park is open from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon-7 p.m. on Sunday.

Cost: $25 per hour, or $45 for two hours. A six-hour pass is available for $125. Gear rental is available; $5 life jacket, $5 helmet, $10 board, or $15 for all three items. Call 417-882-8480 for more information. On the Web: www.theskishack.com.