You’ve heard of water skiing, you’ve probably heard of wake boarding, but have you heard of wake surfing?! In the spirit of trying out all the activities that are available on a Pure Mountain summer holiday, we tested the waters on this up and coming sport.
A beautiful day and a good picnic are essential for a trip to Annecy. So after devouring the picnic within minutes of parking up, we swam in the lovely cool waters of Lake Annecy to prepare ourselves for the watery afternoon ahead of us.
Jim was the only soul brave enough to try the new wake surfing now on offer (I stuck to what I know I don’t know and had 20 minutes of water skiing/bobbing about trying to locate my skis). Jim has wakeboarded a lot before, and they say that the wake surfing is similar as the stance is pretty much the same.
How to do it:
So you lie on your back with your feet up on the surf board that’s floating in front of you. Then, with luck and a prayer when the boat starts you pop up onto the board, turn it around and away you go! Now the idea is a rather clever one I think – with wake boarding and water skiing you’re on a longer rope which you have to hold on to all the time, and if you’re adventurous you cross the wake made by the boat and maybe do a few tricks using the wake. With wake surfing you’re on a much shorter rope, so that you are actually on top of the wake. Once you’re there, if you get your surfboard in the right position you can actually let go of the rope, and surf along on the waves created by the boat!
So, here’s a short video of Jim’s third attempt at it (if you’re hoping to see him drink a good glug of Lake Annecy, you’ll be as disappointed as I was).