An intense feeling of aquatic freedom

There are activities that have the magical ability to intensify and practically materialize a whole range of positive feelings and coincidences that we usually call freedom. Anyone who has ever glided on any type of "board" on the water's surface knows exactly what we are talking about. For those who haven't tried it yet, we have another tip for an item on your "bucket list". You have to travel to surf on natural waves, but you can easily ride the water on a wakeboard, wakesurf or wakeskate within the republic.

The Slovak "mecca" for all enthusiasts of wading and churning up the water surface with a piece of floating plastic covered with fiberglass of various shapes and sizes is definitely the Wakelake area in Bratislava's Zlaté piesky. In terms of equipment and facilities, it surpasses even wake centers in the wider Central European region. It is not the first water park with a lift in Slovakia, but it is definitely the best. Since its inception, after several changes of ownership, it has gradually managed to gather a professional community around it, which resulted in the founding of the Bratislava Wake Club . Today, it unites, supports and creates training conditions for most of the competitors who have won international successes for Slovakia. But first, let's take a tour of the history of wakeboarding in the world and in Slovakia.

From skis to boards

Wakeboarding originated sometime in the late 1970s and was originally called "skurfing". We are talking about a time when skiing, or today's snowboarding, was also emerging on the water - just in a different form. Given that all the places with the longest tradition of wakeboarding symbolically "claim" their origin and mythology, let's say that this sport and its variations originated in the Pacific region somewhere on the axis of Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Similar to snowboarding, the origin is derived from skis. In this case water skis. From two skis, one so-called monoski was created, with the bindings placed in the direction of travel. From there, it was just a step to follow the style of riding and use technical elements from skating or windsurfing and turn the rider sideways towards the water surface. It is important to note that wakeboarding, like water skiing, was initially associated with being pulled behind a boat or jet ski. This type of riding is still dominant on the other side of the Atlantic, while in good old Europe, but also in Asia, wakeboarding areas with lifts have developed, first on natural and now increasingly on artificial water surfaces.

What about our rivers and lakes?

Water ski enthusiasts were also here at the beginning of wakeboarding. The oldest lift in Slovakia is in Košice on the Jazer, today the Trixen area. It is also the home "station" of the Slovak wake legend and multiple world champion and representative Miroslav Hríbik or the young successful wakeskater Július " Ďusi " Lang. The first lifts were originally intended for classic and slalom water skiing. This can still be recognized by the long straight sections. They were often designed only as a direct connection between 2 points, the so-called 2-0 system like the Wakepark in Banská Bystrica at the beach swimming pool. Today's lifts, even with obstacles and springboards, are more structured. They are mostly polygonal in shape with multiple pylons and turns. In Slovakia, apart from Bratislava and Košice, there is a full-fledged wake lift in Piešťany in Ratnovska Bay on the Váh River - the Wake Soul area. It has the highest lift in our country, which allows for even higher jumps and "air" tricks. The best wakeboarding complexes in the world today are built as shallow artificial lakes about a meter deep with an island in the middle. This serves primarily as a breakwater, but can also be a launch ramp for one of the lifts. In addition, such bodies of water are intentionally lowered and have high banks, which in turn serve as effective windbreaks. The “Shangri-La” of all wake resorts in the world is most likely the Camarines Sur Watersport Complex, known in the community as CWC , in Naga City, Philippines. It is also a personal top pick from the list of our most successful wakeskater – multiple world champion and Red Bull team member Zuzka Vráblová , who you can also commonly meet at Bratislava’s Wakelake in Zlaté piesky, where she goes to train. By the way, it's time to get the terminology in wakeboard "hardware" in order.

Wake: board, surf, skate

Wakeboards can come in different shapes, sizes and hardnesses depending on the rider's experience or riding style. However, there are basically three main categories of boards in wake sports. Wakeboards have fixed bindings that you just need to put on. Wakesurfing is basically akin to classic surfing without bindings. It is primarily designed for riding waves behind a boat, but surfers can sometimes be seen riding on tows. It is true that wider boards have more displacement and sink less when starting, especially for beginners. "Grind" boards are specifically designed for obstacles. They have a reinforced construction, more efficient water drainage for better edging, or floats, so-called "fins", built into the body of the board.

A wakeskate is a smaller board, which, as the name suggests, is based on a skateboard with a sticky grip, and is ridden barefoot or in shoes. The more "skilled" ones "flip" the board while riding in various trick variations, the names and jargon of which - as with wakeboarding or other "boarding" sports - are worth a separate dictionary . However, you can also pull a kneeboard behind a boat or tow, as well as a bodyboard. One of the two owners of Bratislava's Wakelake, Samuel Pokorný , is also into wakeskating. He got into wakeboarding through snowboarding. Together with his friend Richard Kolozsi, they regularly went wakeboarding at Zlaté Piesky. When the opportunity arose, they eventually bought the area together. Samo, as a true adrenaline "freak", today, in addition to skydiving with Riš, is also intensely involved in flyboarding at Wakelake, which they started operating here as the first in Slovakia. It is a board powered by water jets connected to a jet ski, on which you can practically "fly" over the water. Anyone with even a little sense of balance can master this discipline relatively intuitively. However, it is similar with wakeboarding itself.

Almost anyone can ride it

Additionally, at Bratislava's Wakelake, there is a rule that you don't pay for a ride until you've completed the entire circuit on the lift. It's a fair way to introduce new people to the sport while also giving enough space to those who want to learn how to wakeboard. However, the subsequent beginner's "muscle building" should be expected in places where you didn't even know you had muscles. Children as young as school age also commonly ride wakeboards. Those who don't have the equipment can rent everything they need on site.

"In the future, we want to turn the lift around and build another one next to it that will pull in the opposite direction. It will start from the pier in the water. One lift will be for recreational visitors and the other will be reserved for experienced and professional riders."

Samuel Pokorný, co-owner of Wakelake Zlaté Piesky

The launch ramp works similarly to a ski lift, where the anchor grabs the rope and pulls you up only when you are ready to start. The lift operator and people from the community will be happy to explain the basic principles to you. They will advise you on how to hold the anchor with the rope at the start, or how to pull it towards you when the lift "takes" you into a bend. Those who have already ridden or like it can ride two anchors in parallel next to each other in pairs. In addition to beginners, experienced and professional wakers also ride and train here, who often enter professional competitions at the age of 15 or 16. Kitesurfers also come here to improve their riding skills, but their main regional base is in Hamuliakovo. The resort has been planning to build a second reverse lift for some time now. The necessary permits have already been obtained. New obstacles are also being added regularly.

Overall, Wakelake has long been no longer just a sports center for a few enthusiasts of unconventional water sports, but rather a lifestyle area. The pier and lounge area have been expanded, and this season a new zone with a bar, terrace, and an eco-friendly plastic-free restaurant focused on lighter and healthier food has been added. A new app will soon be added, through which you can order and pay for food or drinks from anywhere in the extensive area with a notification when everything is ready. A pleasant rarity is also the pontoon stage that floats on the water. It is the center of attention at regular evening events , where famous DJ names from the Top100DJs selection usually play. The wake subculture also includes a distinctive style of dressing, typical wake brandy, and a specific, lightly and positively punk look.

At home on Golden Sands

The resort also regularly hosts international competitions officially sponsored by the International Waterskiing and Wakeboarding Federation - IWWF . An example is the international Golden Trophy competition belonging to the CWWC Tour series, valued at 600 points in the world ranking. The competition also has a junior version, the Mini Golden Trophy. The community is also growing with Slovak referees with an international IWWF license.

"Our own races licensed by the international federation have excellent attendance at the level of world championships. Our priority is to provide top-notch service, excellent facilities and pleasant experiences to competitors and all visitors."

Samuel Pokorný, co-owner of Wakelake Zlaté Piesky

The highlight of the season, however, is its own Golden Wake Tour series, which has gradually evolved from the original Slovak championships to the most prestigious regional international races, valued at 1,800 points in the world ranking. World-class riders regularly participate in them. The race has stops in four countries – in the Czech Republic, Těrlicko and Brno, Hungary, and Margonin, Poland, with the final always at the end of the summer season in Bratislava. This year – September 15-16 in the categories “open men”, “open women”, “juniors” and “masters”. One of these competitions was attended by top German wakeboarder, now a legend of the sport, Bernard Hinterberger , after whom one of the tricks is named.

Long season and fist bump

Considering that countries with strong wake communities, in addition to the USA and Israel, include mainly Belgium and the Netherlands from Europe, which are not countries with the warmest climates, the question arises as to how long the wake season actually is. Basically, as long as the lake doesn't freeze, riding in a wetsuit is not a problem almost all year round. Wakelake is no exception, not even the season until December or even Christmas operation for the rockers. However, if you want to breathe in the atmosphere of this sport with Olympic ambitions, where everyone in the community greets each other with a friendly fist bump, or if you want to try out wakeboarding, the ideal time is in the summer. Few places by the water breathe the "seaside" atmosphere between Pohoda and Grape as pleasantly as Wakelake in Bratislava's Zlaté Piesky.

It was well captured by a boy who – while we were discussing with co-owner Sam Pokorný on the pier – ran up to his father and, looking towards the water, where riders were competing in front of our photographer, accompanied by drones hunting for the best future super slow motion shots, to see who could do the best trick, he announced: “Dad, I’m going to look at the sea, okay?”