The Thrill of Flyboarding: A New Frontier in Water Sports

We've always enjoyed the water, and water skiing has been a staple for many of us. However, with the advent of new technologies and innovations, we're now pushing the boundaries of what's possible on the water. Recently, I came across YouTube videos of people riding these insane water things called flyboards. These devices are essentially jet-powered boards that allow you to fly above the water, and I was eager to try it out for myself.

I had the opportunity to speak with Jimmy Bissett, owner of a flyboarding company on Long Island, and he brought out some jet skis and flyboards for me to try. With his guidance, I strapped myself into the flyboard and took to the water. The learning curve wasn't steep at all, and before long, I was soaring above the surface, feeling like I was defying gravity.

As I gained confidence on the board, Jimmy taught me how to perform tricks and stunts, including a backflip that was both exhilarating and intimidating. The sense of freedom and thrill that comes with flyboarding is hard to describe, but it's an experience unlike any other. The rush of adrenaline as you take off from the water and soar into the air is addictive, and I found myself wanting to try new things every time I stepped back onto the board.

One of the most impressive aspects of flyboarding is its accessibility. Just a few years ago, we were watching these videos on YouTube, wondering if this was something that could ever be done in real life. Now, with advancements in technology and manufacturing, it's possible to own your own flyboard and hit the water whenever you want. The learning curve may not be too steep, but the sense of accomplishment when you master a new trick is incredibly rewarding.

For those who are landlocked or feel uncomfortable standing on the board, there's another option: the old-school water park. I remember spending hours as a kid at water parks like Schlitterbahn in Kansas City, where they had lazy rivers, large wave pools, and tube slides galore. With the rise of technology, we've seen some amazing innovations come to life, like wave simulators that allow you to surf the perfect wave without ever having to get into the ocean.

Schlitterbahn is a prime example of this, with their 170-foot tall water slide, which they claim to be the world's tallest. The ride takes about 18 seconds to complete, but the climb up was intense, with over 264 stairs leading to the top. When I reached the summit, the view was breathtaking – I could see Kansas City stretching out in every direction. However, the wind was strong, and I have to admit that it scared me a bit more than the slide itself.

Another innovation from Schlitterbahn is their Vero ride, which combines air and water power to propel a raft over a hill. The technology required to make this work has taken some time to perfect, but when it finally worked, it was nothing short of revolutionary. The sense of weightlessness as you drop into the slide is similar to what you experience on a roller coaster, but with the added twist of free-falling from 170 feet.

As I watched Jeff Henry, the wizard behind Schlitterbahn's water parks, talk about his next project, it was clear that he's always pushing the boundaries of what's possible. He's a master of innovation and continues to surprise us every day with new attractions and amenities. For those who are looking for their own sense of adventure, I highly recommend trying flyboarding or visiting Schlitterbahn's water parks.

In conclusion, flyboarding is an exhilarating experience that offers a new frontier in water sports. With its accessibility and relatively low learning curve, it's an activity that can be enjoyed by anyone. Whether you're looking to challenge yourself with tricks and stunts or simply enjoy the thrill of soaring above the surface, flyboarding is definitely worth trying. And if you're feeling adventurous, why not head on over to Schlitterbahn and experience their world-class water parks for yourself?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: engot this w we've always enjoyed the water water skis offer a fine means of Frolic for the expert with real speed essential to keep those skimmers on top of the water we've come pretty far from plain old water skiing and traditional water parks and today we are going even further so a little while ago I came across these YouTube videos of people riding these insane water things I had never seen before turns out they're called fly boards and let me tell you they are sick after watching maybe 2 seconds of this footage I knew I had to try this for myself this is Jimmy Bisset he owns a flyboarding company out on Long Island this is Trey Shah horn the verge's video producer oh and I'm Sam Sheffer we gave Jimmy a call he brought out some jet skis and flyboards and I could not contain myself oh and by the way he's really good at this what is a flyboard flyboard is a water jet propelled board uh that literally you can fly in the air above the water with so how do these work I know there's a jet ski involved the board is involved but there's pipes and there's engines and what what happens yeah so you got the jet ski the the hose hooks right to the back of the jet pump and then there's a u pipe that gets connected right to that so all that water that's getting pushed through just like a regular jet ski and just getting redirected through the hose and out and out the boots is there a height limit is there a speed limit um how does that stuff work the hes will be flying today um is 50 ft long they do make ones that are you know about 60 65 or 70t hose you know when I'm flying I can get up you know 35 40 ft you know at Max now are you are you stationary for the most part or is the idea that you want to keep movement you're pretty much moving the whole the time like the the flyboard is pulling the jet ski around so wherever the Fly Board goes the jet ski is just following as in that has enough power to pull the jet ski correct yeah you don't when you're on the flyboard you don't even realize it's it's the jet ski is getting pulled you know because of the the design of the ski it's just it's very light it just bloats on top so like Mo most board devices it's it's about balance right it's a little bit about balance but it's it's a very it's the board itself is very balanced I say just relax you know what I mean keep your body pretty loose and just look straight ahead will I die today not at all I got strapped into the flyboard and I was ready to go I swam out Tethered to the jet ski and Jimmy gave me some throttle I managed to hover for a few seconds but it did not last long turns out I needed some practice so to balance the Fly Board you need to relax your body and pay very close attention to your feet Point them too far forward and I'd fall down pick my feet up and I'd fall backwards but I didn't have nearly as tough of a time as Trey did honestly I was focusing too much on my legs and not enough of my feet by the time I actually realized what I need to do I just simply kept falling over but hey at least I was putting on a show for the crew got to get a little higher Trey good one Trey even though I was struggling a bit at first it wasn't very long until I got the hang of it I felt confident enough to hover move around a bit and I even tried some back flips that was so sick I definitely was feeling it and next I tried the hoverboard which is basically a surfboard that uses the same technology as flyboard so it's waterp powered oh and Trey was actually good at this one I killed on the hoverboard yeah I served as a teenager so you know what it came a little bit more naturally to me do you think these are going to keep evolving and do you think that the sport is growing yeah 100% um just in the couple years I've been in it now we have competitions I mean it's worldwide right now the different style of boards are coming out different movements with the board you know so you can so the ability to do different tricks is evolving too you know cuz it's so new a new Trick's coming out every day you know someone's just throwing something and oh that looks cool you know today was awesome it was amazing one of the best days of my life absolutely absolutely I I felt like I didn't have enough time and I just wanted to spend like a entire summer doing it yeah and what's cool that these things are not out of the world you can go buy one granted they're very expensive like but it's just I think it's fascinating that you know a year or two ago we were just watching these videos on YouTube today we tried them and then you can you can just own them you can buy them it's it's a real thing yeah the learning curve isn't that steep no not at all now trying TR a back flip now if you're landlocked or feel too uncomfortable standing on the board then your other option is an old school water park when I was a kid I loved going to water parks lazy Rivers large wave pools tube slides couldn't get enough of it and since then with the rising technology we've seen some pretty cool things like wave simulators which allow you to surf the perfect wave without ever having to get into the ocean and here at schlitter bond in Kansas City they constructed the world's tallest water slide for root and let me tell you being there it's pretty big so Vero is uh kind of an extreme example of some shter Bond technology um the Blaster water coaster type technology that we've kind of implemented through our Park system over the years you're looking at a 170 ft roughly uh tall almost 700 linear feet ride that only takes about 18 seconds to complete it may only take 18 seconds to go down the slide but the climb up was pretty rough the Faro stands at roughly 17 stories tall which translates into about 264 stairs and when you reach the top KN only you're the tallest thing for miles around you're even higher than the Statue of Liberty being on the top was breathtaking I really appreciated the views I could see Kansas City way out in the distance but it was super windy which scared me more than the slide itself oh and then there's Vero growl it's a it's a little bit of a revolutionary ride in the fact that not only is it the world's tallest but we've also gone through with some of the technology and combined um air and water to power the boat up over over the hill in order to get over that Hill Faro uses a combination of compressed air and water to shoot the raft over the hump they had to get this perfect it even delayed the opening of The Ride itself not enough force and the raft doesn't make it over the hill too much force well let's just say it's not very pretty so you can understand when I was at the top strapped in pieces of velcro I was pretty scared oh sorry for the screams you're about to hear oh my god oh my god wow this is insane oh my God no so sick wow that was nuts woo when you come over like the thing drops you in and then you get to a point where it doesn't look like they slide you just sort of you just drop and then you see the slide and there's like a little bit of anti-gravity you feel like you're floating a little bit um and it's really fast it's over so quickly so I noticed on the the the very beginning of the drop it almost felt you were going vertical we were going vertical so you've got that sense of weightlessness similar to what you experienced on a roller coaster that's another unique feature that Vero offers so not only are you going to go through a a feeling of freef fall from 170 ft you're also going to get to experience it on the second smaller drop at roughly 65 ft and are there plans to continue breaking your own record well I always tell people said part of the unique thing of sbond parks as well is that we're ever evolving and Ever Changing adding and and expanding our attractions and our amenities the next attraction probably won't be anything quite as tall but I wouldn't never put anything past Jeff Henry he is a wizard of water and he continues to to surprise the world of water parks every day riding the flyboard and hoverboard are easily some of the coolest things I've ever done and sliding down the tallest water slide in the world wasn't too bad either so now that summer is officially here I cannot recommend it enough go find a flyboard get on and become your own wizard of water\n"