New Hits: Glasfryn Wall Rides

Until a few years ago the concept of entering a wake obstacle and exiting it from the same place was never a reality. In similar sideways sports like skate boarding and snowboarding such creations exist everywhere; quarter pipes, half pipes, mini ramps and fun little natural obstacles you can jib and go back in the same direction you came from. Hitting these kinds of obstacles is super fun and adds another element to a snow, skate or wake park.

The idea behind the Glasfryn Wall Rides and similar such obstacles is that instead of turning at one end of your run on a System 2.0, you ride up the obstacle and come back down it on the same line.  A unique concept that has allowed huge leaps in wake park rail designs. Wake The Line in Germany had a quarter pipe in 2009 and 2010, FISE tried it in 2010, The Projects in the USA and Turncable in Germany have quarter pipes open to the public and who can forget Kevin Henshaws epic C-rail in the video, ‘Out of The Pond’. All these obstacles share the common feature of having the entry and exit point at the same place.

Glasfryn installed a second System 2.0 into their wake park at the back end of 2010 and it just so happened that the banks on either side of the start dock are 8’ high and shaped perfectly for a pair of wall rides. After a brief test session last year with Tom Lomax and a dodgy pipe the location for each wall was found. During 5 sunny days in March, Industry Wake Parks and Glasfryn constructed the UK’s first re-entry obstacle.

There is a wall on each side of the start dock meaning you can hit one in whatever stance you like; heelside, toeside, switch toeside, etc. Each wall is 16’ long and 12’ high and has a corrugated coping across the top. There are two ways to hit the walls; you can ride straight up, stall on the pipe and then come back down, or you can edge in with a more gentle approach and slide along the top pipe or along the wall. The Alliance staff and Relentless team have been sessioning them hard and we can assure you they are some of the most fun new hits you can have on a wakeboard.

One huge advantage is that if you fall you are not travelling at any great speed so you just lightly fall onto the wall and then slide into the water like you would at Wet n Wild or Typhoon Lagoon! The walls opened to the public during the Spring Wakeboard Open and it was incredible to see how many different standards of riders could use the wall.

To ride this first of its kind obstacle in the UK check out http://www.glasfryn.co.uk/wakepark.htm

Glasfryn Wake Parc
Glasfryn Activity Centre
Y Ffor
Pwllheli
Gwynedd
LL53 6PG
Tel 01766 810202
info@glasfryn.co.uk
www.glasfryn.co.uk