Cable-WHAT?!

Hot Topic
By: Ain, Fatin & Shaistah

Have you ever heard of ski360°?  If you have, then you must have definitely heard of cable skiing. Cable skiing is a new form of wakeboarding. The only difference is that, you are being pulled by a cable instead of a boat. However, it is still considered as one of the extreme sports in Singapore.

The idea of having a cable ski park in Singapore first came about in December 2004 where National Park asked for tenders to turn the lagoon at East Coast Park into a water recreational centre. The National Park’s purpose was to turn the whole area into a lifestyle zone. Thus, after much research and considerations were made, ski360° decided to open up the first Cable Ski Park in Singapore on 20^th January 2006.

Although the response has been good, 80% of their customers initially used to be foreigners. But these days, more of the locals are opening up to this extreme sport. It is also getting more and more recognised as Singaporeans nowadays have a disposable income and thus can afford to engage in this kind of lifestyle. The first impression that many people would have of it is that it is very expensive. However, not only is it fun but it is also reasonably priced at $32/hr on a weekday and $42/hr on a weekend. Like any other sport, cable skiing also has its own dangers which are very minimal.

When asked about the dangers of this sport, Mr Roy Teo, General Manager of ski360° said “It is more related towards the sports kind of injuries. If they do not land correctly while doing the air tricks, they might end up fracturing themselves. If it is just getting around, then it is pretty safe because for beginners and first timers, they usually need to go through the safety briefing instructions.”  And that’s not all; ski360° even has their own cable wakeboarding school.

Ski360 ° cable Wakeboarding School is the first and only wakeboarding school in Singapore that provides courses and programs for cable wakeboarding. Their dedicated and experienced instructors will make sure students pick up the sport of cable wakeboarding in no time. Ski360° also organised the Singapore Wake Park Championship 2009 on the 13^th and 14^th of June at which Singapore was the 2^nd stop for the Asian Wake Park Tour 2009. According to Mr Roy Teo, ski360° is working closely with the Wake Board Association (Singapore) to generate more locals into this extreme sport.

We would want to encourage our readers to consider this sport as it is very entertaining and enjoyable and the best part of it all, it is inexpensive. We chose this sport because it is considered one of the coolest extreme sports in Singapore. Lastly, aloud would like to thank Mr Roy for granting us the interview and time despite his busy schedule. @