Business Spotlight: Making Waves

It’s a typical hot, muggy June day, with wakeboarders falling into a lake and spectators close by on a sandy beach.

The scene is in south Springfield – not on Table Rock Lake or Lake of the Ozarks – tucked behind The Ski Shack Extreme Sports on South Campbell Avenue. The 17-year-old speedboat dealership last month opened a wakeboarding cable park on a man-made lake the owners built behind the store.

Co-owner Greg Mustain first came across a cable park during the 1990s in Florida at the Orlando Watersports Complex and has wanted to operate one ever since. Of course, building a lake in close proximity to a busy highway in a metropolitan area is easier said than done.

For starters, Mustain says finding insurance for a wakeboarding cable park on his man-made lake was a six-month process. Soil scientists from Dirt Daubers Soil Evaluation & Consulting analyzed the land to see if digging was feasible and, fortunately, they found the soil ideal.

Then, Greene County got involved in order for Mustain to attain permits for grading and land disturbance from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Tim Davis, water quality field operations manager for the county, says he inspected the construction periodically to make sure sediment controls were in place to prevent runoff and flooding in neighboring properties.

Mustain says the initial digging lasted three months until he learned the lake would not be able to hold water as planned. It would just be too muddy.

The lake was re-graded and a liner was installed to keep the water clean, and crews also dug a well to maintain some 3 million gallons for the planned water sports.

Davis says he has assisted in development of ponds and detention basins but never a structure this large – 600-by-100 feet and depths exceeding 6 feet – to hold water year-round.

“The uniqueness is really in the use,” Davis says.

Germany-based cable park company Sesitec engineered and manufactured the cable system, called System 2.0, and an American distributor installed it and trained Ski Shack employees on operations.

The wakeboarding cable is suspended between two towers, and the rope hangs from the cable. On shore, a remote control operator adjusts speeds to move the rope and drag the wakeboarder between the towers.

Before the lake was built, Mustain says he used the space for employees to ride motor cross and considered building storage facilities.

“Every day I used to open that back door and see that land cost me money and think what am I going to do with that,” Mustain says.

He says not one tree was cut down in developing the lake. “It looks like it was made for this,” he adds.

Pulling through the recession
The lake and cable park almost never happened.

When the recession hit, closing became a real threat for The Ski Shack. Area operations such as Center City Marine and Walt’s Boats in Nixa shut their doors as discretionary purchases came to a near standstill, and The Ski Shack could have followed suit.

“We have a store full of things people don’t need,” Mustain says.

He says liquidating inventory helped, along with business partners Drs. Bernard and Mark Griesemer investing an additional undisclosed sum.

“Of course, we as partners had to bring more money to the table,” Mustain says of the father and son co-owners.

Bernard Griesemer, who works in children’s health and sports medicine, and Mark Griesemer, who worked in the store during his college years, came on as partners in 2003.

Now, the dealership focuses on boats specifically designed for wakeboarding. Mustain expects the cable park to groom the next generation of customers.

“When we get somebody hooked on cable, guess what, they buy a board, helmet, gloves, you name it,” Mustain says.

Springfield resident Clayton Thompson has visited a cable park in Paola, Kan., and comes to Ski Shack’s cable park out of convenience.

Thompson, 24, says he’s been involved in other water sports but wakeboarding primarily the last 10 years.

“I picked up wakeboarding better than skiing,” he says.

A man-made lake does not have the boat traffic or rough waters of a natural lake, but Thompson says the exchange comes with slower speeds and more regulations. For instance, wakeboarders must wear a Coast Guard-approved vest and helmet, available for rent if they don’t have their own.

On the water
Cable park users pay $25 an hour per person, $45 for two hours and $65 for four hours. Up to four people can be in a session each hour.    

Mustain, who is forecasting $4 million in 2014 revenue, says he has seen an age range from 5 to 60 years old at the cable park, and there are plans to hold youth camps, birthday parties and company picnics.

While cable wakeboarding could be a game changer for The Ski Shack, Mustain says boat sales remain its bread and butter. Of last year’s $3.1 million in revenue, 65 percent was generated from selling boats by Malibu and Axis Wake Research, a division of Malibu, in the $65,000 to $120,000 range.

Retail products in the 8,000-square-foot store include wakeboards, gloves, sunglasses, T-shirts and winter sports equipment, such as snowboards and jackets. Boat repair services make up about 15 percent of business.

The Ski Shack, which employs 30 during the peak summer season, also operates two floating shops on Table Rock Lake, one at Baxter Marina and the other at Indian Point Marina, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Mustain says those stores cater to many lake homeowners.

“It’s instant gratification: You got someone rolling up in their boat with board shorts and a wakeboard rope and go hit it,” Mustain says.