Flying on jets of water might just be the next big thing in sports
One after another, jetboard riders shot 10, 20 feet into the air, propelled by two jet streams at their feet.
The aqua water, palm trees and pure white sand surrounding them may have you momentarily fooled. This isn’t Hawaii; it’s Pahrump, obviously.
HydroFest lasted Friday through Sunday at the man-made Lake Spring Mountain, an oasis among Pahrump’s billboards and never-ending tan landscape. Competitors corkscrewed and porpoised, constantly trying to one-up themselves and anything else that’s been tried in hydroflight’s short history.
Riders competed on one of three devices this weekend: the jetpack, which has riders strapped into a harness with water shooting out near their shoulders; the jetboard, which involves boots with water shooting out from beneath them; and the jetbike, which, predictably, is a bikelike contraption with water shooting downward at three points. Each is powered by a thick hose connected to a jetski.
Competitors came from across the U.S. and Canada. Some of them had competed together before, in venues as far-reaching as Doha, Qatar. This competition was a first, though, for the barely 5-year-old industry. It was the first open competition, or competition where riders could use any brand of device, as opposed to competitions sponsored by a certain brand.
That’s an important distinction, jetboard competitor Ben Merrill says, because it allows riders to compete at a higher level on equipment they’re comfortable on and therefore inches hydroflight toward becoming a sport, rather than a one-off activity for thrillseekers.
“Now I get to bring my setup, my tools, that I’m really, really comfortable on, and it’s just that little thing,” Merrill says.
The desire to establish the sport is shared among organizers and competitors. They have on their side the legitimate strength, coordination, concentration and skill it requires to even stay in the air and maintain a stable height.
Through competition, the athletes are pushing the limits of what people might initially envision or assume a jetpack is capable of, jetpack competitor Kevin Harris says, like athletes have done with dirtbikes. Riders are experimenting technically with more and more complex tricks and developing their own styles of flying.
Harris, a Pahrumpian competing for the first time, removed the crossbar that limits the movement of the handlebars on the jetpack, allowing him to make quicker, tighter turns.
Another part of establishing hydroflight as a legitimate sport is attracting spectators and raising awareness of the sport. Even in Pahrump.
Not only is the HydroFest a competition, “it’s an expo, it’s a festival, we want to get the spectators here, we want them to see what we’re doing, but we also want them to get out on the water and try,” Jetpack America President Dean O’Malley says. Lake Spring Mountain is Jetpack America’s third location, along with Newport Beach, California, and San Diego.
Attendees could demo the various equipment if they dared, as well as swim at the lake.
Harris made it his mission to get other Pahrumpians to attend and, eventually, to lure them into the sport.
As a novice competitor, he didn’t expect to win, “just say, ‘Hey, this guy from Pahrump, he can fly. So let’s get more people out here and flying. If he can do it anyone can do it.’”
Contact Sarah Corsa at scorsa@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0353. Find @sarahcorsa on Twitter.
