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WILLARD BAY — Two local entrepreneurs have brought the water-propelled "FlyBoard" to Utah and said the unusual sport has been met with a lot of enthusiasm.
The FlyBoard has been described as a water-propelled jetpack attached to your feet, and the power is generated by a WaveRunner attached to a hose. It was invented by a man in France, but has grown in popularity all over the U.S. Dave and Thom Hall opened Rocky Mountain FlyBoard and said that the sport is surprisingly easy.
"If you can stand on your own two feet, you can get out on the water," Dave said.
Like many, Dave and his brother Thom heard about the water jetpack online, and it gave them the idea to open their own business. The Halls have plans to open three sites where people can rent their services and fly over the water.
"Back in October, we saw a YouTube video," Dave said. "My brother Thom and I, we've always been adrenaline junkies. We saw this, and this combined everything we loved: water, jets, WaveRunners, all that come together, and we just, we had to try it."
The Halls created their own YouTube video with the help of viral YouTube filmmaker Devin Graham to help generate attention to the sport in Utah. The Halls' business idea was immediately met with an overwhelming response.
"I had about 3,000 minutes a month on my phone, and it's been 7,000 minutes a month ever since," Dave said. "So thousands of phone calls, and thousands of emails, and not just from here, from all over the world."
The Hall brothers have opened stores at Jordanelle and Deer Creek with another store planned for Willard Bay. The FlyBoard rentals start at around $120, and to buy a board is around $6,000.
