What is flyboarding, you may ask? It’s flying above the water on two streams of water — oh, and it’s really, really hard. It’s this week’s Keeping Up with Chris.

Chris Van Vliet: “How exactly does flyboarding work?”

Sasha Vla, Miami Watersports Paradise: “OK, we have a hose connected to a Jet Ski, and the pressure from the Jet Ski and the driver gives you the power and lifts you up.”

Flyboarding is a brand-new sport. It was invented just six years ago, in 2012.

At Miami Watersports Paradise, $99 will get you 20 minutes of fly time.

Chris Van Vliet: “You guys are going to make me like Iron Man today?”

Sasha Vla: “Yeah, you will be 100 percent Iron Man. We have a new Tony Stark here.”

Chris Van Vliet: “Safety first.”

Chris Van Vliet: “Every single Keeping Up with Chris segment is me putting a helmet on, I feel like.”

Chris Van Vliet: “Tight is right.”

Sasha Vla: “How do you feel?

Chris Van Vliet: “Feels good, yeah, feels good.”

Sasha takes me out to some deeper water — and we give it a go.

(Wipeout.)

The second try looks a lot like the first.

Chris Van Vliet: “Jeez.”

From there I wiped out again and again and again and again and again and again.

Chris Van Vliet: “Ow, that hurt!”

No less than 40 times before this!

Chris Van Vliet: “You guys see that? I got up for like half a second!”

It’s a start — although there were plenty more wipeouts.

Chris Van Vliet: “That’s it, that’s it. There it was.

Sasha Vla: “That was much better!”

Chris Van Vliet: “That was the face plant.”

You know, this is starting to be less about flyboarding and more about determination, because 60 tries later…

Chris Van Vliet: “OK, here we go, everyone.”

I was Iron Man!

(I finally wipe out.)

Chris Van Vliet: “After the first like 25 times of falling on my face, I thought, ‘I don’t think I’m going to do this.’ I cannot keep up with Chris, even though I am Chris, and then finally I got up for like 5 to 7 seconds, maybe.”

That was the most fun I’ve had in the water since I gave up my dream of being a merman.

What should I fly into next? Drop me an email, keepingupwithchris@wsvn.com, and let me know.

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