I actually went straight to the skateboard deck and pipe, except I used a 2 Litre bottle full of water instead if PVC and my skimboard instead of a skate deck. If you find balancing is too easy, you can try with your feet perpendicular to the rail, like the same position you would be in sliding a rail on skis. It's way more difficult to balance, but you have to have the toe/knee/nose alignment that you need while skiing, so it helps stance. also you can try jumping around on the skate deck, doing "switchups" and stuff which is pretty fun.