It is time for your yearly Who Are You Guys thread:

[Horton]

So many new members.... who are you guys?

[bishop8950]

Or better yet, who are the new girls?

[dhofert]

Well lets see here. My name is Dustin. I started skiing late late into the summer of 2015. Neither I nor the guy driving the boat had a clue. I managed to be ok on 2 skis pretty quick. Last summer I started off attempting to slalom. After many failed attempts, a new ski and training rope I was able to get up just about everytime. The driver also figured out how to not rip my arms off lol. I ski behind a 1984 four winns 190. We restored it completly as well as dropped in a 355ci engine. I know it is not ideal but it drags me around the lake.

 

This year I would like to buy a new ski, still up in the air between a P6 or a Radar Senate. I would also like to find some ballers around my area in Grand Rapids MI who would be willing to help me out since I am 100% self taught with tons of room for improvement. Also, finding a course to ski.

[bigskieridaho]

My name is Brian from Boise Idaho. Grew up around boats pretty much all my life. I only had about 3 months of summer growing up in Jackson, WY and skiing on freezing Jackson lake. Never a ski day where I had a dry suit, just wet all the time. Still keep to that to this day, and dry suits are awkward. Started kneeboarding, on two skis, and then was the first person in my family at 8 to get up on one. My dad always dropped a ski. Been hooked ever since. In High School my snow skiing coach took us to Lake Shasta for 3 years for waterski camp and to run a course. It was awesome! Moved away and went to school and lost skiing for a while except when visiting home. Bought a 1974 Correct Craft Mustang and loved ripping behind it on lake mead where I lived at the time working. Finally moved to Boise and back to the mountains. Had a bayliner, sold it and bought a Centurion falcon and was out on the public water, skiing, wakeboarding, surfing and all that stuff. My snow skiing coach moved to Boise with his wife and started to take me to a private lake and I was hooked! Finally last year got a membership, skied 4 days a week, and skied in my first tourneys ever. Just Bought a new (used) 2009 Response and stoked to have a boat with ZO and all the bells and whistles. Can't wait to get it out. Hooked on an awesome sport and community to be around! Proud to be a baller, wife is an awesome skier, and now my little girls are at it! Snow and water ripper family!

[Fraser]

Matt Fraser age 39. Actively skiing for 2 years, after being introduced to the sport back when I was 13, and then basically skiing 6 times since then up to the 2015 season. Living up in Edmonton Alberta is tough given the short season, however, I have a place now at a lake and ski at a local facility (Shalom Park home to Canadian Open) when I can.

 

At this point the course is new to me so I am struggling to get more than a few balls at 30pmh -15. Pumped for this year as the light bulb went off for me after the lakes froze last fall. I know understand why some skiers are so much "faster" than me...so I look forward to working on what happens between the balls vs making a turn. This site has really helped with my winter study.

[tlarocque]

Todd LaRocque, age 43, Ob/Gyn in San Diego. Grew up in San Diego but got to visit my mom's family's old lake cottage in Wisconsin a few times as a kid. Learned to ski but never did more than a couple days every few years. Every time I did spend time on a lake I couldn't believe that people actually got to live that way.

 

Met my wife and got married in Phoenix, AZ. Got into boating shortly afterwards and loved every chance I had to be on the water. Did more wake boarding than skiing but always had fun. Moved to Seattle area a few years ago to do some work and quickly found a cabin on a nice lake that I still own. After a few bad falls on the wake board decided to focus on skiing. I have never skied a course but feel the skiing is coming along and hoping to try it soon.

 

We now live in San Diego but I was lucky to spend 4 weeks up at our cabin this summer where I got both of my girls (8, 13) skiing and having fun. Think they are hooked. Back in San Diego now and sad that I probably won't be back on the lake in WA until next summer.

 

Now trying to find a way to continue skiing all year. Brought my boat home (2006 Ski Nautique 206) but don't want to put it in salt water. If there are any San Diego Ballers who want to ski/drive, please get in touch and let's figure it out.

[herkyjerky]

Bryan,59,2 kids and 2 grandkids.grew up skiing recreationally summers with my dad and have always loved it.Bought my first tournament boat in 1986,a Malibu,and used it till 2014! I got hooked on barefooting and quit course skiing all together for 20plus years,what a mistake! The combination of injury after injury,and skiing again with my ski partner from the 80s (dacon62)got me hooked again! A new radar pro build is in the boat,and the barefoot boom is out.u

We have a short ski season up here 3/4 months, so a winter ski vacay is on my bucket list.

I also collect old wood skis and have 100s of waterski magazines.

[SkiJay]

I'm a retired race car driver who applied 38 years of high-level race car and superbike experience to water ski tuning. And while advancing the art of Fin Whispering have become my primary focus, I still occasionally get invited to race endurance cars, and will likely always struggle to fully contain my inner racer on the road ... kind of like this: https://goo.gl/iPBTqp)

 

[braindamage]

Me: I'm Rob, 48. And I'm a slalom waterskier

 

BOS: HI ROB...

 

I live on Lac LaBelle in SE Wisconsin. I grew up on crystal lake south of traverse city, mi. My dad is a boat fanatic, and though he is really a sailor, he bought a 1969 evinrude tri-hull and taught us to ski. I loved skiing from the very beginning and quickly moved to slalom. I also snow skied competively in high school and college.

 

My brother and our friends put in tons of hours skiing, but with no instructions other than every once in a while buying a water-ski magazine. I was the fanatic. All I wanted to do was fill my boat with bikinis and ski.

 

You couldn't put up a course so we only did open water skiing. (Though I did enter a competition once just to get a chance to run one) I bought my first boat as a replacement to the evinrude in 1984. It was a Chris craft scorpion 186. We propped it down so it could pull a skier with 8 ppl in the boat. Great party boat, not so great ski boat, but we didn't care. "Braindamage" was my first boat's name due to the partying and aggressive skiing we did, so that's where my avatar name comes from. I sold it to my parents to pay for my final year in college. We averaged 100hours per summer in the short N Mich season, which is quite a feat.

 

I graduated from college, moved around a lot, and spent many years only skiing when I could get a pull or when visiting my family, maybe 0-2 times per year. We bought a lake cottage next to my parents home in 2004 and thats when I started to ski consistently at least a couple weeks out of the year.

 

In 2011 I bought a Malibu and started skiing regularly again. My form was awful and since I'm old I could only ski 1/week to recover. I started to learn better form from the 'net, bought my first new-to-me HO CX SL in 2015 (used to have 1989 HO extreme). I got to skiing 1-2x per week but my form was still really bad.

 

We moved onto a lake in 2014. My middle son got the bug and he was my primary ski partner. He's now in college. More hours on my Malibu doing sunset Margarita cruises with my wife than skiing (not complaining).

 

This past summer I met UW Skier and he and our friend "Boomer" helped me improve my form more in one season than I did the previous 40+ years. I now ski 3ish times per week, multiple passes and sometimes multiple sets. I am really loving it!! I plan to be in better shape for next season so I can pick up where I left off.

 

I lurk on BOS a lot. I don't post that often cuz I don't have a strong technical background and the technical language is a bit esoteric. I'm learning.

 

This is a great site!! Thanks to Horton for doing a great job!!

[Gus]

Gus. 48. Married. IT. Netherlands, Europe.

 

Parents had a 50Hp outbound Chrestliner and could get me to sleep as a toddler by taking me out for a ride. Early 70's.

So I grew up family skiing. 70's, 80's..

Great summer hollidays!

A little holiday house next to a river, on the Belgian side. Where everyone had their boat in front.

 

I still remember the very first time - two very heavy white painted 'kid' ski's, made from normal wooden ski's with some parts cut-off. Horrible things. I also remember feeling great relief when I tried the - still way to big - normal Reflex ski's for the first time.

 

No slalom or jump possibilities in the river. Just skiing. At some point my older brother brought in some trick-ski's. Mesle. Big heavy wooden boards. Skiing backwards was a cool trick though.

So we played around. Pyramids. Long 10 Km rides. Barefooting.

There was nobody really to teach. No youtube, no internet. I found some books, but those cover the mere basics.

I learned how to barefoot from a book :)

 

But tricking was my thing. And became my sport.

Crawled up, without coaching to around 2000 points, with the basic toes until TO, steps and WO's, which I only did hand-to-hand. WLO.

 

By that time the neighbours had a nice Boesch boat, my brother had a Boesch and a barefooting friend had a Ski Nautique, a brand new 2001 I guess. We'd practice together, he'd barefoot, I'd trick.

I joined the Belgium waterski federation, about to do the first competition.

 

Then I took a bad fall with a WLO, which put me in hospital. I must have been around 17-18 then.

Skiing on a reflex wooden trick ski, one of a pair, quite long and small.

 

My Kidder trick ski, ordered from the US, sadly arrived a couple of weeks afterwards. I fully recovered, but the holiday house and the boat were sold. And so was the Kidder. I went to college, and the skiing stopped.

 

That was 30 years ago.

 

4 years ago from now, I started again. Decided to not do toes and keep it safe. With some friends we bought a 60Hp Sim Super V, little speed-boat. Just right for a bit of skiing. After a while on an old O'Brian trick, I got a Quantum. Ánd we upgraded to a 97 ski nautique.

Took me a year to go to a Reflex binding, which I now love.

 

In the first year I took part in a Dutch competition, for fun, 660 points. My first competition ever.

The Dutch waterski community was very helpful and welcoming, I could join a training of the Dutch national team, and received brilliant coaching from Belgian Coyotte, 45+ World Champion. WBB RWBB, W5F, and he encouraged me to add the steps again, which I did. Except the WLO off course. My goal for this year was 2000+ points and I scored 2120 in a competition, such a great feeling!

660-940-1640-2120.. it's getting pretty tough now - let's see next year.

 

I'm also very grateful for this site! Thanks!

There's so much high quality information on water skiing here. And so much love for the sport. Fantastic.

[ROBOT]

I am just a glorified toaster

[Rednucleus]

I am a 60 year old small animal veterinarian, married, 2 adult kids (both recently moved home to "reevaluate life"). Started skiing with my best friend in 1977; still ski with him every Wed at Bow Lake. Have added Hilltop lake in the last year and BOS as well! The older I get the better I ski - just hope my old body hangs in there for a few more years. You guys make me smile and look forward to another ski every day - keep it up!

[PeterAK]

Hello. I'm Pete, and I live in Milwaukee, WI. Learned to ski behind runabouts on the backwaters of the Mississippi as a teenager. Got into wakeboarding as a 20 something (but I was never any good). Had a couple of direct drive boats during that phase, which were sold when I got into long course triathlon (Ironman Wisconsin finisher in 2007 and 2009). Marriage and kids followed. We went in on a runabout with my wife's brother and didn't use it too much when our kids were toddlers. Fall of '17 we bought a cabin in Waupaca and spring of '18 sold out of the runabout and I picked up a '92 PS190.

 

At 43 I'm more stoked than ever by the feeling of a good cut on a slalom ski. My kids, now 6 and 8, can now both get up long line on trainer skis. They sometimes hate me for it, but they are not allowed on a tube until they have taken at least one ski run. I figure they'll thank me for this later in life. :smile:

 

The lake our cabin is on is not a very good ski lake but being by the water there is still my happy place. I get out with a buddy on Pine Lake (just NW of Milwaukee) at least once a week after work, either in my PS or his early 90's SN.

 

I'm a mortgage loan officer and own a handful of rental property. I enjoy the work and the flexibility that comes with it.

[philkyle]

My name is Kyle. I started skiing the course and jumping in grad school. My team at Grand Valley State University qualified for nationals and I had the time of my life!! I have been looking for courses to ski ever since. I just moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. If anyone reads this and needs a driver, gas, and ski partner I hope you message me for my phone number. I have been learning all about the ski scene in NC and can't wait to get on the water.

[IGski]

Hello everyone, My name is Ike and I am a skiaholic…. Started skiing when I was a kid a couple times a year with my uncle. Have owned boats and skied throughout the last 30 years. Learned how to ride just about anything on the water but never had the fortune of skiing enough to be real good or have access to a course & jump. Good skiable water access was always a problem for me. Finally, a few years ago, we were fortunate enough to get a membership and lot into a ski/Rec club here in Illinois. So here I am at 49 years old addicted to slalom and running the course.

I am not a BIG baller like a lot of you but making progress every year. You know... progress like... shatter my ankle two years ago, rotator surgery last year....LOL...only makes me want to ski more for some reason..... My PB was last year back to back -22@32mph and I was stoked seeing that I was coming off the rotator surgery.

ballofspray fundamental videos have me ready for spring with lots to work on and great advice from everyone.

I'm ready to go get my next PB...-28 here I come.....

[mfjaegersr]

(And this explains why searching for posts like 'Introduction' or 'First Post' yielded little/nothing.)

 

Hey Ballers,

 

Michael here in Vancouver, WA. 50+ years old and have skied for most of them, learning on the mighty Columbia river at about 6. Despite the love, didn't ski much until I bought my first boat at 18 - a 12' homemade low-profile 2 seater speedy looking thing with a 50 HP merc older than me...pulled that thing all over the place (from behind the boat!). What an eye-opener and tendon-stretcher when I met the course and tournament boats in 1985! Trained at LineOff Lake for a couple seasons before moving cross-country to pursue fame and fortune (mostly fortune). The last tourney I entered was in Chattanooga in summer 1988, after buying my first Nautique from Cherokee Landing in Clarksville, GA.

 

Simply free-skied for the next 23 years while living in Atlanta, LA, SFO, and back in Portland. Lived in England for 3 months in 1989 and co-workers hosted a good-bye party for me at a private lake (bet there are Brit Ballers on here that know the place). I semi-retired from skiing (coaching kids sports will do that to you/activities) and sold the '87 SN in 2008 to buy a fishing boat.

 

Divorce in 2013 led to an Extreme Makeover: Me Edition...and un-retirement from skiing! Joined Warman Lake in 2016 and bought the '98 SN. Looking to breakthrough this season by running -15/34 and getting into -22. PB is 4@ -15/34 (at that Chatt tourney). I need coaching...

 

I tricked in one tournament (two skis, 5th place; 520 points...still makes me laugh); went over the jump twice in practice - one complete 'crush', the other an 'on my heels' special, to learn slalom was my niche.

 

Two college kids, two cats. Long time technology Sales Professional and semi-geek. Eager for Spring Chinook season to get here...which means ski season is right around the corner!

 

I believe the tag 'Baller' is more about a state of mind than a performance threshold...

 

MJ

 

 

[Jody_Seal]

Jody Seal,

Grand watuse of Team Seal.

Chain saw operator, single wheeled dump truck operator, heavy lifting specialist.

Can ride both a trick ski and slalom ski.

Been over the jump numerous times. Current Montana state knee board slalom record holder and perennial Montana state knee board overall champion, (By Acclimation) .

2019 goals are to do all my deep water starts and make big spray!

[Horton]

So many new users and believe it or not all are men. So who are you guys?

[jimmyjamesbrown]

Hey Ballers,

 

I'm James Brown (yup). Begged for ski rides from family friends as a kid behind I/Os, outboards, fishing boats on whatever combo slalom ski could be found. Spent summers in a trailer park in Muskoka, Ontario. All open water free skiing. Intro to course skiing as a teen at Bush's in Bala, ON...only once a year, but I loved trying to get around those balls. After high school didn't ski through university and into early work life at all (I'm a Metallurgical Engineer). Met my future wife and fate/luck would have it, she grew up skiing as well and I was reintroduced to skiing at her folks cottage (their lake has a course!); that was 14 years ago and I think I get more addicted every year...I just love skiing. PB few years ago ran -32@36. Can't seem to get back there (-22@34 on a good day) but this summer have taken a few lessons (McClintocks and Bush's) and enjoying working on form. And this spring finally got a boat of our own, a 2000 Malibu SSLXi....loving it and looking forward to plenty of good family time (3 daughters) on the water in the Kawarthas for years to come. Super glad this forum exists, has certainly further ignited the fire!

 

Cheers!

[emwheaton]

I'm Eric, age 32, and I live in Oconomowoc, WI. Learned to ski when I was around 5, spending most summer weekends at our family cabin in Three Lakes, WI. I spent the next 20some years as a casual free skier behind my parents '92 Sport Nautique. I've always enjoyed skiing, but didn't really become passionate about skiing until about 4 years ago. I think it was probably after watching the Malibu Open when it was still at Veterans Park in Milwuakee, but I had a newfound passion for the sport and decided that I wanted to take it more seriously and try to get better.

 

Upgraded to a Nautique 200 that fall, bought a portable course the following year, and have been hooked ever since. We still have the same family cabin that I grew up skiing at, so my wife and I spend our summers hauling our boat back and forth almost every weekend (about a 4 hour drive). We drop the course in up there on the weekends and try to get out and free ski around here once a week after work, usually on Pine Lake. My wife loves to ski, but isn't the greatest driver... Fortunately, my sister also lives in the area and married someone who loves being out on the water as much as we do (he was a professional wakeboarder for number of years but we we're able to convert him to a skier), so we have a dedicated group that is willing to wake up early to put the course in the water before the lake gets busy. Both my wife and sister delivered first babies in May, so its been a bit more of a challenge this year to get out early morning, but we can't wait to get them up on skies.

 

I've never had any professional coaching, so I've spent the last 4 years trying to reverse 20 years of bad muscle memory and self-taught technique. I've been a lurker for a few years, but I'm super grateful for this forum and everyone that shares all of their knowledge. I've been stuck at 34/-22 for the last couple years, which is frustrating, but at the same time, I'm inspired every time I read posts from you guys in your 50's/60's still skiing short line knowing that I've got another lifetime of skiing in front of me to get better.

 

 

 

 

[mike_mapple]

Im Mike, as the name states.

 

Im living in Orlando Florida, I am the Internet sales guy at Performance Ski and Surf. I guess you could say I have been around Water-skiing my entire life? I took a short break an worked outside of the industry but am happy to be back.

 

I guess some things people do not normally know about me, I was a college basketball player, but after some coaching changes at my school and missing the water I moved home to work with my dads company. I was never as good as people thought I should be for water skiing, which is fine because my passion was not to be a skier but loved coaching, and the business side of the sport. (Had big shoes to fill, but filling them my way) I think over the years I have gotten to meet a lot of people of this site in person.

 

What everyone knows, and questions I get at the shop all the time.

 

1. Yes Andy was my Dad.

2. My Mom is doing good, thank you for asking.

3. I still ski sometimes

4. Im VERY happy to be back in the waterski industry as its in my blood.

 

I love to talk about skiing from any time of the sport, so hopefully this makes it a bit easier if anyone has questions for the shop to reach out as well. Or ever wants to talk about skiing.

 

[Clydesdale]

Hi everyone-I’m Dan, age 54. I started skiing around age 10 on a small lake in Maine where my parents had a camp. There was (and still is) a show ski club on the lake which I skied with for several years. I participated in several novice tournaments in the 80s, and then pretty much dropped out of skiing for a couple decades. 10 years ago my wife and I bought a camp on that same lake, and my son joined the same ski club. I helped by chasing skis, driving, coiling ropes. Then 6 years ago my son showed interest in tournament skiing so we spent a week at Swiss ski school just for fun. I had assumed I was over the hill and was shocked to see many skiers at Swiss in their 60s or even 70s. So... there goes my whining about being old. ;-) We bought a portable slalom course we use in Maine, and plan to continue visiting Swiss as often as possible. I ski like crap. But love doing it and after 5 or 6 years I think I’m finally beginning to fix a lot of bad habits I burned into my brain back in the 80s......

[TomH]

Tom here - 38 years old. I learned how to ski somewhere around age 5 or 6 on one of our annual lake resort trips back in the day in Northern MN. From then on, I do whatever I can to get on the water. We had a miscellaneous collection of boats growing up from an old tri-hull to a Larson runabout, and a finally a fish/ski bass boat that my dad still has that was a pretty nice barefoot/slalom machine. In my teens I got associated with a couple different show ski teams and have been somewhat associated with that group ever since. Summer evenings in high shcool were spent either at practices or fishing on the lake for a few hours followed by ski sets up until sunset. I've always been one that enjoys a multitude of water sports, and on any given time at the lake you'll find me on a slalom, barefooting, wakeboarding, trick skiing, or a host of other things. Slalom and barefooting are my two passions though.

 

In 2006/2007 we promo'd a couple Prostar 197's for the ski team I was on at the time, and from then on decided I would have an inboard no matter what (as much as I like outboards for footing). After marriage and kids, my wife and I finally drummed up the cash to pick up a low-hour 94 Hydrodyne inboard about 6 years ago, and have been loving getting the kids introduced to watersports ever since. Both our boys have been on the water since 2ish starting with platform trainers next to the boat, then out back, then onto skis, and some barefoot training on the boom. At 7 and 8 they're both pretty good skiers, but both fell in love with the kneeboard last summer, and will pick that most of the time. Up until this summer, I had them convinced our boat wasn't capable of pulling a tube, so they've only ever done that at friend's places... :smiley:

 

In a couple weeks, we're finally completing our ultimate dream of getting on the lake, and are moving onto an awesome lake a little north of the St. Paul/Minneapolis metro area, and plan to be here until we die. I'd love to get a course up on our new lake at some point, but with the current population on the lake, I don't think it would go over well. But anyone that's up in the Wyoming, MN area will certainly be welcome to take a rip.

[ReggieO]

@mike_mapple Great to hear from you and glad you are doing them your way. Take care of yourself and thanks for all you do for us that order online from Performance!

[Kimbymon]

Kim Wilk, 45 years old. Started skiing at age 4 on a lake in Mid-Michigan. Didn’t ski a course until I was 39. I joined a ski club last year and now ski 3, 4, and sometimes 5 times a week. Met @MISkier at work several years ago and my obsession for skiing went bonkers. He claims it was always there but took meeting him to come out. I started skiing tournaments last season and my husband calls this my “mid life crisis”. How can it be a mid life crisis if I have been skiing for 41 years? I have made a great progress in my skiing this year and hope to continue to make progress.

[HMan66]

I’m Harold Bessette. 53 years old, currently living in Riverside, CA. I learned to ski when I was around 12 in Kaneohe Bay on the windward side of Oahu behind a 19’ Larson I/O on a set of crappy, white painted wood doubles.

 

When I was 16 I joined the Na Ali’I Waterski Club in Honolulu. We skied in Ke’ehi Lagoon out by the airport. There was a slalom course and a ski jump. I skied mostly behind an old Ski Tique (pre Nautique) owned by a salty old Navy guy that put vodka in his coffee (RIP J. Fred). I was a poor teenager and didn’t have money for a new ski so I was using the single from the wood doubles set. It was junk and the tail would blow out if I pushed it at all. Occasionally I got loaned a Connelly Shortline to use, but it wasn’t “mine” and it was, well, occasional. Mike Suyderhoud had a waterski pro shop in Hawaii Kai at the time and I’d go by there every few weeks to demo slalom skis. I was pretty fond of the O’Brien Competitor at the time. After a few demo’s they realized I wasn’t going to buy anything so the demo’s ended.

 

I moved to Northern California in 1986. I had a boss that had a mini daycruiser and started skiing the Delta, which has 1,100 miles of some of the best open water skiing in the country. As time went on I met more people that had boats and I’d ski behind anything! I’ve skied behind a Hawaiian jet, Howard V drive, numerous tri-hulls, a Bayliner Capri, open bow daycruisers, Marlin Aries Barefooter (Worst crash I’ve ever had. Stuffed the tip into the wake, slammed my head into the water and ended up with a ruptured eardrum and a fractured skull), ‘87 Malibu Skier, ’89 Ski Centurion Falcon, a few mid 90’s Ski Nautiques, ’96 Tige FSLM Comp, ’77 Airborne Low Profile with a Merc 150 O/B (MY first boat), Nautique Super Sport, 2003 Centurion Elite Bowrider (my 2nd boat), ’06 MasterCraft Prostar 197 (2nd worst crash. Out of balance over the 2nd wake and was going over the front but my back foot stuck in the boot. Swore I tore my achilles it hurt so bad. Ended up with a severely swollen ankle for a few weeks. It still swells up from time to time), ’85 MasterCraft Stars and Stripes (probably the best ski wake ever) and my current boat: 1996 MasterCraft ProStar 190.

 

I’ve never had any professional instruction but I’d like to get some and someday make a full pass through the course. I’ve loved waterskiing since the first day I tried it. It’s just one of those things, and I’m sure everyone here knows what I’m talking about since we all suffer from it! I have a 17 year old daughter that I tried to teach to ski. She got up, tilted to one side and faceplanted. That was the end of that. She’s taken to wakeboarding though and I’m happy she enjoys boating and being out on the water. Besides, she’s my 3rd!

 

Through all my years of skiing/boating/houseboating I’ve met nothing but great people along the way! If anyone here lives near Riverside, CA I’m available to do some dawn patrol rips at Lake Perris. My boat, your boat, whatever…lets go!

 

[MISkier]

@Kimbymon did make exceptional progress this year. She went from never running the course at all to running 2+ passes in several tournaments and working on taking down 28 mph (already done in practice). A tournament PB increase of 48 buoys since last year. There is one tournament remaining, so she will have at least one more shot this season.

[LakeboyWWK]

Hey Ballers,

My name is Morgan Millward, I’ve been a member for a little over a year but have primarily been a lurker. I have to say that this site is amazing, it has been great therapy for me as I have been off the water this year trying to heal an elbow injury. The way this community helps each other out, embraces new members and shares their knowledge and enthusiasm for skiing is inspiring.

 

I’m 57 years old, live in Toronto, Canada and started skiing at our family cottage in Muskoka at age 8. As kids we skied on anything that would float but as I got older the slalom bug took hold. I skied up until my mid 20’s, took a few years off and then joined a club just north of Toronto in 1996 which was 12 minutes from my office. During those years I ended up skiing 4-6 times/week on my lunch break and weekends. We had to move the club 30 min further north so the frequency went down until the club closed in 2013. I hadn’t skied since then until last summer when I bought a 95 Response for our cottage, went back at it way to hard and tore a tendon in my elbow. Hope to be back on the water for next spring.

 

[Cnewbert]

Hi y'all, my name is Chris Newbert. I live with my wife, Melanie, in beautiful Reddick, FL, a small town outside of Ocala, known as the Horse Capital of the World. We have a horse farm here with 4 horses and are both avid riders. I'm a retired marine life photographer and author of two coffee table photo books of my work . My first book was selected by the Reagan White House as a Presidential Gift of State and remains the biggest selling and most award winning underwater photo book of all time. My second book was awarded the World Grand Prize for the Best Book of Underwater Photography in Antibes, France. That's what I did when I was gainfully employed. No more. I'm presently 70 years old and first started skiing in my 20s every now and then while living in Kona, Hawaii behind my 16' Boston Whaler with an 80hp Merc. None of us had a clue, nor did we have anyone to learn from, so we basically followed the boat on a long line with split handles, avoiding the ocean whitecaps as best we could. Truth be told, beer drinking was our primary focus for the day, with a little bit of what passed for skiing thrown in for entertainment and laughs. From Kona I moved to Aspen to snow ski and every few years I'd get a chance to water ski somewhere or another. I loved it, such as it was, but my opportunities to ski would be many years apart. Even after moving to Florida 6 years ago I had no idea that anyone even water skied here, as we never once saw anyone skiing on the public lake we'd boat on occasionally. I figured maybe the gators ate anyone who dared try. Little did I know that an hour south was the epicenter of water skiing on the planet. But in very late 2016 I discovered by chance a water ski club not terribly far away and immediately joined. It was the first I ever heard of short line skiing, stack position, slalom courses and so forth. It was a revelation. So 2017 was my first true full season of slalom skiing and I became quickly addicted. Last year at age 69 I tried skiing the course for the first time and was eventually able to get through at 15 off, 30mph maybe 40% of the time, generally ending at the 6 ball with a make it or break it desperation turn. I might make it, but it was not a pretty sight. I realized my lousy technique would forever mire me at this low level, so since then I've backed away from the course in an effort to try and develop some semblance of decent form. That remains a work in progress, but at least I'm trying, a good offside stack remaining my nemesis. I'm currently skiing 3x weekly at 32mph, 22-28 off on a 65" Radar Lithium Vapor. My enthusiasm is such that we're presently trying to sell our Reddick farm and buy a waterfront horse farm on our favorite lake so we can enjoy the best of both worlds without commuting. If we pull that switcheroo off, there will be a Prostar in my future!

[a_bax]

I'm Alana Baxter. I got up on 2 skis for the first time ever on Sept 10th, 2011 in Idaho on the Pend d'Oreille River...and since that day I've been hooked! For my birthday that spring, my boyfriend John (@jpattigr) gave me a ski and a comp vest. Now seven summers later, the boyfriend is my husband, I don't ever miss a start, but I do (on occasion) miss my 22' off pass and I'm hopelessly trying to learn trick and jump...and I'm reminded of that first summer when I thought I would be just be happy if I got up on every try. I am so grateful for all the memories we've created on the water and for the ones still to come.

[pmski]

Hey ballers

My name is Paul Montgomery, I'm 54, I learned to ski around 11 years old on Lake Muskoka in Ontario Canada, growing up my father was the chef at a summer lodge called Bangor Lodge, in my early teen's I had the summer job of ski instructor at the lodge, it was mostly teaching first timers then drop a ski, all open water skiing, great memories! in my high school years we moved to New Smyrna Beach, Florida where we would start skiing in the intercostal, it wasn't until my late twenties that I would build a house on a private lake in Deland, Florida with a ski course, shortly after we bought a new 1995 Ski Nautique from Southeast Correct Craft we had a chance to meet Ralph Meloon and tour the old factory it was an awesome experience, that sold me on Correct Craft for life, we would keep that boat for 22 years, in 2017 we ordered a new 200 from Jeff at Orlando Nautiques (great guy). In the summer we pick a month and have a ski school for the kids around the lake every Saturday morning I don't think kids today have the chance to ski as I did growing up, we've had as may as 30 kids learn to ski on a Saturday! I still have friend's from Canada show up for skiing in the winter, so if any Muskoka boys are in Florida for the winter look me up for a free ski, I'm 10minutes west of Daytona Beach on I4 heading towards Orlando, and if you want a course lesson I'm very fortunate to have Chris Parrish 5 minutes away!

[Horton]

bump

[75Tique]

Hi, I'm Larry. 65 years old. Learned to ski at around 9. Fortunate enough to have a family boat and a summer place on the water. A few years later, my dad traded the old woodie for a 66 Correct Craft Mustang. Became enthusiastic about the sport around 16 - 17. For my age and experience, I should be a much better skier and barefooter, but I was never exposed to or had access to show skiing, a slalom course or competition. I just did it for fun. At 17, a friend and I taught ourselves to barefoot, certainly a novelty on our small lake in 1972. Fast forward to post college years, and a move to Houston. My own boat, regular skiing and footing, but still no course work. Stepped up barefooting by graduating from dropping a ski to deep water starts, tumble ups, tumble turns, one foots, toe hold. Never got backwards despite a few futile tries. Next chapter, family and kids. Little to no more skiing with "ski buds." All family time on the water. Kids became good skiers/wakeboarders. That lasted about 15 years. Now its about 2005-2010, kids are pretty much grown and on their own. Super rare access to a course, but met up with some footer friends that reignited my interest in going backwards. In my late 50's early 60s taught myself short line then long line back starts. In this recent chapter, also getting some exposure to courses, in fact, have custody of one now. Again, despite having over 55 years of experience, I am just now graduating from being a 15 off to a 22 off skier. But the challenge is real and fun and making 22 for me means as much as making 39 means to someone else. Here is a little video recap, its a little crude, but it is now 15 years old. I did it at the infancy of do-it-yourself videos.

 

[vic]

Hi am Vic 73 this year have open lake skied on and off most of my adult life. After 25 years off I started skiing with my sons in 2015 having had both knees replaced in 2014. I started on a 2000 connelly hook had a lot of trouble getting up. Both sons recommended newer wider ski. Got a 69 Connelly Outlaw with Nova Front boot. Managed some Full Passes 2019 and 2020 at 15 off and 26MPH Now on a 2003 Connelly F1X and relearning everything. Looking to upgrade ski to 2020 model. but having trouble picking one out. Love skiing and get out three or four times a week behind a 1998 Ski Centurion Falcon I bought last year.

In the Winter I go south and have been skiing with Erick Lee for the last 2 years. Great fun that, Love it. Skiing has helped me stay active and healthy and probably saved my Life because it keeps me going. In 2017 got leukemia which was treated with Chemo. Still going strong now. Happy skiing everyone.

[Andrew11]

Hi, I’m Andrew 28 and live in Madison, WI. I started skiing with my family around 6 years old and slalom skiing around 9 in northern Wisconsin. We started out skiing behind an alumacraft with a 50 hp. I mostly ski with them behind a 150 hp lund.

 

I just upgraded from a Connelly concept to a Radar senate alloy. After watching more slalom competitions on YouTube I’ve gotten an interest in course skiing. I try to get out skiing on the weekends with my family around Wausau, WI. I ski mostly open water but a course has been put up recently so I’ve gotten a few tries at that. I have some (all kinds) of form issues but sometimes get a pass at 28mph with 15off.

 

I’m trying to find people around Madison or a ski school nearby to learn more. Nice to meet everyone!

 

[tjs1295]

@andrew11 Where do you ski around Wausau? I live in Merrill. My boat and skis are in Eagle River, but I'm always curious about what's available around Wausau.

[Andrew11]

@tjs1295 I ski on the wisconsin river where hwy 29 meets 51. I tried to attach a screen shot of where the course is. Basically, if you drew a line between the wausau downtown airport and the wausau country club. Then another line from ross ave/grand ave corner straight west. Where those two lines meet is the slalom course.

 

 

[tjs1295]

@Andrew11 Very interesting. I used to drive hwy 29 east for work most days, and would always look out at Lake Wausau. I knew people skied out there, never knew there was a course though. Thanks for the info.

[bparson]

I’m Brian, will be 55 in 2 days, started skiing when I was 10. Open water only from age 10(1975) then started course skiing in the early 90’s. By 1997 I started skiing on a private lake in Tuscaloosa, Al called Lymanland. Stopped skiing around 2005 due to my job and kids having other interest. Started back last year(2019). Ski with @Booze and at least one other member on here.

[escmanaze]

I guess I've been on this forum way too long to still not have done this eh? Shoot, I'm already a triple panda recipient and haven't even introduced myself.

 

My name is Scott Hinckley. I've been boating my whole life. Slalom skiing since the age of 10. First tried a course probably around 06 or 07. Instantly addicted, but couldn't actually start skiing the course a lot until 2013. Now the course is where you can find me and the family hopefully every saturday of the summer. I'm in the Utah Waterski Club, primarily based out on Utah Lake. Nice to meet you all.

[Joeprunc]

Hi I'm Joe. Dabbled in the boating world with an I/O growing up but never did much skiing. Bought my own boat in 2008 thinking I could wakeboard behind it, but the wake was so flat I started to ski instead.

I moved to Discovery Bay, CA in 2010 and several years later joined the Diablo Water Ski Club on the CA delta. I love all water sports, which probably is a hindrance on my skiing progression, but I have a smile every time I'm on the water. My wife and I have a new family member who at 15 months is also enjoying water sports.

 

[CNYStarsandStripes]

Hi all! Mike from Syracuse, NY. 42 and Love everything water sports, as does the whole family, but for me it's primarily skiing. Unfortunately I have never had the opportunity to ski a course, but have that on my bucket list. Grew up going to Brantingham Lake in the ADKs and learned to ski there behind my Grandpa's tri-hull with Chrysler 125hp outboard. Always drooled at the couple Mastercrafts/Nautiques that were on the lake and promised myself I would own one. Fast forward and have had a 85 Sea Sprite I/O, 95 Sport Nautique, 2001 Malibu 23LSV (Dad's), 2016 Malibu 23LSV (Dad's), and 1980 Mastercraft Stars and Stripes (Current). We trailered to lakes all over the upstate area until recently when my parents purchased a home on Skaneateles Lake. Big lake, big waves, no course. Oh well. Will continue to free ski using all of the skills and suggestions from this forum. I appreciate you all.

 

And my wife makes fun of me because I track down every skier I can find to try and coordinate ski time! Haha! So let me know if any of you are around this area!

[Hallpass]

@Joeprunc Is that Beaver Bay? We might be neighbors.

 

[Joeprunc]

@Hallpass that's Sand Bay, we live further south in Dolphin Cove.

[NotDeepNotKyle]

@Andrew11 Is that course is public? We free ski on Lake Dubay all the time. The lake had a public course roughly 10 years ago, but no luck since. Would love to get out on a course.

[Andrew11]

@NotDeepNotKyle Yes it's public. I only use it when other people arn't since somebody else set it up.

 

[cmcoutur]

@Andrew11 Very cool, my fiancé's family is in the Edgar area - I'll have to remember that course if we ever tow our boat back to his parent's place.

 

Hey guys, I'm Claire - I'm in my 20's and from lower Michigan, moved back home after college again too. I grew up skiing behind someone else's boat for one week each summer while on vacation and caught the ski bug there. I purchased a 1988 Prostar with my first paycheck last summer. After messing around in the course at Bennett's a few years ago and playing around with one at a local lake I was really interested in having a way to gauge improvement in my skiing.

 

I've been skiing with a local club this year and on a good day I can finish most of my passes at 28 - a really sloppy 30 has happened a few times. I also picked up a trick ski off of SIA for the rough public water days, but I'm only at a side slide for now.

 

I enjoy reading everyone's technique discussions here - I've been very lucky with great people at the club offering tons of advice this year so I'm excited to see where I can go in the course from here!

[Johnseed]

Hi, I'm John from Kentucky and I am a slalom addict. We ski on Williamstown Lake, about halfway between Cincinnat and Lexington, and we are blessed to have a fairly sheltered public course. I've been hacking at it since 1999 when we bought our SeaRay 180. My PB is 4@28 off @30mph, tourney PB is 5.5@30@15off. I still mostly ski the I/O but we are shopping for our 1st DD.

I'm 51 and the only full on addict in my family. My wife is my very patient full time driver and we love going to the lake. I have been a reader of BOS for a long while and finally joined this year. I love the tips and topics on this site.

My current ski is a Radar Theory with double Vector boots.

[gsteurer]

I'm Geoff and I live in beautiful Southern Utah (about 45 minutes from Zion National Park). I grew up in Northeastern Oklahoma where I lived a few minutes from Keystone Lake. My dad bought our first DD, a 1990 Malibu Sunsetter Euro f3, after months of me begging him and showing him the boat reviews from my new subscription to WaterSki Magazine. I was so obsessed with learning everything I could. Taught myself how to longline barefoot, do barrel rolls on the kneeboard, backflips on my Eric Perez Hyperlite model, and anything I could do behind the boat. But, when I accidentally discovered my first slalom course at Beaver Lake, Arkansas in 1991, I discovered my lifetime passion. Only had access to the course when we would visit there one week per year, so didn't have much of a chance to practice. Bought my first slalom ski from Ski Unique in Sand Springs, OK, an HO Mach 1. Had all the posters, books, and videos I could get my hands on to learn how to slalom. My dad even flew me out to stay with a friend of his in California where I got to have a day at Wet Set. Eventually left home, went to school, got married, had kids, and didn't have easy access to a boat or lake for 15 years. Decided to get back into the sport and booked some time at Horton Lakes in 2013 where Jack Horton and Elli Horton were kind enough to re-introduce me back to slalom (made a video about it here:

). I now ski on our local public lake that has a slalom course. I've had more coaching and my current PB is 4 @ -22 @ 34.2mph or also 4 @ -28 @ 32mph. The last tournament I skied in was in the early 90s in Oklahoma, so hopefully I'll get to ski . I'm currently on a Radar Vapor and have a 2008 Response LXi. I love being a part of this community and meeting great people!

[ALPJr]

Welcome @gsteurer . Nice to have you aboard!