Local support for (trick) skiing

[crashman]

Our local public water had a 20 mph speed limit and along with it a rule that permits wake boarding but does not allow skiing (Of course they allow tubing) and our community lost our local ski club this last spring to a local developer. Over Labor Day the park that controls the lake is hosting a ski show which has started a discussion regarding trick skiing. My view is that if wake boarding is allowed then trick skiing should be too and could be done safely within the 20mph speed limit. My problem is that I don't have much experience tricking to offer as discussion points. Feel free to chime in on the "Prairie Creek Reservoir Park" facebook page if you have any thoughts to share with our local authorities!

[MattP]

Just call it a "short board" and move on. It's the "same" as wake boarding your feet just face a different way. The officals won't know any better. It's done at slower speeds than 20mph traditionally so I don't see how there would be a problem with it.

[crashman]

@MattP very true but I am going to make a push to make it more official so that skiing can be promoted to the public and get more kids involved. Mostly I would like to see the "skiing is not allowed" sign removed from the boat ramp. I'm fortunate to have another place to ski but it kills me that they allow tubing and wakeboarding but have a huge "no skiing" sign.

[chris_logan]

@crashman I think a good starting point would be to approach the governing body that created the statute of "skiing is not allowed" and simply and respectfully just inquire as to why that rule is in place. That would allow you to formulate an intelligent presentation to them to change their thought process and prove why skiing should be allowed.

[crashman]

@chris_logan‌ have done so and the cover story is "it's not safe" but I think the real reason is "the sailing club controls the lake". The lake is governed by a local parks board which is appointed by elected city officials so I'm hoping if there is some grass roots support things can change- maybe in the next election cycle- and I'm hoping this ski show may be a catalyst for change.

 

Lets say I get a 5 minute meeting with the mayor- what should be the nature of my presentation?

[ntx]

@chris_logan and we all know that tubing is safe. LOL Sorry to hear this. If they enforce the 20MPH speed limit, most tubing happens above that speed.

[ToddL]

Not that this will help (it will probably get all towed sports banned), but you could ask USAWS for injury report rates and share this with the officials. Possibly Wakeboarding is no less safe than skiing.

 

How can a sailing club control a public body of water?

 

Then, why can't the water skiing club control a different body of water and make a rule, "No wake sports, personal water craft, or towed inflatables".

[chris_logan]

Seems if the sailing club controls the lake, then they'd want similar conditions to what you normally want with skiing... Not: 1)giant wakes from surfing and wakeboarding, and 2)random wallys pulling tubes with no regard for any other boat on the water.

 

I assume that if the 20mph speed limit is remotely enforced, that probably keeps PWCs to a minimum. Also, thinking about that speed limit, it should be interesting to see how they handle it when the show ski team transitions into barefoot.

[crashman]

Right- there's no PWC allowed on the lake and the tubing/wake boarding area is confined to a small area of the lake. Just to clarify the sailing club doesn't overtly control the lake but they are pretty active on the lake and buddy buddy with the park board- their goal I think is to minimize all types of motorized activity in the lake. Tubing began when there was enough local support for it- wake boarding followed with "if tubing is leagal then why not wake boarding" and I actually had some role in that decision hoping it could pave the way for a greater variety of towed sports.

[unksskis]

Is Chris Walker connected to this lake at all? That would be your first focus of attention if so... BTW, virtually no half-way decent wakeboarder goes under 20mph.

[wski1831]

If tubing and wake boarding is legal then why not trick skiing? Typically as you stated before, behind the scenes politicking is the way, and or a huge showing of support(letters and or attendance) . Back to your original request tricking is usually done at 17-18 mph. Done by children and adults form ages 3- 90, and is great way for families to bond together. The last random point, when this same thing happened with snow skiing, and snowboarding, were any legal presidencies?