Change the word "golf" to "water ski" and listen to the parrallels.

[Wish]

Gonna give @The_Krista‌ all the credit here. Stole this off her FB post. Video is a bit long but I think worth a watch when you consider how true it rings when you replace the words and then listen.

 

So the question is, and I'll paraphrase one of the last lines...", do we need new ideas to improve the "FUN" and accessibility of the sport that may be unsuccessful but it may push the reluctant industry into a better future?. If so what are some ideas. Remember, fun and accessibility. We've all seen the empty ski lakes (I ski on one often) with hardly a home or no homes because the "if you build it they will come"...and they didn't.

 

I'll point to @Mapple‌ as an example of moving the ball so to speak. His last tournament was a blast despite the winds. The format for the 2nd and 3rd rounds were as out of the box as I have ever seen. The whole format was out of the box. And it was fun.

 

OPEN TO DEPATE and DISCUSSION. Keep it respectful.

http://youtu.be/QFEYC4Z44v0

[Mapple]

It was fun to see skiers have fun with new formats. Takes away from everything being about the score. A really challenging weather day, but everyone stuck around, even after they skied! End of Sept this year should give us some better weather options and some improvements to the event.

[Horton]

@MarcusBrown‌ ...

[Ilivetoski]

My dad who is a life long golfer, has many times made this comparison. Not necessarily about golf dying similarly to skiing, but a lot of things in both sports are similar.

 

That said, I have 2 jobs. One at a golf retailer, one at a golf course. There is really no threat of golf becoming so small that there is not a market for it. Looking at how big it is in business, people are going to learn. Sadly, you cant take a client out for a business meeting on your lake and teach them how to ski while negotiating prices and quantity's. Going to a major championship this year it was sold out and if you didnt pre order your tickets you were not going to be able to go. Thats in Louisville- somewhere that really is not a golf mecca.

[Wish]

@Ilivetoski‌ I do not think the point was to say golf will shrink to there being no market but rather a peak in the sport itself..the 90s and early 2000s..and then seeing that sharp drop off. So how do you get that back?? A golf course closing every 48 hours is a scary statistic. So is seeing private lake after lake with empty lots or courses being removed from public lakes.

[MattP]

I was a competitive golfer for years be fore I went into rowing and skiing. I loved the game, took hundreds of hours of lessons and can still hit a ball to this day. I left the game because competition took the fun out of it and I did not have any other friends who played and the game just took too long to play. I'll admit my putting was not my strong suit. I made friends on the Jr. tournament circuit but they were never around for long and came and went very quickly.

 

I have found a new love for the game with my friends who really never golfed at TopGolf. We have FUN. I get to share some knowledge about the game with my friends and MANY of them have expressed their desire to go play on a real course together. I would love to take them to play a course with the giant holes! Every time I go to TopGolf it is packed with hours of wait time. Thats ok cause there is a bar. We have 2 TopGolf locations one is 10min from my house and the other is 25. I see parents sharing the game they love and I'm sure have begged their kids to go play with them for years be able to swing clubs together. I also see almost every stall full of kids in High School and College. THAT IS COOL and that is what OUR sport needs.

 

As in golf does our old guard need to let go and find a way to make this sport friendlier to the masses?

 

Are there the GOAT skiers who feel as Jack Nicholas does and say hey lets make it fun, who cares get people back out there on the water ? @Mapple‌

 

@Wish this might be the best post you have ever had BUT you stole it from @The_Krista‌ so...

 

 

I could write so much more on this... Just finished my last final of the semester so I hopefully can find the time here soon, but right now I need a beer.

[Horton]

Hodgepodge of thoughts as this relates to competitive slalom

 

Here in the California access to public water is highly restricted. I can only think of five public or semi-public sites with a slalom course plus the delta. I am sure there are a few more but not many.

 

The cost of entry / access is overwhelming

A single slalom course can generally serve about 4 rides per hour. A cable park can take dozens of “riders” an hour?

 

We lose a huge percent of young skiers the day they finish college

 

The rate of decline of membership/participation at USAWS/AWSA may not be an indicator of a decline in slalom skiing. Membership has fallen like a rock every year for a long time but I have not heard ski companies saying ski sales are on the same trajectory.

 

Trick and jump are almost lost events in California. They seem to be doing better in the South.

 

Maybe wakeboard and wakesurf = foot golf  / Wakesurf does look fun. Is there already a BallOfWake.com?

 

Maybe we are too stuck in our mega-technical / mega-expensive / mega-anal rut to see the path forward.

 

The difference between water skiing and golf is that golf does not have an access problem. The sports are similar in terms of being tedious but if there was a public ski site or club in every city we would not be at the same place we are at.

 

[RazorRoss3]

I think it's a lot more about creating access than interest. When we do out boat on campus day we fill an 80 person room two nights in a row with people interested because everyone likes the idea of being on a boat with friends and having fun on the water on a hot day. The interest is there but creating the access is difficult because while I have never golfed I would assume that a boat alone exceeds the capital investment of an average golfer with skis and gas and courses just adding to the ticket. If a combination of access and awareness were to increase that is what would grow the sport. In addition would it be the worst thing to allow wakeboards in trick like in college? Would it be the worst thing to add a 4th event or a hybrid event of some kind? If wakeboarding and skiing became more intertwined the crossover alone would significantly grow the sport.

[chris_logan]

I'll agree with most comments I have read thus far in that access is a large issue. There are a lot of private sites that maintain an elitist view, prohibiting public access and limiting memberships to a very small number. Why would a site turn away someone who was willing to pay for a regular membership, assist in maintenance, and be a driver for anyone who needed one (when available), etc?? Because the people in charge at those sites paid large $ to enjoy it (not necessarily use it), and unless they see you ponying up half a million to buy/build a house there, they couldn't care less what you would bring to the lake.

 

Attitude towards "outsiders" goes a long way to inspire or kill an activity.

[Brady]

I love this thread and would like to offer my input on it. It think there are several reasons why the sport is not growing, and I will list them below, however, I feel there is a HUGE difference between our sport and Golf, and that is the attitude of the elite in the sport.

 

I have been involved in Golf my whole life and competed at a professional level for 11 years. One thing that is very consistent in golf is an arrogance among the elite. There are very few pros who will "associate" with the masses, and even down to your local country club, the members--as a rule--have an elitist attitude. Even your local course members have an air about them. "I use this ball," "I have this new driver," "Why would I play with that guy, he is wearing jeans!" etc etc.

 

EVERY pro skier I have met, or had interaction with, could care less about what ski you are on, what skill level you are at, and what boat you are using...they are gracious and happy to be doing what they are doing and are excited you are there. I have pulled some very elite skiers with my 8 year old boat and Stargazer for a set up--Terry for example--and the common phrase is, "Thanks so much for the pull." They never once questioned my crappy line, or my 1/10th of a second fast or slow, they are simply happy to be on the water. Big difference there than what you find from the top of the golf world!

 

Now, I have said this before, but the biggest challenge I see to our sport is two-fold. 1. getting thru the course is extremely difficult for the average person, and 2. the public simply doesn't know how to get started. Almost all kids today think of wakeboarding, or surfing as the primary water activites, and once you can ski, there is a HUGE gap to be able to get thru the course. I started off my kids pulling them through the half course (gates on one side and balls on the other) they had success and fell in love. We just need to figure out a way to get people involved and the sport will grow. To a person, EVERY kid I have put in my boat and got them skiing, said that is was more fun than wakeboarding!

 

We are the new pioneers, and it is up to each of us to grow this sport!!

[Ilivetoski]

@razorRoss3 Only about 20% of golfers are members of a country club. That is what I would consider the "capital investment". A normal country club will have an initiation fee of anywhere from $7,000-$20,000. Plus their monthly (typically its not monthly, its every 3 months) rate. Most golfers dont have to worry about that. They pay between $20-$55 to play golf for the day and thats it. You can spend a lot more money in golf than skiing (I know people who have brand new $450 drivers every time I see them) or you can spend a relatively low amount.

 

One thing I have noticed, at least in my area, is that there are a TON more tournament golfers in the 8-12 year old range. In my range, the late high school/ college, there really does not seem to be that many competitive golfers.

 

I would relate the cost of entry to skiing similar to that of a country club. You really arent going to get into a ski boat under $10,000, after price of skis, private lake membership (usually), gas, etc. etc. you could have joined the country club. Barriers to entry can be a good thing IMO, but obviously too many creates problems.

[RazorRoss3]

@ilivetoski, my only comment would be that our sport is past the threshold for a healthy level of barriers to entry. Right now we need to take down as many walls as possible so the sport grows and eventually find an optimal level and attmept to maintain.

[jimbrake]

What is with this "it's too difficult mentality"? Where does that come from in society? This is happening in many sports. There are always some that are up for the challenge, that will put in the effort, but the masses want easy. I abhor that attitude. It's pervasive and to me it's a sign of a growing weakness in society that goes way beyond just sport.

 

I think making it easy to get started in our sport (access, equipment that's easy to use, fewer restrictive rules in tournaments, etc) and progress, especially for kids and newcomers, is great, but like everything (everything - sport, music, art, professions, etc.) if you want to be good, it's a long way up and it takes a lot of work to get there. Most of us won't get there so you better love the journey.

 

Slalom is hard. For most it takes years of effort (let's not even get into the money) to become proficient. Jump? Forget it. Difficult and dangerous. Trick? That ski is so slippery! I hate it.

 

Let's focus on getting more people started, but we will always suffer from low numbers of participants at the higher level. It's too hard you guys. Come on. Let's go to the mall.

 

Hey, you know what's easy and fun? A f'ing rollercoaster. Weeeeee! I don't have to do anything. I just sit there and go fast. Yay.

[Ilivetoski]

@jimbrake golf is the definition of a difficult sport. While not very physically challenging, 80% of golfers will never achieve a handicap under 18. This means that 80% of golfers will never be able to break 90 as a standard performance on a average difficult par 72 course. If you are a good golfer you really dont think of 90 as anything of a good score. I am not quite sure what your point is. Water skiing as a recreational sport is not hurting. The recreational part of it will never die off. There are huge amounts of people who like to go out and ride around on a combo pair or even a slalom behind their I/O. I would say most of the boaters that go out on the weekend enjoy recreational water skiing. A lot of them dont have courses at their lakes, as @Horton said in his post he can only think of 5 public lakes with courses in California. If 5 public lakes with courses in a huge state like California is not a barrier to entry I dont know what is.

[Wish]

@jimbrake‌ I think that is what the video package is driving at, pardon the pun. They want the recreational element to increase, the interest, and the fun. I did not hear anywhere in it that they want to change the game for the serious or pro golfer. So we may be talking more in the way of cable parks but maybe there's some ideas out there.

 

Like @MattP‌ I competed in golf in high school and enjoyed it. Took my clubs to FL when I moved and sold them within a year. I like the game but it just takes to long and takes away from my ski time. The idea of shaving off an hour do to bigger cup/hole would probably bring be back just for the fun factor. A loooong day at a tournament gets old. I like the idea of other skiers on my lake but not to many... not in favor of waiting. Have no idea how to speed up skiing but the ski parks seem to be a logical alternative. Just thinking out loud.

[Horton]

@chris_logan‌

I do not think you really understand the problem and painting owners on private lakes as elitist is ridiculous and a little offensive.

 

Let me first state that I skied for about 10 years always as a guest at one lake or another. I would have loved to find a club or any economical solution to my skiing. I did not want to buy a lot on a lake. The sport needs as many club lakes as possible. At almost every site in California, south of Sacramento you are an owner or a guest. There are no clubs around and it sucks.

 

Now I am an owner. I spend about $36k a year to own 1/6th of a private lake. That $ is before I spend a penny on gas or boat insurance or anything else. That is a lot of $ to me but that is not the issue.

 

More than ½ of the owners on my lake wakeboard or wakesurf so the average ride on a weekend is at least 20 minutes. That means that on average my boat is up in rotation about every 2 hours. It is rare for all 6 docks to be in rotation at once but it happens. Let’s say there are 4 boats in rotation – a rotation is at least 80 minutes. There are only so many hours in the day.

 

If I have friends or random Ballers over we could sit there all day and not get 2 or 3 rides in each. It is more typical for a private lake to have 8 or 10 lots. In those cases hopefully they can enforce 15 minute rides but with 8 lots in rotation that is at least 2 hours between rides. On Saturdays this means sitting at the lake all day even if it is just you and one or two other skiers. If there is a weeknight rush you can be screwed.

 

I struggle like crap to pay for the lake house and water time is limited as it is. Plenty of random Ballers skied at my house last year but I would not support a club on my lake. Let me say this again – friends and Ballers are always welcome but I do not owe you or anyone access. If you want access to private water buy a lot or make friends with owners.

 

None of this even touches on the liability and knucklehead factors. Freaking lawyers scare the crap out of me.

 

[TylerR]

@Horton‌ we all know places where the boats run less than half a day, they have members who haven't shown up to ski in months and they set the price of entry at more than a house at the other sites would cost to purchase, so I can see @chris_logan‌ 's point. I am always grateful for my friends who let me come ski at their private sites, but the reasons pointed out in this thread are why those of us who ski at my open water site will let anyone who shows up with gas money ski for gas.

[Wish]

More golf courses closed than opened in the U.S. in 2013 for the eighth straight year, according to the National Golf Foundation.

 

Best quotes from video.

"Answer is simple, they're just not having fun."

"There is a theme to who is hanging onto the old and who is moving to the new."

"If things aren't progressing then they eventually die."

 

Wonder how many man made ski lakes are at half the homeowner capacity or less. Or are barely making it on club dues.

 

 

[TylerR]

@Wish‌ I can point you to more than a few that are full on members but without guest sets wouldn't have but 5 or 6 skiers ski in any given week.

[Horton]

@wish is that a thing? Ski lakes with unsold lots? Out west there is almost nothing for sale and it is all overpriced.

 

Are you telling me there is capacity?

[TylerR]

@Horton‌ @Wish‌ speaks the truth

[jimbrake]

@Ilivetoski‌ and @Wish‌ - my first "sport" was golf. Started around 5. I know how difficult it is. I actually think about both a lot and I believe there are a lot of analogies between the golf swing and the slalom turn (note to self: start a thread comparing the golf swing to slalom and try to work in snow skiing biomechanics just to see how many heads you can make explode). I wasn't making much of a point (do I ever?) other than I can't stand how we have to take an awesome sport and somehow make it easier to get people to do it. It was just a "get off my lawn" rant.

 

Re: the "decline" of golf - we had a major boom in golf course building in Northern California from the mid-'90s to early '00s like a lot of places. In many cases it was driven by real estate speculation. Golf was just the primary amenity to attract buyers to the golf course communities. It was the real estate downturn that hurt golf more than golf being difficult.

 

Re: water skiing as a recreational sport not hurting? Where do you live @Ilivetoski‌? If that is the case there, cool. It's certainly not here. Our open water is full of PWCs, tubes, wakeboards, and wakesurfers. Weeeeee! I wish we had a public slalom course on every public lake.

[Wish]

Several in MN, Punta Gorda in FL (no idea how that is spelled) no homes, 2 lakes North of Orlando; 1 abandoned with one house (used to ski there) and the other only 2 Lots sold. Can't imagine that's all there is. I mostly travel between just those two states.

[RazorRoss3]

@Horton, pay a visit to the midwest sometime. I've skied quite a few sites up here and the only one that I've seen full or near full is waters edge in willmington, IL. Part of it is supply and demand and the other part is location. The sites in MN are at least an hour drive to the twin cities so theres a nice rush hour communte and in the winter you can't even use the lake you paid to live on. Then you look at demand and realize there are 5 manmade sites in MN and probably 30-40 skiers/ski families in the state so unless they all want to buy a 2-4 lots and that's suggesting they all buy lots then the sites aren't going to fill.

[Brady]

@wish come to utah. There are 6 man made lakes. All sold out and each lot at the 350k price range and up. And there are upwards of 18 lots per lake. I am working on a development now and if I an get the stars to align, it will be the biggest site by far in Utah.....and I don't worry a bit about selling out!!!

 

One other thought on the subject I think all of us lake skiers could do. Almost every time I am at the lake, if I see a fellow boater, I ask if they want a pull. Guys like @Garn relish it and join in and guys like @scotchipman groan, but I have pulled lots of random guys and gals and they always love it!! Skiing rocks!! It is like a never ending nirvana of pleasure!!!

[Horton]

@Brady‌ anytime you are causing @scotchipman‌ distress you are doing the Lords work

[crashman]

The first thing people need to realize about golf is that putting sucks- if it's on the green that's close enough. The last time I played I did so with a single club that I bought at Kmart on the way to the course. I gurantee i was having more fun than anyone else.

[thager]

Drink a beer a hole and even golf can be fun!!!

[gt2003]

My thought is it's up to us "old school" folks to introduce skiing to the younger generation. Pretty much all they see is wakeboarding. Ok, great, they are on the water. Now, throw them a challenge and see if their ego gets in the way? Can you get up on two? What about 1?

 

I just bought my boat this year. We took out my gf's 20 y.o. son to wakeboard. He did it once then saw us skiing and decided to try it. He didn't wakeboard anymore the entire weekend. I think it's "monkey see, monkey do". It's the new craze. Give them a new, harder challenge and let's see how this goes. Show them the old guy/girl can do something they can't. Really, a 45 yr old fat guy can do that and I can't..."F" him!!

 

HOWEVER, it's up to us because the current generation for the most part is all about the board. I live in Oklahoma. I hear there is a slalom course on my home lake but I haven't seen it. It's one more challenge I've got to try just to prove I can do it, even if it's at a very long line length. I think if we get the younger generation committed to one or two skis that the participation level in the sport will rise!

[gregy]

@crashman I agree with you on putting. My father and brother were obsessed about golf as we are about skiing. When I played with them I usually quit when I got to the green. My father had a membership at a country club, I usually just went to the driving range and rarely played a round. I gave my clubs to goodwill last year and hadn't used them in years. I barely have time to ski so golf is out of the question.

 

As far as the popularity of skiing, seems to be loosing to boarding. Specifically the impressions of the young. I frequent 4 different public lakes in the Austin Tx area. I'm often the only skier on the lake. The rest are wakeboard or wakesurfing (and making it difficult to ski). Wake boarding is cooler, per my kids. Same thing with snow skiing. I took the kids snow skiing several years in a row. One year they decided they had to snowboard because skiing wasn't cool. After a day and a half of snowboarding they decided they liked skiing better and it was easier.

 

I ski at a membership lake and its often hard to find someone to ski with. Compared to late 80's and early 90's at the same lake you often waited hrs to get a ride. Most local skiers have bought at private lakes.

 

Easiness of the slalom course is somewhat relative to the times I think. I skied regular from age 7 and made it through the course within a few tries when I first started it at 18. If you haven't skied a lot and try to learn the course it might seem impossible - this maybe part of the instant gratification thing. I think in the past there were a lot more skiers like me that were pretty comfortable on a ski before trying the course. Skiing and Golf may have to adjust to today's attitudes to survive.

 

There are definitely similarities to golf and we need to take note. The large holes could be equivalent to easier courses. The cost of both. My kids go to Top Golf fairly regularly and always talk about it. I haven't tried it. When I was a teenager some friends and I would go to a ski cable park in south Houston. We had a lot of fun. Cable park seems to be the closest equivalent to Top Golf that I can see.

[gregy]

Wakeboarding could definitely be seen as equivalent to the kick golf. Like @Mattp says maybe combine more with wakeboarding and use it to draw more folks to skiing.

[MattP]

Just had 5 friends ask me to play golf at a real course tomorrow. These are also the friends I take to the public lake to wakeboard and go to TopGolf with.

[Skoot1123]

I wonder how much of the "issue" is: a) perceived and b) location dependent? As @brady said the sites there are sold out! As @horton said in California things get packed and then you just sit around and wait. No wonder private sites exist for the sole purpose of having your own lake - for better access (even if it is crowded) to a course. To me the biggest hindrance to this is that on many PUBLIC waters you don't see a course installed for one reason or another. I believe educating the public is where changes will be made. It won't be easy - that's for sure, but we must all thrive on some level at a challenge because look what sport we are enjoying! Way to go @brady for pulling "Joe" at the local lake. That's where it (education) all begins!

[chris_logan]

@Horton I actually understand where you're coming from, and agree with you - to an extent.

 

I get lakes having long cues to ski and everybody get equal time on the water. Unfortunately, it's not always as you have described it. Believe it or not, there are ski lakes that don't even offer rights to use the water to all of the surrounding (touching) lots. Primarily what I'm getting at is that there are lakes where the majority of lot owners don't ski, and sit on their memberships to prevent others from having the opportunity. They like having the calm water out back and don't appreciate outsiders (even those skiing as a guest of someone else) using the lake. I've also heard this mentality justified by claiming that the lake membership could be used as a selling point when they are ready to sell their home.

 

So if the lake isn't being used at all (or very little) because the members like their peace and quiet, then that leaves other ballers out to dry, and thus has a negative effect on the sport. I know of several lakes that either once were this way or are now.

 

That's where the community atmosphere is important to grow the sport. To tie this back into how it relates golf and skiing: think of it like a semi private golf course. There are days it is members only, and other days it is open to public (outsiders) use, but priority goes to members first. Allowing access, within reason, to guest ballers to use the lake for what it was built, should not seem absurd. Growing the sport is about being inclusive and doing away with the exclusive mentality.

[Horton]

@chris_logan so there are some A-Holes in the world. I guess you have seen this happen first hand. I have not so I have to imagine it is not an overwhelming problem. On the other hand if the HOA allows it the is the deal people got into.

 

I have seen and am not surprised that there is some amount of bazaar bullshit between owner at every private lake.

[aupatking]

@Brady I liked your post earlier about our sports elite being "in-touch". Even the people at local tournaments invite you into their homes. It's a special community. It's bringing new people in to the first stages of tournament skiing that needs work. It's getting people out of the "skiing as recreation" and into seeing it as a sport that we have to build on.

[gregy]

Unfortunately I've heard of situations where arguing and politics amongst lake owners is bad.

 

As far as being an A-hole if you forked out a lot of money for a house on a private lake then I say it's your right to be an A-hole. I have 5 acres I finally had to start being an A-hole to my friends that wanted to park trailers etc. It was causing friction between my wife and I and no one was every around when I needed help. It was a hand full of friends I had to tell then to get there crap and frankly I was a A-hole about it, probably of few of them upset with me.

 

Someone was telling me one of the older ski lake communities near Houston had lakes that were rarely used because the owners have quit skiing or don't ski. I can't imagine why someone would by a house on a private ski lake and not be a skier?

[SkiRV]

Just moved from a private lake in WA where tubes out number skiers, wakeboarders, and barefooters combined. Lake sat empty a majority of the time.

 

I sold to be closer to grandkids and downsize in retirement, but over the 14 yrs I lived there watched the # of course & tournament skiers decline every year. Saw it change from waiting to get a set to become not being able to find a driver.

 

Access wasn't an issue, but more recent owners seemed more interested in living in a gated community then being on a ski lake.

[jcamp]

The silver bullet to the sport's growth issue has already been found and is going like gangbusters across the country. They are called cable parks.

 

We can either stick to our guns and be purists (the stodgy old golfers referred to in the video) or see it as an opportunity to introduce the sport to new people who may then cross over to "real skiing" (the pie-size golf hole).

[Wish]

How many cable parks in the US?. I can think of 3 in FL.

[gt2003]

There's one in Oklahoma City http://www.wakezone.co/

[jcamp]

@wish Wakescout says 72 in the U.S. and that's probably not a complete listing.

[AdamCord]

@Wish here you go > US Cable Parks

 

I agree with @jcamp. And this could go along with the cable wakeboard in the Olympics discussion. Growth in cable wakeboard is GOOD for us! I wish every major city had a cable park. If I could figure out how to build a cable park here in NYC on the Hudson (and convince people to get into the water), I would. Water skiing will never be as big or bigger than wakeboarding again, especially with cable parks being built all the time, but is that a bad thing? Wakeboarding is our putt putt course. It's our gateway drug.

 

Our sport is expensive as @Horton pointed out. Many people will just never be able to do it. But cable brings the barriers to entry way down, and opens watersports up to the masses. We need to get behind this in a big way. Think about sites like OWC in Orlando, Trophy Lakes in Charleston, Bow Lake in Washington, McCormick's in Tampa, etc. These are sites with cable AND a boat lake. Sometimes the boat lake pulls wakeboarders, but more often than not it's skiers. It puts skiing right in front of the masses who are now being introduced to watersports because of the cable. We need more sites like this. 2 point and even full cable systems actually take up a surprisingly small amount of lake area. Many ski sites could accommodate cable and skiing! Or if you've got some room to dig it wouldn't take much to make room for it. The 2 point systems don't need much space at all.

 

I honestly think cable systems are our way forward, we just need to understand that and take advantage of the opportunity instead of turning up our noses. Also if you've never ridden the cable it's super fun. You can do it on a trick ski if that makes you feel better about it!

[disland]

I agree with @adamcord How about multi event tournaments, cable wakeboard, cable trick, boat trick and slalom. All on the same weekend.

[RazorRoss3]

I think that's a good idea, opens the sport to wakeboarders and starts merging the two allowing for some crossover to occur.

[gregy]

I skied in a tournament in Temple Tx years ago that was on a lake on a golf course. I wonder if combining waterski clubs (or cable park) and golf is viable.

[Wish]

Swiss Ski School Orlando area. 3 lakes intertwined with 9 hole (maybe 18.. don't know).

 

Wonder if any of those closed golf courses have big enough water hazards for a ski course or two. Club house is already there. Maybe add a BMX area, a Motocross area, Paint ball area, or whatever fits with land a bit over gown and use the land for multiple disciplines on and off the water. The club house could be used for shops, food, offices. Combine various sports clubs $$$s and use the land/water multiple ways. Could even keep the driving range for golfers. Lots of land to be used in lots of ways.

[gregy]

Texas Ski Ranch has 3 cable lakes for wake boarding, Skateboard park, climbing wall, indoor trampolines, artifical snow hill with boarding and tubing. Also Malibu dealership, shop, restaurant. There is a motor cross track next to it not sure if they're connected. With the cost of land close to large metropolitan areas this may be what it takes. My friend takes his kid there and doesn't own a boat or ever skied. If there were just a ski lake there too it would be great exposure. It's on a very busy interstate hwy.

 

Check this snowboarding for ages as young as 2. The exposure is unreal, we have nothing like this.

http://texasskiranch.com/programs/grom-park

 

[Kelvin]

@gregy, Wow, the last tournament in Temple, TX was back in 89 or 90. There was an active public lake club on lake Belton during the 80's. Some of the core group moved to a private lake, others graduated from college and things died quite rapidly. That's where I got my start in the sport. It took me over 25 years to finally get a place on a private lake.

[gregy]

@kelvin was the lake on a Golf course? I remember it was in town on a park or golf course. I'm thinking it was early 90s.