Good signs of Slalom in Michigan

[bishop8950]

I grew up on a public lake (Sherman Lake) in MI. I just spent 2 weeks there with my kids playing on the lake. Some of the guys I remember still live there and still like to slalom. They free ski 10-20 turns looking for better turns and wake crossings. Mark remembers me and stopped by and asked for some coaching which was a ton of fun. Seeing these guys out there stoked to be on a slalom ski and wanting to improve was great. The lake is mostly full of tubing and occasional wakeboarding and hardly any slalom. But these guys get it. This is exactly how it started for me. It was inspiring to see them enjoy the pure joy of carving and shooting side to side. That’s them in the 1990 MC. Also a few pics of me and my parents boat on Sherman Lake.

 

I also got out to Ty Openlanders place to run a few buoys. He has a steady stream of Michigan buoy hunters who come out there for coaching. It’s the first man made ski lake I ever skied and its really nice. Ty makes skiing a lot of fun as well so if you are in the area (near Kzoo MI) check it out. http://tysskiacademy.com

 

Being back in MI was a nice reminder of how it all started and how much fun free skiing natural lakes can be. I look forward to getting back to Cali to ski our manicured slalom lake but will really miss the vibe of Sherman Lake.

 

[jimbrake]

@bishop8950 - That's very cool Kevin.

 

You know you are my favorite slalom skier around and that I try to ski like you. Please don't say "Cali".

[klindy]

Very nice @bishop8950! Great you were able to get to Lawton!

[bishop8950]

Cheers @jimbrake. I need to ski with you at Lake 1 before the CA Pro Am.

 

@klindy, its looking good out there. It has matured nicely. They obviously work hard taking care of the place. What year was it built? Mid 90s?

[klindy]

Yeah mid-90's @bishop8950. Amazing that it only took weeks to get it done once it was started.

[MISkier]

The Michigan water ski scene is very good. In addition to the free skiing and other public lake course diehards, there are two tournaments tomorrow evening. There are 10 or more weeknight tournaments each season, plus additional weekend tournaments all the way through the end of September. Fairly good for a State with a short season.

[klindy]

Glad I'm still a member of MWSA!

[bassfooter]

Good for you gettin' back to your home lake, @bishop8950! Great photos. I grew up near there, but I don't think I ever got on that lake. Is there a scout camp there, or am I thinking of another lake near you? We'd play G-A in high school football. I think you guys always kicked our butts.

 

The Michigan skiing scene has been strong going back several decades. For one thing, there are thousands of lakes. Gull Flight skis were built right near @bishop8950 's lake back in the sixties. There were a ton of tournaments every weekend in the seventies, when I got the first course permit for Gun Lake. G&L Ski School operated a slalom lake (probably a gravel pit) right outside Charlotte for a number of years, the '78 Nationals were held outside of Brighton, and there's a ton of stuff going on over by Detroit (which is "right next to Michigan", as I like to say).

 

We had a little cottage at Gun Lake, a half-hour from our house in the 'Zoo. After we kids got out of school and moved away, we would return for a week or two every summer. We finally had to sell the place, after nearly 75 years in the family. It was like someone died. We still miss it. I got to take my little girl there a couple summers ago, and she couldn't believe we spent the night with a lake right out our front door. A lake that actually has water in it. She doesn't get to see a lot of that in Southern California.

[MISkier]

@bassfooter, I took my first slalom lessons at G&L in 1991 or so. Here is one of them. Notice no 55 pregates.

 

[jimbrake]

anytime @bishop8950

[DaveD]

mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/08/slip_and_slide_through_old_wat.html#incart_river

 

I stumbled across this article. Lot's of old waterskiing pictures.

 

(just in case I didn't get the link added to the post correctly)

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/08/slip_and_slide_through_old_wat.html#incart_river

 

[A_B]

I skied up at G&L many years ago, and Rathbun had stopped in after Natinals. We had lunch and he was talking about his first year of opening Ski Acupulco.