What does it cost you for access to a slalom course or where you put your course or free ski?

[Horton]

Not asking the cost of a boat or ski or gas. Only what does it cost you for access to the water where you ski.

 

If you belong to a club and the boat is included then yes I am asking for that cost.

[Chef23]

I went with over $100 but mostly because I buy a dock permit for my dock on the lake. It is a public lake and people can ski the course for free. We do request donations from folks and usually it comes to about $50 a year unless something bad happens to the course. People could ski the course for free though.

[oldjeep]

Nothing for me. Course on a public lake that my brother inlaw lives on. I think he pays some nominal amount into the pot for new balls and tubing. The other course I use rarely is also on a public lake. Again free for me since I ski with a longtime member of the org that owns it, if i were a member then it is something like $200. Used to use a portable a lot, that was also free.

 

 

For free skiing 5 minutes away $35 a year for my lake Minnetonka parking permit.

[nicolas_bermudez]

its about 5000 a year just for access in my city (Bogotá, Colombia), that doesn't account for the actual skiing nor the aditional expenses to that, transport there and back without mentioning food...

[Horton]

@oldjeep now I know why you think water skiing is cheap. If I could leave California I would but unless you live in Sacramento it almost impossible to get low cost access to decent water

[PT Mike]

$2200 a season for my hi & dry marina bill to ski tidal salt water on Long Island. $1500 to ski a private club in NY, $600 for the club in NJ, and $180 for my Okeeheelee permit.

[oldjeep]

@horton they don't call mn the land of 10,000 lakes for no reason;). Also the birthplace of waterskiing.

[thager]

Costs me about $120 for new bouys and maintenance each year.

[Waternut]

I live on a public lake and occasionally ski a public course. I also ski a private lake with a guy who just charges a minimal amount for sets with no annual fee. I guess my dock fee is technically around $150 a year but that borders on the same lines as mortgage and taxes so I didn't include it.

 

I haven't really kept track of upkeep of the course on the public lake because I usually buy the parts and in return get extra gas added to my boat or picked up on someone else's boat.

[Kelvin]

I only included the $1600 in HOA dues. I didn't include taxes or interest on the place since it is my primary residence and I have to live somewhere. @Horton, I'm curious about what all costs you are including in your number? I know you guys pay out the nose to pump water.

[Horton]

@Kelvin I had to buy a lake house that is not my residence. We could live there but no one would really choose to live there. There was no other real option within 4 hours of Bakersfield. That dollar amount includes my dues and loan payment.

 

If I thought I could sell my lot semi easily I would call it an investment. They are extremely hard to resale.

 

My situation is typically in California south of Sacramento. You own or you mooch.

[Stejcraftben]

Our club membership is $60 a year and then it's another $250ish for the awwf membership but that covers you if you are injured at the club or a tournament.

[MISkier]

I belong to two clubs.

 

One is $175 per year and you bring your own boat. They are looking for a new lake this year and the fee might change if the lease cost is higher. We skied at any time. This club is about 100 miles (one-way) from my house. I probably spent $70 in gas per week (truck and boat) to ski there once or twice a week during a 4 month period.

 

The other club is $2250 per year and includes the lake, clubhouse, course, boat, and gas. Ski at any time. This club is about 40 miles (one-way) from my house. I answered the poll based on this club, as it is my primary participation.

 

I occasionally put my own portable on a lake up north when vacationing at the family cottage. The course cost me about $800 nearly 10 years ago. I might spend $200 in gas per summer skiing there.

[Orlando76]

But I see that number doubling this year.

[BCM]

Just over $1000/yr for access to a great 3-event site that is 3 miles from my house.

[dbski]

I live on a public lake with a course that I can ski free anytime. The course is in the middle of the lake so conditions even early are marginal. I'm lucky to be in a group of five other guys and we lease an old sand/gravel pit 9 miles from my house. Its an ideal 2100' long and skis fantastic. There is nothing like private water and being able to ski anytime. Beats the hell out of getting up at 6:00 am like we used to. The $800 a year is the easiest bill I pay all year!

[baja]

I have 2 places but the one I ski at 3+ times a week costs $4300 per year in membership dues alone. No boat included. Expensive but only 30 minutes from my house in the OC in So Cal. Skied 10 days in December and already have January in the books. Raised the course yesterday in preparation for El Nino.

 

Previously drove 270 miles round trip thru LA traffic to ski at Ironwood in Arvin 2 times a week. That was a great deal for So Cal at $1500 membership but the time and driving was killing me and my cars.

 

My second place is a vacation home 4 hours away. $4000 per year for ground lease at The Secret Spot from old Waterski magazines. Do weekends there about once a month now.

[foxriverat]

We have 2 courses set up on a public river. 4 of us have boats on the water. It is only about 4 mile boatable stretch. A dam to the south and it gets too shallow to make it to the north dam. Which keeps people who dont know the river off of it. The money spent is to replace buoys and bungees from weekend wallys running them over. Seems after every weekend we have to replace a few.

[PatM]

While it is nice to have my course out my window on a public lake, I would gladly pay for access to a private lake if there was one near by. Skiing conditions are night and day in comparison.

[Horton]

The more I look at this thread the worse I feel. I gotta sell my crap and get out of California

[Ed_Obermeier]

What @Pat M said, although I don't have a course outside my window. If I had the option I'd gladly pay for private site access, within reasonable driving distance of course. Just doesn't exist in these here parts. But I'm REALLY good at getting a portable in and out of the local public lakes...

[6balls]

$375 for me and $375 for a partner $750 total for our renting of dock space at the swamp.

[Nando]

My cost is in buoys and materials, otherwise $0 for three courses, all on technically public lakes, though one has no access and only two Nautiques for boats. One county here requires you to indemnify them on course permits, but the permits are free.

[dchristman]

@horton hopefully you're getting a higher quality and quantity of sets per dollar (except for last year) than the lower annual cost options.

[gt2003]

Mine is assuming I join a ski club this year in Bixby or Owasso. Cost is $600/year, no boat. One of the regulars told me basically you ski 2 sets and pay the boat driver $20 since it isn't your boat. Add in the trips that we will still likely make to Arkansas to ski with Steve and Angela and you're still in the same range. Well, it doesn't include my trips to Houston to ski w @Skihard . That's vacation time!

 

[Horton]

@dchristman Yes sort of. This year I will be able to be at the lake nonstop if I want but will not have a good boat drive most of the time. If it is not one thing it is another.

[skihard]

I pretty much just stated my HOA dues and water bill for the community. Not even going into the cost of house and taxes.

The irony in it all is that when we used to ski public lakes back in Canada before we moved I bet I spent way more money to ski per year in costs than I do here and I ski year round here! :)

[chris55]

Where I ski is apublic lake but the access to the slalom is privat so we have to join a club 175.- per year and 160.-- per hour, so 6 passes is 9 minutes...and we have a boat SN 200 with a pilot and coach. It is ok except when we have fishermen and trafic....but we can ski dowtown Geneva and I can ski at my lunch break or early morning before going to work.

[The_MS]

lot cost=too much

house=too much

dues= 500 per year and 1 per pass.

 

[dbressel]

$2800 for boat and lake access - cant complain about the lake or boat works great for me. But yes, we need to get out of California. In Fresno, the average County/City employee's salary is double that of the general residents. We pay allot in California. It is nice to have access to many different things; but it is starting to get a little ridiculous.

[LeonL]

Dues at our private lake is $700 for head of household and $75 for each additional skier. Bring your own boat. We only ski about seven months a year though.

[rodltg2]

Have been paying $1800 or so since I statred this crazy addiction of chasing bouys in early 2000's. Just moved on to a ski lake so this year it will be quite a bit more !

[jimbrake]

@rodltg2 - Congrats. Which one? @Horton - maybe move to Sac? :)

 

I guess if the ONLY thing I did was waterski then I might question living here, too. Too many other reasons to be here for me, though. I moved to Sac after college specifically for waterskiing and snow skiing. Job and house were reasons #3 and #4.

[Skoot1123]

I only included the costs of maintenance for our course. I never imagined what was in store when I told my father in law that it would be nice to get a direct drive boat and "try" the course for a summer. That will be 10 years ago this summer - and now our course is in the backyard.

[swc5150]

Public water, so just the cost of some annual maintenance of the course.

[h2onhk]

aside from the initial $200 investment to go in on an insta-slalom course, the rest is free. Live on the river and set it up where-ever and when-ever its smooth then pull it out before the "crazies" come out and wreck it. Haven't had to replace a ball/tube yet, 3 years running. (knock on wood) Just wish we could use more than ~3-4 months a year.

[DmaxJC_ski]

$2500 a season (may-sept) for a lot on a public lake for me, then usually pay as I go at the tournament lake, $65 a set.

[The_MS]

It is expensive but watching the look on the spotters face while @Thager is skiing is PRICELESS.

[lpskier]

We have three courses on public water at home on NY, so if you don't count the cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining them, plus the boat, gas, insurance, registration (boat and trailer), boat slip, gear, entry fees and travel expenses, I guess I ski for free.

 

In the winter, I ski at a ski club in Orlando - LaPoints Ski Park. Members have unlimited site access, with a Centurian boat. Cost is $2000 membership annually plus $10 per set. Members may bring guests without limit. 100 sets a year works out to $30 per set. If you ski three weeks out of four, five days a week, two sets a day, November through April, that would be about 180 sets at a cost of about $21 per set. The "expensive" Florida skiing is probably cheaper per set than the free skiing at home.

[lpskier]

@Chris55 Is that the course adjacent to a large public park on Lake Geneva?

[gsm_peter]

Some facts about skiing in Sweden:

 

There are approximately 50-100 waterski clubs in Sweden with type 20-50 members each.

I have not heard of any professional site with drivers so all are based on voluntary members work.

I have not seen or heard of any slalom courses open for public even though our is behind an island whit full access to open water. We have a special permit that prohibit other boat traffic during May 1st to Sept 30th but sometimes we get boats there anyway.

 

Normal club fee are from 300 -500 USD per year and that includes a club boat, a course and a club house.

We pay about 350 USD per year and put in type 40 man hours of labor per person but we have quite a lot of facilities and we arrange 4 classes of ski school for kids each year.

We hardly get any subsidization and we pay quite a lot for the land lease.

 

There are 97 000 lakes in Sweden (larger than 100 000 square feet) plus the cost so there are plenty of water. To bad many of them are located in urban areas and some have no boat traffic allowed.

 

There is no driving licens needed to drive a waterski boat but you have a quite extensive responsibility if somethings happens.

 

I would guess that there is no need for any permit to put in a temporary course as long as you place it so it does not disturb to many folks.

 

 

 

 

[Skoot1123]

@scotchipman - more than likely after this winter season you will have lots of water!!

[kingshredd]

I drop $20.00 in the cookie jar every time I go, about 2 times a week, at my friends lake and he provides the boat and great coaching! Really a great deal! I get out there about twice a week!

[Horton]

@scotchipman click here to see why I edited your link

[ricski39]

My girlfriend and I have a little pond in Graniteville, SC that we lease from the land owners for $300 a year. Currently we're the only two people that ski there. The landowner even built me a turn island one year with his backhoe to help with the setup.

 

Now that I've typed that out I feel a little guilty...

[dchristman]

@ricski39 You ARE living the dream!

[Marco]

I should have selected More Than 10K Per Year because of the cost for us to build our own lake. But the current cost for upkeep, along with the HOA dues falls within the 1-5K range depending on what capital improvements we do in a given year.

[oldmanskier]

No Wake ski club close to Chattanooga Tenn. Lake owned by 10 shareholders (Currently 6 shareholders active skiers).

The lake is in a flood plain so no houses or living on the property. Strictly a ski lake.

Yearly Memberships offered to non shareholders currently for $2500.

Active Shareholders currently pay $1800 yearly.

2012 Mastercraft club boat supplied. Price the same even if club member wants to use their own boat. Currently everyone uses club boat.

Club members supply their own gas and pay for any boat repairs due to member negligence (example damaging boat prop).

All club members help in labor maintaining property. (Boat oil changes, mowing, slalom/Jump repair, etc).

Club expenses covered by $2500/$1800 membership fees:

Insurance $5000, taxes $2800, current boat payment ($900), boat insurance($500 est) porta john (?), electric bill(varies), lake maint, slalom course/ jump maint, Boat maint/Repair around $2500 yearly(sometimes more or less).

Note: Ski club shareholder/membership dues are adjusted yearly depending on how many members join in a particular year.

Expenses are estimated and membership fees are adjusted to meet expenses.

If a large unexpected expense occurs (example major boat repair or lake maint issue) an assessment may be charged to

current active shareholder/members to cover the expense. We had to do a $600 assessment per shareholder/member last

year due to unexpected Boat repairs, lake insurance and property tax increase.

I am an active shareholder so I paid $1800 plus a $600 assessment last year for a total of $2400.

A member last year paid $2400 plus a $600 assessment last year for a total of $3000.

This price seems reasonable to me for access to a private lake, ski course, ski jump and tournament ski boat.

 

oldmanskier

 

[rodltg2]

@ricski39 better hope the landowner doesn't come across this thread !! Lol

[Alberto Soares]

 

I ski in 2 places, first is a club on a private lake, pay about 3500/year, it is a nice place, lots of other activities for wife and kids. 4 slalom courses I help to mantain, courses are located for different winds so I can ski 95% of the times I go there (almost every day) Share a 200 there with a friend.

 

The second place is a friends house I rent the garage, my Malibu is the only boat with acess to the lake, so you can say it is a private lake. I pay him 1200/year, the lake is perfect unfortunatly for the last 3 years we do not have much water, forcing me to move my course to a back wash place.