New Waterski Lake in Weld County, Colorado

[coskilover]

They leased Milton Reservoir out finally! Memberships are already being sold. Will be a great place to waterski!

[skinut]

@coskilover Where is Milton Reservoir?

 

[dvskier]

NE of Denver, about 5-6 miles south of Greeley.

[Rpc29]

Hypothetically, would something like a new club opening up like this be a great opportunity for AWSA/USAWaterski to do an email marketing/ call campaign to former members to try to drive membership for this club?

 

Sounds like low hanging fruit to add membership.

[MattP]

@JeffSurdej what do you think? hypothetically speaking.

[skier2788]

Not to rain on the parade.... Milton reservoir is 1,445 acre irrigation reservoir. It really isn't a 3 event lake of any kind. I would be surprised if there was ever a slalom course installed. Last time I was out there it had a pretty bad algea problem. These kind of reservoir are pretty common in Colorado as we attempt to store as much snow run off as we can. It's great there is a new place to "ski" but as far as getting tournament AWSA membership....

[Rpc29]

@skier2788 it's not about using a single lake to drive membership. It's more about the idea as a whole. Should our governing organization be proactive in helping our clubs drive membership in some meaningful capacity if a new club is formed? I mean what would the downside be?

[skier2788]

@Rpc29 hate to be blunt but I will. This is not a ski lake. I doubt you will ever see anyone on a water-ski. In this area we have many lakes like this. It is 2-3k for a membership with 150 to 200 other people. All you will see is wakeboard boats and jetski. Most will only tube or surf. It is a party lake. There are so many of these in Wellington they stopped naming them and just gave them a number.. I understand it is not about one lake. You are simply going after the wrong market. Downside is wasted resources that could have been put to better use. I like your idea. You would need someone local like I am to asses whether or not it is a viable option.

[coskilover]

I was able to call and get some questions answered from the office operating the ski memberships for Milton Reservoir. I think they are calling it "Haven Sporting Club."As far as memberships, they are on the higher side for pricing, 3.5k-5k per season. However the lake will be limited to only 110 members,they will have designated camping spots with season long storage, a slalom course will be installed, no jet skiing allowed, and off season storage is also free. Sounds like a pretty good deal if you can afford it...

 

They do offer physical tours of the property to see the lake and were more than happy to send over their rules and regulations. We are going to see it Saturday to see if it's worth the investment.

[BRY]

@skier2788 Gotta disagree with you. Never seen this lake, probably never will, but have seen many like it. You say "Most will only tube or surf. It is a party lake." You are absolutely correct there. But some will ski and therefore the others will be exposed to it.

 

The vast majority of the guys I know in tournament skiing did not ski buoys (or even know what they were) as kids. Came to course skiing later. Most skied behind the family outboard at local lakes (aka party lakes) as kids/teenagers/college. But too much pressure (other boats, regs, ect) on public water and too little volume at "real" tournament lakes now. This type "towed watersports" club with larger membership might be one of the ways forward. They will have a course so it only takes 1 buoy head skiing there to infect a couple more. With 110 members if Red Ball Fever can spread to even 5 or 6 that's a win. And the other 105 will be way more knowledgeable about it. Places like this can be and should be breeding grounds for the scarce, endangered and reclusive AWSA Skier.

 

So AWSA sending an e-mail to current and former AWSA members at Zip Codes say 200 miles around this club announcing it has a potential upside. Costs essentially nothing. Or at least add a short blurb in the e-newsletter AWSA sends out. Easy, cheap, promotes our base.

[skier2788]

@BRY I feel I know the ski scene around my area. For one as far as I know this is still a part of the Milton Barr state wildlife park. I believe they may have intentions of putting a slalom course in but would be surprised if it ever actually happens. 2. The algea and low water level in Milton was really bad at one point in time. So bad the state fishing website says known species of fish none.... And still does 3. For 3.5 to 5k. I can name at least 3 cheaper alternatives that AWSA could promote over Milton lake. For that much money you could join Laku and be on a world class ski site. Now I understand not everyone wants to be on a pure 3 event ski site. The question asked is why not send out an email to former AWSA members promoting this lake. IMO your resources would be better served elsewhere. If you start spamming former members with emails about every ski possibility within 200 miles of them you will soon be sent to the junk folder. This is why I feel you should have a local asses whether sending an email out would be good or bad based on the local ski scene.

 

Question for you is... What is in it for AWSA? You are going to spend a few man hours sorting people geographically to your target audience gathering the information about the new club and then sending an email. If the new ski club doesn't require any AWSA membership how many people are going to rejoin? Even if all the new ski site members are FORMER AWSA members what is going to get them to rejoin?

 

@coskilover sorry for all the negativity. If you want in a course with a ZO boat PM me here I ski in the Loveland Fort Collins area. When it gets warmer would be more than happy to give you a pull. There is also a water-ski Colorado Facebook page you may want to join. You could post about Milton lake on there and get the word out to more local skiers.

[LoopSki]

If receiving an email about a new ski site is considered spam , you no business skiing anyhow !

[cragginshred]

Two huge lakes in my area (Nor Cal)Don Pedro and New Melones are wake board and party lake central. Both have ski clubs selling memberships.

 

Here's the secret I learned real fast; the wake boarders don't get out of bed till noon. We would have the ski cove to ourselves any Friday morning and pretty much any weeknight or early am weekend start!

 

 

[klindy]

First it is about USAWS memberships and this is a potential source of new members. A systematic new member recruiting strategy doesn't really exist or something like this woul certainly be low hanging fruit.

 

Second this type of lake is probably as close to a "public lake" that the general public would really see. Since it's restricted to a degree, USAWS should be first in line to be sure that waterskiing is allowed and, potentially, have a program in place which could/would negotiate for some kind of learn-to-ski or 'recruit a buddy' or 'open ski nights' to help promote the sport on a general local level.

 

@skier2788 you might be 100% right that it's never a tournament lake or even bring membership to USAWS but the lack of an established program to approach new sites/clubs like this is the primary issue. If it existed, it would be simple to execute.

[coskilover]

Just an update. We were able to go out and see the lake on Saturday in person with a rep from Haven Sporting Club. They were very nice and took their time showing us around where the camping sites will be located. They provided historical water level data, camp site information, and had a description of their vision for the property. We went ahead and put a deposit down for one of the lower level lots because we are already a member at another lake this season. This place has a ton of potential, maybe not for tournament skiers but as a family who enjoys spending time on the water and wants personal camping space. This place is perfect for us. Recommend anyone who might be interested get in contact with them and request info at the least. Their office is located close to the lake so they can meet people for physical tours on a daily basis. The lake is huge; much bigger than I had first anticipated. I get where some of you are coming from, and if you want a pro spot, then go get one. But this will bring much needed attention to the sport.