open water courses

[6balls]

Wondering if anyone else feels the same? I ski a swamp where we have the courses quite close to shore, and I know many of you are on private water. These courses with tighter proximity to shore, for one reason or another, make me feel more comfortable and I generally ski better. All I can think of is the shore provides some frame of reference.

 

@razorskier1's public water course is out in the open lake in order to prevent annoying shoreline owners and potential loss of permit. I always have a much more difficult time there.

 

Anyone else notice this?

[MISkier]

If the water is deep for those open water courses, I would expect it to be different/worse. I belonged to a club that previously leased a private site that had two side-by-side slalom lakes. One was about 8-10 feet deep at the middle. The other was 20 feet deep at the middle for better wakesurf action. The deep lake did not slalom as well. Actually, it was quite difficult.

 

I also free ski on a bay in a public lake that is about 4-5 feet deep with a super soft bottom. Skis great.

[ALPJr]

I feel faster when close to the shoreline compared to the public courses where the shoreline is a few hundred feet away.

[dchristman]

Absolutely. The extra frame of reference for pullout given by the shoreline and shorter time into the course in addition to the pre-gate gives me comfort. Ignoring those references and focusing just on the boat and balls as reference might be preferred, but it's hard to not see the shore. Once into the course the lack of near shore reference is not as distracting, but by then it's too late if you screwed up your gate.

[6balls]

@MISkier that open water course is in deep water as well.

[chris55]

I do all my slalom in open water and probably 5 times a year we go to private lake which is between 4 to 6 feet deep. It is much easier, first the water is not as hard, second we have a shorline very close and we have almost glassy conditions compare to the open water. When I ski well at 32mph on open water, I am at ease at 34mph (15off) on this private lake. And third the water temperature is warmer too...so big differences. Not to mention the psychologique effectof feeling much safer skiing on a not deep lake.

[jackski]

I have two courses on the same lake. One course is in a more or less constant 14'-16' but out away from the shore line. That course I never feel comfortable on and have never skied it to near a PB. My second course varies between 4' at one end and goes to 12 ' at the other. Although surveyed, I find that the shallow end of is much easier to ski and all my PB's seen to start from that end (38 @ 34 mph).

Water depth and shore line, it definitely makes a difference.

[MNshortliner]

At what depth do you guys consider to shallow that it could be dangerous.

[MISkier]

I want water depth of 4-5 feet for slalom.

[aupatking]

I know West to East, our river course is tougher, mostly from flood debris dragging 3 ball a foot, or so, up course. People say it's tougher out there, but the depth is perfect, skis nice, and is close to the bank. So, the only minuses I have are when the tide is changing, the wind is really blowing, or all the fishermen decide the only place to fish on the river is our 849 feet. I haven't skied out there in months though, so I'm just going off foggy memory

[h2onhk]

Our river skis the best during late summer when the level can be lower due to rainfall totals. Depths are 5-8' and taper to a few inches near bank. Course flattens out quickly after each pass even if you are turning and burning.

 

@Mark_Matis one and a half feet seems crazy shallow to me!

[MNshortliner]

The coarse I ski on is 5'-6' I would think that would be the minimum I would want to ski on. I have taken some falls that I would guess I went under 5' or so.

[sunvalleylaw]

I am the opposite, in that I like more water between me and shore. I was watching some vid yesterday of someone's site and thinking it looked awfully close. I have "skipped" a ways after a hard fall before, and do not like the idea of being close to anything if my fall were to occur on the way out from the second wake.

[jjackkrash]

At Scotties in Chico a good fall on one side and you are half way up a steep, sharp rock embankment. Good times.

[Orlando76]

I'll go along with liking courses with shore near by, gives a depth perception.

 

For some reason I ski 10x better behind my boat on my course which I only ski 20% of the time than I do other boats on Same course or elsewhere.

[markn]

My open water course is at least 300 feet off shore and ranges in depth from 12-17 feet...and we do not have 55 meter buoys. (never use them as a point of reference) Several people have skied the course and they do find it more difficult. Some because of lack of 55's, but most just find the course more challenging having skied primarily on small, private ski sites. Perhaps it is easier for an open lake skier to ski at a private site, than for a private site skier going to open water.

MWN

[adkh2oskier]

My course is on open water about 150' from shore on one side and open to the main lake on the other side. Water is 3.5' to 5' so very shallow but very clean and clear. I find it seems faster than any of the manmade ponds I ski in tournaments because I always seem to score higher in the tournaments than I do in practice. The small ponds always seem easier and slower but some are downright claustrophobic with the shoreline so close.

[Horton]

Anything less than 4 feet is scary. I would consider any skiing in 3 feet or less as unnecessarily dangerous. Slalom conditions definitely get better at 6 feet.

[jjackkrash]

There was a cow-pond in Corning, CA that Team Chico used to ski at for jump training because there was no where else to put the jump ramp. One year the pond got so low the boat could not slow down off a plane in the jump landing area or it would hit bottom. The water in the landing area was just above the knees. I still can't believe we used to jump there when the water was that low but we did. At least the bottom was mostly soft and muddy.

[DaveD]

The private lake I ski on is about as close as I ever want to be to shore when skiing. Still remember seeing a pro skier end up on shore back in the "Hot Summer Nights" era. +5' anywhere on the lake away from shore. I hate having the tail of my ski dragging along the bottom when pulling up.

[sunvalleylaw]

Being first a snow skier, this is what I think of when I think of those banks close to the course.

 

Well, that, and my buddy bouncing up the beach, sea shells, barnacles and all, after approaching the beach like it was a jump ramp on some combo doubles. Don't ask!