Nice improvement to our lake (not)

[Cam]

We lease our lake from the local council, they decided to make some improvements to the walkways and banking last week, I really don't have any words to describe it but do know what it feels like between 2 & 3 ball when skiing or driving,

[Cam]

 

[jipster43]

The upshot is it will deteriorate quickly.

[Dirt]

What was that supposed to accomplish? It makes the shoreline more unsafe for everyone. Can you rock the shore on the other side of it?

[vtmecheng]

My wife used to design shorelines for VA state parks. Trust me, that won't last long.

[oldjeep]

Ok, i have to ask - how in the world does that impact your skiing?

[Andre]

Hit that bird @ 34 mph and you'll see the impact!

 

Could that small wall create backwash enough to be a nuisance in the course ?

[braindamage]

@oldjeep, I bet the wake bounce comes back without any dissipation due to the flat wood. We see the same on our lake where people have put down concrete shoreline.

 

It amazing how much wake comes back.

[oldjeep]

@braindamage - clearly more folks need to ski courses on open water ;)

[Cam]

@oldjeep I ski open water courses within 5 miles of my home but also choose to travel 55 miles to ski on this custom made slalom site and pay top dollar for the privilege, ask @horton if he would appreciate this "enhancement" on his lake

[dvskier]

@oldjeep, lots of rollers that don't go away. No good when trying to run the course. Would be even worse with a v drive loaded down.

[oldjeep]

@dvskier I'm sure this is not a popular opinion on this site, but jeebus learn to ski in something other than perfect conditions. I'll admit I am primarily a downhill skier, we ski from run to run on courses that vary, temps from 40 to -20F, winds from nothing to 25MPH, ruts caused by the previous 50 skiers, etc. If you are looking for a reason that slalom waterskiing is suffering as a "sport", look no further than those who are unable to ski in anything other than perfect conditions. From what little I know of the comp scene, the Moomba event is the only real event in waterskiing, where those who can ski, do.

 

My typical waterski run is 34 MPH behind a V-drive skiing in water that apparently no other middle aged waterskier would attempt. This is why the sport is dying/dead - suck it up or learn to surf.

 

 

[PatM]

@oldjeep I have to deal with rollers due to being on a lake with high water and plenty of walls. It sucks - 4 passes at most without backwash. I understand where everyone is coming from. We all deal with it and complain about it, but no need to look down one's nose at those who do complain. Good for you for being that guy who can deal with the rollers and smile. For the rest of us it gets frustrating.

[dvskier]

I used to ski on open water, now I only ski at private sites. Wake boarders and surfers with massive wakes and crews never stop for more than a few minutes to change riders.

I snow ski over 100 days per year as well. Running NASTAR doesn't interest me, I'd rather cruise the whole mountain, glades, steeps, etc.

I'm far beyond middle aged at 71 but find completing the course and fulfilling my goals very satisfying.

Smooth water is critical to course skiing if you don't want to get hurt.

The sport isn't dead, it's just shifted to private sites.

 

[Than_Bogan]

@oldjeep I think you're missing an important point. I ski in essentially all conditions. Tough conditions build certain skills and/or character. Some on here laugh at me for the stuff I ski in :).

 

But a seawall will assure that the conditions are NEVER good (well except for the first pass). There's a huge difference between "sometimes bad" and "never good." If you're trying to advance your skills deep into shortline skiing, you have to have some pristine days in there.

[oldjeep]

The sport isn't dead, it's just shifted to private sites

@dvskier and that is why it is dying

 

Fwiw, i guess im not middle age after i did the math.

[dvskier]

@oldjeep you should try a tournament, it might get you hooked. Lots of fun and the people are very nice and accommodating. Or maybe attend a Radar session this summer.

[shansen345]

Oof... does that run the full length of the lake?

[vtmecheng]

All the hate. That is an incorrect method of managing erosion and it will fail quickly. Also, the wall is a perfect for bouncing the waves right back out with little reduction in amplitude. I actually did a project on this year's ago for navy ships. What they should put in are large rocks of a certain size with a felt cloth below. Ideally they would put in a living shoreline but that's asking a lot. Gabion baskets are also better than free rocks but not as nice looming.

 

I ski on a river and sometimes a lake. It's not always perfect and I really appreciate when it is. For @Cam the poor conditions are simply due to a bad shore design that shouldn't of been built.

[UWSkier]

Eww. Seawall! Worst invention ever! Take the wake of one boat and make it seem like 3 boats went through.

[aupatking]

They even did a crap job of it too. Looks cheap. It won’t last, and they’ll likely blame the boat traffic. That’s a man-made ski lake, correct? Looks like the bank was at a proper angle already. I love idiots, and councils are full of them, with egos.

[Deanoski]

we have a private lake that has a steep flat bank on one part of the lake and we get rollers at 2-3 ball we cant change the shore line so we get 2 passes in then wait 1 1/2 minutes and get two more clean passes not optimal but it works.

 

cant fix stupid!

[BraceMaker]

You UK folk should explain what councils are like to us

[Horton]

@oldjeep is right - the sport would be better off with more public water ski sites. That is not the trend and that is a shame.

[dvskier]

@Horton I'd love it if we could have a slalom course on our lake but Duke Energy (who controls the lake) denied our clubs request for a course 2 years ago. As it is I drive almost 2 hours for a private site. Wake boarders and surfers run up and down every cove on my lake so it doesn't really make sense to worry about it.

[ScottScott]

I'm fortunate that I have access to several courses on public lakes within 1/2 hour. However, unless you live on the water and can get out at 7am, many of these courses aren't very usable....especially on the weekends when we have time to do it. Way too many rollers from boat traffic to attempt. We really just have 1 course on a fairly small lake, thats part of a chain, where we can usually squeeze in a set or 2 when there isn't a surfer or tuber turning the lake into a whirlpool. That still takes hanging out for 3-4 hours waiting. Thats ok for us, as we'd rather be spending the weekend days on the lake than hanging out at home on the couch. Were also fortunate to have several ski schools in the area, and friends that live on private lakes with courses, so we have the best of both worlds.