University of Michigan Hopefully Getting Jump Ramp - First time ramp owner questions

[Guest]

Hi there, I'm part of the U of M Waterski team and we are in the midst of hopefully getting a ramp to put in on our practice lake. There used to be a ramp on our lake a few years before I started here but it unfortunately wasn't kept up and is gone now. We are looking at picking up a ramp that needs a new home but none of our current team members have experience taking care of or setting up a ramp.

 

The ramp seems to be in good shape and the surface has been recently refinished but we are wondering specifically what we will need to do to keep the surface in good shape and what kind of pump people use for the water system on their ramps?

 

If you have any other tips you think we should know those would be greatly appreciated as well!

 

Best

- Cole

[klindy]

What practice lake?

[DW]

Cole, I suggest contacting Action Watersports, Silver Spray Sports for potential helpful victims as they know the customer base you are looking for. Edit: Answer question below, maybe, they could point you in the direction of skiers that could answer your question on who could offer intellectual assistance although there are certainly some experts within the organizations that can offer advice on jump maintenance.

Pretty sure some local ballers will respond to help out might take a few days. There are several SE Mich knowledgeable skiers on this site. Ditto to what lake. And congrats on the ramp, fun times ahead.

[coledimich]

We practice on Belleville Lake. @DW sorry I was a bit confused by your first sentence there. Were you saying we should contact Action about info on maintaining a jump? Thanks!

[jmhjgh]

A simple 1" pvc pipe with holes drilled in it and a bilge pump hanging in the water. Run a deep cycle battery with a mechanical timer and a solar panel on the side of the jump. We seldom wax our show jump, but it would be good maintenance. Also buy some seagull detractors to keep excrement off the jump. How deep of water will it be in? You will need 4 anchor lines , 2 criss crossed in front and back.

 

[MI3Eventer]

Hey Cole, hopefully this ramp is coming with floats as those are the one of the biggest points that makes a ramp good and can also be pretty pricey.

 

At west shore we wax our jump every other year and get our wax from skifly.com. Like @jmhjgh said, the water is super simple. We usually have an extra pump on hand and I got our from West Marine for ~$35. In the past we had a solar panel but it broke so we have just been cycling through 2 marine batteries. One of them lasts a pretty long time.

 

If you are going to try and put in a full jump course so that you can do more then rideovers then you are gonna have to start talking to someone with survey equipment.

 

If you've got more questions HMU at Ripfest

[coledimich]

@MI3Eventer Thanks for the info Paul, that's super helpful. I just talked to the guy who has the jump right now and he walked me through the work that would need to be done on it. Sounds like it does have good floats that come with it so thats a plus. Now that we know a little more about it I'm going to chat with the rest of the team and see how everyone feels about it. I will definitely come chat with you at Ripfest this weekend and if you have a few minutes to talk on the phone at some point this week we would appreciate it. My number is 858-997-9096. Thanks

- Cole

[BraceMaker]

You may also want to encourage a few members of your team to take some diving instruction this winter. Some freaky stuff can happen when dealing with lines and anchors, the whole job is going to be far easier but also far safer if you have a couple members who can rent dive gear and know how to use it versus people skin diving under a jump ramp.

 

[MattP]

@Broussard any recommendations?