Slalom Water Skiing

Click on the title ‘Slalom Water Skiing’ to pull up the video.

This is a video from the summer of 2008 of me doing what I love. This is called slalom skiing. This is on a private man-made lake that was made specifically for skiing. I always dreamed of building these lakes one day around the country and then skiing on them as I traveled.

In the sport of slalom skiing there is a 6 buoy course that you must make it through. There are 2 buoys that make up the starting gate that you must go through. Then there are 6 buoys in a zigzag pattern that you must get around. Then finally there is an and gate that you must go through to complete the course.

The slowest speed that you can start at is 26 mph and there is a maximum speed of 36 mph. You can start at the longest rope length which is 70 feet. Once you run a full pass at 36 mph you can start to shorten the rope. The next pass is 15 feet shorter and is called 15 off. After you run that pass you can go to 22 feet off and then to 28 feet off, 32 feet off, 35 feet off, 38 feet off, 39 1/2 feet off, 41 off, and then 43 off. Once you miss a buoy your run is over. The best run I ever had in practice was 4 buoys at 35 feet off.

People who water ski do it religiously. It is an addiction that you would not understand unless you got into it. If you are interested in skiing let me know because I know people all over the country who water ski.