Water Skiing

We went to the lake this morning with my parents.  It was a sunny (finally) morning, but quite windy and cool.  I skied 2 sets on the slalom course, mostly running 28′ and 32′ off passes, working on form.  I ran 5 @35′ off yesterday on my first set.  I haven’t skied this spring nearly as much as in the past few years.  A combination of the weather, Real Estate and Dadsworld.com work commitments and dealing with Calvin (our whippet) have put a damper on my spring skiing.  I skied in just 2 Waterski tournaments each of the last 2 years, but am unsure how many I will make it to this year.  With our daughter expected in August, I doubt I will get a lot of tournaments in for 2008. 

I started competing in slalom Waterskiing back in the mid 1980’s.  We went to the ski lake 4 or 5 days a week during my high school and college years.  I competed in the Western Regional Championships from 1988-1991, then skied in a few tournaments in 1992 and 1993.  I then took a 12 year hiatus from the sport!  In those 12 years I got married, started my Real Estate career, traveled the country, moved back to West Linn from Bend, became a competitive racecar driver… a lot of stuff happened. 

Skiing is tough to get out of your blood though, much like racecar driving.  Once you have competed at a high level, you are hooked for life.  So, I started looking to get back into the sport.  One day while perusing the merchandise at our local ski and wakeboard shop, I ran into an old friend who owns a ski lake near my home.  He said to “come on out!”  Well, you don’t have to twist my arm to get me to go to a ski lake, so I went.  It was 2005 and the first set I had skied on a slalom course in over 12 years was interesting!  I did manage to run 28′ off on my first try, although my form and timing were horrible.   That was it though, I was BACK.  I joined the lake as a member and have been skiing 2-3 days per week ever since (during the nice weather months.)  That same year the Regional Championships happened to be in Vancouver, Washington.  A rare treat as they are almost always in Southern California.  I saw so many people I knew from my former skiing days, even after not seeing them for 12 years many of them remembered me as well.  Skiing is a neat community of people.

I am not as interested in competing in skiing as I was when I was younger, but I still enjoy the challenge of the slalom course.  I can run 28′, and 32′ off all day long, and sometimes I run 35′ off.  My goal this year is to run 35′ more consistently, and start working seriously on 38′ off.  It’s a challenge skiing by myself (no coach) and only getting to the lake a couple days per week.  But it has become a treasured family time.

My son has been riding in the boat since he was 1 week old, and the older he gets the more fun he has at the lake.  Throwing rocks, exploring and swimming are his favorite things to do these days.  Pretty soon he will be fishing and skiing too!  It’s great to be out at the lake with nobody else there, just our family.  I treasure those times.

Many of the best memories of my life are those spent with family at a lake water skiing, or on the mountain snow skiing.  I have been fortunate to have water skied all over the western United States competitively, and my Dad was on the snow ski patrol when I was younger so we went to the mountain (Mt. Bachelor and Mt. Hood) a lot as well.  Great times!

I am so excited for my son and soon-to-be daughter to be able to have access to a private ski lake.  Our family loves the outdoors, and camping, hiking, fly fishing and skiing will offer many good opportunities for our children to learn, grow and make memories.

Tags: bend, camping, dad, dadsworld, fly fishing, hiking, lake, memories, mom, mountain, mt. bachelor, mt. hood, oregon, real estate, ski patrol, skiing, snow skiing, vancouver, washington, water skiing, west linn