Pond Skimming in Illinois

[Waynes345]

For those of you who don't slide on the frozen stuff in the winter, you may find these videos disturbing. For those that have ever strapped on pair of boards and wondered if you could cross that pond, you can relate. This was mid March at the end of the season at Chestnut Mountain ski area in Galena, IL right on the Mississippi. My son and are were two thirds of the team "Two Kids and an Old Guy" with a buddy of my son's from our ski race team as our third. I'm the big guy with the mismatched Hawaiian prints and my son is the kid behind me with no shirt. The second video is a collection of some crashes and stunts some others pulled. If you have some time to kill, you may be entertained.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc3bAIhmCOo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzsFcvS1bEg&feature=related

[New Guy]

Looks like a blast! I always wanted to try that.

[deerfield]

Waynes345 - First time I've seen it done at Chestnut. Man that must have been cold. Got to hand it to that kid who did a back flip. Nice to watch people who know how to have fun and laugh. Thanks! - Deerfield

[Waynes345]

The guy doing the announcing is the general manager of Chestnut and a great guy, we had a riot that day and had some friends and relatives there as well. We've had season passes there for years as our Apple Canyon Lake cabin is about 30 miles away. We ski at Chestnut in the winter and at ACL in the summer. Not necessarily the best of both worlds, but it works for us.

[BensonWdby]

WE had some impromptu opportunities at Quadna Mountain (northern Mn) way back when. but because it was a natural puddle, the bottom was very narly...rocks and jaged ice crystals.... We saw a lot of bloddy bodies come out of that puddle. Never got the nerver to try it after seeing that... At Sugar Hills, nearby, the puddle was so big that one of the ski patrols got a picture of himself sailing his Hobie Cat on it...