Predator Bay Waterskiing World Championships Calgary Alberta Canada

[Mikey]

Well its just about here. Next weekend,at predator bay just a few miles south of Calgary the world waterskiing championships are finally coming.
Pics in one of the local papers today shows some of the Canadian team practicing.Its should be awesome and reviews on the location that i have come across have a few of the pros saying its one of the best ski locations in the world if not The best going.
A local promotor has this turning into a bit of a circus side show though in my mind as its chocked full of Bands and beer gardens, kids jumpers etc kinda putting the waterskiing to the back burner ,so to speak.
Don't get me wrong i can and will enjoy the music, although the bands seem to be carryover bands from the recent Calgary Stampede. Just not my kinda music i guess. My teenage kids are looking forward too it.
I'm hopeing in my travels to see, possibly meet some of the Big guns of the ski world. Chris Parrish , Jaret Lewellyn Freddie Krueger,the list goes on.
Hopefully the weather holds out and all goes well, as i've had my tickets for months and can hardly wait,just haven't decided how much time off from work is gonna be required.

Anyways just thought i'd put the word out and if interested check out the website on PREDATOR BAY it very well put together and has lots of side notes etc that are quite interesting.

[deerfield]

Mikey - In my lifetime, made it to only one major tournament. But it was well worth the six hour drive. So much to learn just by watching the best up close. They are so good. I hope you and the family can get there. If so, take a few pics. Would be great to see something. - Deerfield

[Mikey]

Our camera is broken ,will see if my daughter will lend us hers and then hopefully we'll get lots of pics.

[Sled491]

Hey if no one is looking I could use a new ski :)

[Mikey]

If theres any lieing around i'll see what i can do.LOL

[Sled491]

Nothing too fancy, a Goode or Sixam, even an A, 67 or 68" will be fine :)

[Mikey]

All over it.LOL

[Sled491]

Cool :) :D

[Mikey]

If skis weren't so big i'd just shove one down my pants. then if someone said anything about the bulge in my pants i could just say i'm so happy to see you. HA

[Sled491]

Actually you just need to be wearing your vest, and get a copy of a competitor # bib and walk around like your supposed to. In fact you may even attract some lovely young ladies looking to meet a famous skier :)

[Mikey]

Yah Good idea. Maybe someone might mistake me for Chris Parish or someone,if i was just 20yrs younger a six pack instead of a 2 pack and if i could actually Waterski.Then the Girls would just be hanging off my arms. LOL

[Mikey]

Funny i'm laughing as i type this.Yrs ago on a trip to New York i was at a bar and i had a group of people at another table buy me a beer and send it over to say what a great game i had as a NEW YORK METS Player. I was stumped as i had no clue who they were even talking about but i asked and went over and as soon as i said i was from Canada etc they quickly realized i wasn't BS'ing them so they then said Enjoy the Beer just the same. My friends gave me the gears for the weekend just the same about what a great game i had and being a celebrity and all. Too this day i haven't a clue who they were talking about .

[Mikey]

Yah but we have hockey and don't need blue and red streaks to watch and understand it. That and WE LIKE THE FIGHTS as we know its part of the game.

[Mikey]

I just finished watching day 2 for me at the championships, and i have to say these guys are amazing skiers. They start there qualifiying runs at 32 off at 36 mph and go on from there. On a good ski day i start at 22 go to 28 then if alls good go to 32 and start crashing all usually at 34 mph not 36,. These guys ROCK. My idol Chris Parish qualified in number on at 1 1/2 at 41 and he actually let up because he already had number one spot locked up. Most qualified at 39 1/2 off at 4 plus balls .
We watched some awesome jumping and womens Trick which was won by CANADAS own Whitney Mc Clintock.
Jumping isn't finished yet and as we watched qualifying they had some tech issues which had 3 out of the last 4 jumpers crashing hard out the front,which is amazing as they were getting into distances pushing 200ft. There were still 8 more of the top ranked jumpers to go including the king Freddie Krueger which we missed . Too bad Finals tommorrow so i hope to see.
This place is amazing and if interested Go directly to PredatorBay website or Drenchedfest on face book has a few good pics that some one is loading up. I've taken some pics but with a cheap camera but hope to be able to post a few pics just the same.
Rather than rambling on i will mention about 10 minutes after arriving i was actually standing beside Todd Ristorcelli from waterski magazine,and managed to get my picture take with him. Had a short chat and said goodby. Nice guy.

[moombabound]

It was fantastic to actually see short line action live. Had been waiting a long time for this opp and made a point of returning from vacation in time for the finals (that was my V you might have seen, Mikey, parked at the entranceway on Saturday).

Parrish looked so smooth, it was, as they say in the sport, "sick". But he gave it up to Asher who took it with 3 @ 41 off.

Marcus Brown was signing T's at the HO tent. Very nice guy, took an interest in the kids; asked them about their waterskiing. He was bumbed that he missed the finals for the first time in a long time. However, his was a commentator during the Finals and was fantastic; really helped make the event special. He was gracious toward all the competitors and informative.

Parrish flashed the family a nice smile and nod when strolling by. My friend had a good chat with Andy Mapple, who was there to help launch the slick new Nautique 200 (whoops wrong web site to flog that), and later had a discussion with Ristorcelli. I was with another friend when he was getting assistance on a unique (palm strap) pair of Pro-line gloves and the guy who was helping him turns out owns Pro-Line, and proceeded to get into a water ski technique discussion.

The Finals announcer made more than one comment to the effect this was one of the best Pro events ever. Between seeing the live action, and watching Edged in Water 2 last night, which I picked up there and highly recommend for $30, can't wait to finally hit the water tomorrow!

Spoke to Marcus briefly about the West Coast Slalom DVD he participated in (it's double the price of Edged and I nearly pulled the trigger on it yet a few months ago), and he said another ski DVD is in the works for release next summer that he expects will be well received.

Hats off to the organizers for bringing that calibre of event to this part of the planet. Had it on my radar for 18 months and it was well worth the effort of attending.