Skiing going the way of the Dodo bird?

[moombabound]

Can't get enough of it personally. Late life bloomer; year 4 now. But there are too many other distractions for the younger crowd. Last year, my son (now 14) stated in the spring he wanted to focus on water skiing and get good at it. Right. Exit the old run-about, enter the Outback V, and skiing is almost a distant memory for him. Splits his time between skating, boarding and surfing. Skied only twice all season. His friends at the lake have no interest in skiing whatsoever. Though we're on a quiet lake, seeing another skier is a rare novelty. Nobody my age skis, even if they have prior background, because it's wayyyyy too much work. Add to that, the '09 Outack V appears to have been reshaped to create more wake...well there's proof in the pudding the builders are less concerned about a cross-over boat and focused on bigger wake. Other observations?

PS (Lord, please help the builders find a way to make a true cross-over boat. Ski and surf. Before I'm too old)!

[MrsZ]

Skiing is alive and well in this family! I still love skiing the most although I will always try (and enjoy) other water sports. Skiing is the the main thing. My son, 11 years old, loves skiing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding and surfing. But he likes skiing the best. He MAY be a little influenced by Zegm and me but it is not really intentional. He likes to try the ski course. He wants to beat me one day...maybe not too very far away. Sorry for rambling but we Still LOVE skiing here! You are not alone!

[moombadaze]

funny in that for the last 1/2 of the summer ive seen more peeps skiing than the last 5yrs or so on our lake, makes me wish i never got rid of my slalom ski.

[Waynes345]

It's harder to ski these days than it was when I was a kid because there are more boats and most of them are pulling tubes. We ski early and late when the water is best and I think I've seen more skiers this year as well. I'm looking forward to the next few weekends as the lake empties out and we can run sets during the afternoon. My 11 year old daughter and her friend are now diehards as well. I'll winterize the boat in mid October and start tuning the snow skis.

Signed,

A Proud FIB WAT AAS (and a ski)

[maxpower220]

makes me wish i never got rid of my slalom ski.

They have made more slaloms skis, you should get a new one. A new one is probably even better than your old ski.

[Mrs.Daze]

A Proud FIB WAT AAS (and a ski)

I couldn't remember who the other IL members were.

They have made more slaloms skis, you should get a new one. A new one is probably even better than your old ski.

Come on Maxpower220, he's gotten enough new toys lately!

[BensonWdby]

Problem is the younger crowd is a more 'immediate rewards' type. With computers and video games and the internet, things are easy... Wakeboarding is easy to learn , two skis is not that much harder, but slalom takes some persistence. I have a lot of stories over the last 37 years of skiing (actually 41, but I only count slalom years) and introducing people to it.

I never find it boring, and always am working at improving. I think I have actually gotten better over the last 5 years. It helps keep me young. Problem is finding others my age to go with, so I enlist anyone, at least to spot if nothing else. We actually convinced the neighbors landscape crew to ride with us last summer during their break so I could have a spotter.

My son is a serious video gamer and he fell for the big air show of wake boarding. Until he realized that the big air came with a lot of big splashes. That plus the fact that I did not get on board and we were frequently struggling with the logistics of filling and emptying the fat sacks so he could board and I could ski. Just did not work out. He is now a skier - sort of - but his life style currently keeps him away from the lake .

[wolfeman131]

Last week we saw more slalom skiers than anything else! During one run with the girls on their skis, we passed 3 slalom skiers AND a boat pulling double slalom skiers. We saw a Supra with surfers and a MC with a wakeboarder.

My girls want to learn to slalom next year (oh, Mrs. Z - I'm gonna need some help!) and a wakeboard for XMas. It will be interesting to see if either one gets more use than the other. Either way, I hope they forget about the tube!

[maxpower220]

What is even more disappointing is: younger people in my boat don't even know what a barefoot boom is. Most boarders have seen people ski, board, surf, skate, but I am surprised at how many have never seen a barefooter.

At least with less skiers, slalom courses aren't crowded.

[Sled491]

On my lake (and I've counted) there are 26 tournament ski boats and only 2 real wakeboard boats. There a couple of IO wanna bees but that's the count. There are a few good skiers, and no good wakeboarders. My 8 year old has been on his slalom 2 yrs now complete with high wrap binding and consistent deep water starts. The kid just soaks up all the coaching the Mrs and I hand out. He has tried surfing, is mildly interested in knee boarding, and almost no interest in wakeboarding.

This may change I understand, but for now the kid sucks up all the ski time that he can. I have great hopes for him.

We all ski, and as you may have noticed from other posts on this Skiing board I am a die hard as well. We're not going anywhere soon, count on it!