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Cold Water skiing


areamike

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How many of you try to ski all year in the cold areas of the US? We try to ski every month as long as the lake is not froze over.

We barefooted yesterday. Yes, no booties, just bare feet.(it ain't barefootin if you wear booties)

Air Temp 50

Water Temp 39 (brrrrrrrr)

We could not get my buddy's boat out because there was still about 12 ft of ice about 4 inches thick all along the shorelines. We were able to push his sea-doo out on the ice into open water. We then hoped on and drove down the lake to a calm area to get our monthly runs in. Other than the frigid water temp, the only other sucky part was the sea-doo would only do about 34 MPH with a driver and footer in tow. Needless to say I was pretty much drowning the whole time. But we did it! Yahoo.gif

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We have been over freezing for three days or so. It rained yesterday but still have trucks driving on the lake so I think it may be some time before we hit the water. :(

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We have been over freezing for three days or so. It rained yesterday but still have trucks driving on the lake so I think it may be some time before we hit the water. :(

Ice fisherman are starting to fall through the ice ... good sign for skiing, bad for them. Actually an arctic front is coming throught so I'm sure the ice will be getting thick again.

Edit: End of hijack

Edited by MalibuNation
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I sat in my boat Friday night and played with the radio. That's as close as it's gonna get.

Good for you guys though! How long do your feet last in 39 degrees before it gets painful?

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I sat in my boat Friday night and played with the radio. That's as close as it's gonna get.

Good for you guys though! How long do your feet last in 39 degrees before it gets painful?

I don't think I had them in the water more than 10 minutes. I probably did about a 500 yard run. Rather short, but it counted. My feet didn't really hurt. I had some neoprene booties on that I took off right before and put them on right after. Don't get me wrong though, they were definitely cold. I was more worried about falling through the ice while we pushed the sea doo out over it. My buddy was like "Oh don't worry you got your drysuit on." I said "Well it wont help me much if I fall and go UNDER the ice, now will it?"

Edited by areamike
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Me and two of my footing buddies footed once a month all winter around 1998 just so we could say we did. December was not bad, I have skied many years in December. January was cold. I wore insulated coveralls under the dry suit. February was brutal. There was ice in the marina and you could hear in clinking off the hull as we made our way out to the river channel. There was ice at the shore line of the river channel but not in the center where there was current. The air temp was about 35 and the water was not much above freezing. We had a cooler filled with hot water to soak our hands a feet in. The water was so cold that my feet felt like they were burning before they would begin to get numb. It was really fun but after that year we never did it again.

Pic on the left is the marina with ice on the water. Sunset Bob got a really bad ice cream headache!

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Me and two of my footing buddies footed once a month all winter around 1998 just so we could say we did. December was not bad, I have skied many years in December. January was cold. I wore insulated coveralls under the dry suit. February was brutal. There was ice in the marina and you could hear in clinking off the hull as we made our way out to the river channel. There was ice at the shore line of the river channel but not in the center where there was current. The air temp was about 35 and the water was not much above freezing. We had a cooler filled with hot water to soak our hands a feet in. The water was so cold that my feet felt like they were burning before they would begin to get numb. It was really fun but after that year we never did it again.

Pic on the left is the marina with ice on the water. Sunset Bob got a really bad ice cream headache!

That is kind of what we do when we can get his boat out. He has a shutoff valve with about 24 inches of hose coming from the block on his motor. We pump nice 160degree water out of the block and into a 5 gallon bucket then add a little lake water to cool it down a little. It usually lasts us a good hour or so of footin during those colder months.

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Can we play out here in the wacked out west? We headed out for the Crew Xmas party and Jan 9th, Air temp reached 60 and the water was 47-49, nice and sunny. Tease.gif The only real cold thing was the ranger who almost gave me a parking ticket.

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C'mon Mike, where is the video of you guys doing the "ice sheet" start? If not you, certainly Mark would be up for it. Thumbup.gif Did you guys deep water start from the SeaDoo?

In my recent past, I would ski every chance I got (open water with light wind) through the winter months. With little kids now at home (and at my cold water ski buddy's house) I've put the boat away after a late November run the last few years and get it back out around the first of March. Around here it is very rare to have late December through early February open water on the river.

I also use a cooler of warm water for the hands and feet before and after getting in...works great! Just curious, do you guys find 48-50 degree water or so to be the critical temperature between skiing till you're cold or skiing till you're tired? That seems to be the temp for me.

Edited by Sethro
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C'mon Mike, where is the video of you guys doing the "ice sheet" start? If not you, certainly Mark would be up for it. Thumbup.gif Did you guys deep water start from the SeaDoo?

In my recent past, I would ski every chance I got (open water with light wind) through the winter months. With little kids now at home (and at my cold water ski buddy's house) I've put the boat away after a late November run the last few years and get it back out around the first of March. Around here it is very rare to have late December through early February open water on the river.

I also use a cooler of warm water for the hands and feet before and after getting in...works great! Just curious, do you guys find 48-50 degree water or so to be the critical temperature between skiing till you're cold or skiing till you're tired? That seems to be the temp for me.

Yup, deep water starts. Thumbup.gif

No "ice sheet start" this time. Probably try that next time if we can get the boat out. I wanted to get some pics or video but for some strange reason I could not convince anyone to take up that job. And yes, abotu the 48-50 degree mark is really pretty tolerable. It's when you get down into that 30 degree area when you really notice the cold. The bucket of hot water helps, so we've really never had any issues(i.e. frostbite)

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great thread - I went out boarding last sunday - air temp about 45 water temp 43 with light rain - first set face got whipped up by the rain and when I slid in to the dock my hands got really cold undoing my bindings. second set no problems save for my arms getting tired I missed December on account of Ice and the lack of a boat... last weekend we went behind the Tomcat It was great and I try to go every month. sucks going out 3-4 times a week during the summer to going out once per month in the "off season" no matter how hard I work out at the gym it's just not the same as doing the real deal behind the boat - still got sore.. but like some of you others it's important to make it out on the water...

IMG00047-20100124-13311.jpg

Edited by FlatH20
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River is frozen solid, no open water in sight to put the boat on. I think I would trailer the boat across the frozen water without falling through. Guess that means I will have to stick to snow skiing until april or so.

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great thread - I went out boarding last sunday - air temp about 45 water temp 43 with light rain - first set face got whipped up by the rain and when I slid in to the dock my hands got really cold undoing my bindings. second set no problems save for my arms getting tired I missed December on account of Ice and the lack of a boat... last weekend we went behind the Tomcat It was great and I try to go every month. sucks going out 3-4 times a week during the summer to going out once per month in the "off season" no matter how hard I work out at the gym it's just not the same as doing the real deal behind the boat - still got sore.. but like some of you others it's important to make it out on the water...

IMG00047-20100124-13311.jpg

That is cool. One thing I have to say about the west is that I am glad (most of) our water is blue and green, not brown!

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The dog and I walked our lake a mile or so yesterday and I looked in some ice fishing holes so I did see open water. It was glass Biggrin.gif . Also about 16 inches of ice over it. We need another month or two. Cry.gif

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I'll put up with cold and cloudy for glass. Biggrin.gif

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Raining today but supposed to clear out for tomorrow.

Hoping to get some sets before church. :)

Nice pic. I hope you get water up your nose! Tongue.gifTease.gif

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Well since you mentioned it he is quite the bow washer aficionado... Tease2.gifROFL.gif

No flat spins or bat turns in the winter. No.gif

Never did figure out what caused it but when you take water over the bimini... Crazy.gif ...something went terribly wrong. Yes.gif That turn killed a digital camera and a steering cable. :Doh:

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No flat spins or bat turns in the winter. No.gif

Never did figure out what caused it but when you take water over the bimini... Crazy.gif ...something went terribly wrong. Yes.gif That turn killed a digital camera and a steering cable. :Doh:

An killed any belief you are a good driver....Tongue.gif But if you need to clean carpets Norcal can show ya how to "flush" the interior.Whistling.gif

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