Is skiing / how much is it a fading sport ?

[lxirod]

You guys on public lakes think skiing is dying because there are so many private lakes now. Most us skiers are on ski lakes to avoid wave machines and bad condtions. And it not just serious skiers . At our lake we have people of all ages and abilities.

[lxirod]

Look at all these ski lake sites. Every Thumbtack is a private waterski lake. If you think skiing is dying, think again.

Edited December 12, 2012 by lxirod

[CliffB]

As much as I'd like to say that skiing seems to be healthy and doing well as a popular sport, I think that's just not the case. What I see out here on lakes near me (Washington State) is a lot more wakeboarders than skiers. I think this is because the water conditions on any sunny Sat/Sun are much rougher now due to the large number of boats making large wakes for various wake sports....leaving skiers with un-skiable conditions. People instead then engage in wake-sports as most wake-sports can still be engaged in and enjoyable with some degree of waves on the lake.

There, I said it. No offense to wake-sports people but I really think that's the bottom line as far as skiers and skiing goes out here near me. This is just my $.02 and I realize others will have completely different opinions and experience.

[jkendallmsce]

You summed up my thoughts right there!

You just captured exactly my thoughts

BUying and installing a course is not that expensive...You can even make one pretty easily.

AS far as skiing fading away, just look at the Malibu line up of boats. Or any other ski boat maker....The number of ski boats vs wakeboard boats....no comparision. Heck Malibu does not even list/show all their DD boats...I think they still make the LX, but is not shown on their website.

And go to any tournament...Divsions 5,6,7, etc. are where all the skiers are take all the time...compared to Divisions boys,1,2,3, etc.

I think most skiers, who are serious about improving, go the private lake route to ensure they have good water when they want it....Too many variables when out on the public waterways....and too many chuckleheads to deal with too. WHen you can eliminate and or reduce those variables, the chances of getting better improve...One of the reasons why Bob LaPoint, when skiing, had his own driver....one less variable to deal with. And there is no money in profesional skiing....cause it is not a good TV/watching experience like boarding is. When was the last time you watched professional skiers on TV? Non skiers watching someone ski the course has not idea how hard it is. Rathburn, I think, said he could take basball players and skiers, have them swap sports...and he'd have the skiers hitting 90 mph fastballs, but the baseballers would not be making it thru the course.

Malibu can't even keep the Malibu Open in Sacto....when was the last year they held the Malibu Open in Sacto?

Edited December 12, 2012 by jkendallmsce

[Bill_AirJunky]

Look at all these ski lake sites. Every Thumbtack is a private waterski lake. If you think skiing is dying, think again.

Interesting. Doesn't show any of the ski lakes along I-90 in central or eastern WA. Koreis is the only one I know the name of.

Or Bow Lake up in Skagit County.

That said, while those lakes are there, they are rarely busy.

Edited December 12, 2012 by Bill_AirJunky

[Slayer]

I don't think skiing is dead, nor do I think it's on its way. We are fortunate where I live. We have a course, albeit with restrictions, but we do have one and the lake is "semi private". There are also a couple of public lakes with courses in the area. There are several private ski lakes in the area, too. The local tournament series hits 4-5 lakes within a 50 mile radius, so that's pretty darn cool in my book.

In our area, there are far more DD boats that VD wake boats. DD boats don't really seem to last long on the market here, either. It also seems like the pro shops we have are well stocked with high quality, cutting edge gear and boats. So, I think that skiing is still strong.

[noonewakeboards]

There are a lot of people buying cross-over boats so they can still ski, so what is the cross-over boat going to be in the future? The next generation is going to be buying a cross-over boats so they can still wakeboard/surf.

[RockinRod]

Pretty simple for me, I was raised on a ski and I will die on a ski. I like wakeboarding and have tried surfing, but I want to be buried with my ski !

[bandit]

Sales figures of boards v. skis would be a very good guide as to the sports strength / weakening

[Miljack]

I guess my main point re: skiing "dying" is that I see less and less young kids skiing. The mention of private lakes in the thread confirms the difficulty of access for good skiing these days. We used to be on the road @ 6am to find glass to ski, usually loading up to go home before noon, how many people still want to do that? Wakeboarders also want glass, although you can still have fun with some wind chop, etc...but you can still do most of your tricks.

I have a friend that's a good slalom skiier, 35' off @ 34mph consistently, but he does it @ a private lake, no longer even skis on our public lake (and our lake is only ~3000 acres) except early in the season to do work out the rust.

Skiing IS dying, similar thing we're seeing in other sports enjoyed by the "baby boomers"...

Just saying that too many other options for getting out to enjoy the water, wakeboarding and surfing are really fun social activities that lend themselves to a crowd on the boat...

[UWSkier]

We didn't deploy our Wedge once all summer and the bags and pumps stayed in the garage with the wakeboards. Just the way it's going on our lake. Slalom skiers everywhere. Think I saw one wakeboarder all year. By us, it seems like the lake is still dominated by the same families who've been up there for 30+ years. I think wakeboarding tends to be more popular with people who are first-generation watersports types. New money if you will.

I tried wakeboarding when it was getting popular. I could do some basic stuff (W2W, 360s, grabs, etc), but it was always kinda boring. Too slow. I'm an acceleration junkie. No better feeling than hooking a perfect turn at 36 MPH, 32 off on a carbon-fiber missile, even in open water. High tempo skiing is just a hell of a rush. The problem is 90% of skiers never progress to the point where they get to feel what I'm talking about and quit before they ever reach that point.

Edited December 13, 2012 by UWSkier

[malibuparadise]

I think as posted before skiing is a sport that you need to fulfill several variables before it is enjoyable.

1. Smooth water (no wind, no boats)

I'm sure I'm not the norm, but when I'm on my Maharaja woody and there's waves (even small white tips) and a sizable wake due to folks in the boat, the zipping back and forth while crushing thru the waves is extreme fun and most skiers would probably say no way, but for me it really doesn't get better. Staying up and missing those spills...that's a challenge that's hard to beat.

However, now that I joined a water ski club, I'm learning a whole new concept of "competition," with "yourself" and against others. I mean the course gives you a benchmark to very accurately gage your various ability/skills and most important your improvement in them. That said, so far I'm still happy to side-line the Radar and put on the the woody and drag out those now-extinct double handles ;-)

Edited December 14, 2012 by malibuparadise

[MalibuTime]

Interesting reading everyone's opinion. A manufacturer's insight or some hard industry data would reallybe good at this point. I believe that globally, the number of waterski's sold/ total waterskiers is on the rise but that could be as much a function of global population growth as anything. The watersports "share" of waterskiing is likely declining because those $$ and time are competing with tubing, surfing, wakeboarding, wallying and other things boaters do with their time and money on the water.

[MalibuTime]

I'm sure I'm not the norm, but when I'm on my Maharaja woody and there's waves (even small white tips) and a sizable wake due to folks in the boat, the zipping back and forth while crushing thru the waves is extreme fun and most skiers would probably say no way, but for me it really doesn't get better. Staying up and missing those spills...that's a challenge that's hard to beat.

However, now that I joined a water ski club, I'm learning a whole new concept of "competition," with "yourself" and against others. I mean the course gives you a benchmark to very accurately gage your various ability/skills and most important your improvement in them. That said, so far I'm still happy to side-line the Radar and put on the the woody and drag out those now-extinct double handles ;-)

Continuing Malibuparadise's hijack -

Ski belt? You forgot the ski belt, do you drag that out with the double handles? That image reminds me of pictures of my folks skiing in the 60's. We had a 14' Reinell with a 35hp Gale outboard. Don't ask me how you get up on a slalom ski ( a Wally Burr at that - he was from Seattle) behind a 35HP but somehow they did. That boat seemed huge to me. I remember playing PT109 with it when it was parked on the side of our house. (edit - or maybe it was McHale's Navy - )

Edited December 15, 2012 by MalibuTime

[NorCaliBu]

As the saying goes...

If slalom skiing was easy ... They'd call it wakeboarding.

Which hits at the crux of the issue. Slalom skiing requires are pretty aggressive strength to weight ratio (at least to do it well). All one needs to do is look at the physique of the average American to know why a physically demanding sport might be in decline. Wakeboarding is easier. Likewise, wakesurfing is even easier than wakeboarding and tubing is easier still. The laziness gene dictates that many will choose to do whatever is easiest and requires the least amount of effort. I personally will never understand that mentality but whatever. It's the inconsideration of many boaters that irritates me to distraction.

Slumping sales of slalom sticks is evidenced by the meteoric rise of prices. The manufacturers must recoup costs and generate profits from fewer # of skis so they must charge more for them. Just a few years ago the top end HO skis were ~ $1000 MSRP for a blank and now, just a few years later, they're over $1400. 40% increase in 3 years. Materials costs have not risen that quickly.

Is slalom dying? No. Are sales soft? Duh. I like how much less gas it takes to slalom ski.

Edited December 16, 2012 by NorCaliBu

[martinarcher]

As the saying goes...

If slalom skiing was easy ... They'd call it wakeboarding.

Which hits at the crux of the issue. Slalom skiing requires are pretty aggressive strength to weight ratio (at least to do it well). All one needs to do is look at the physique of the average American to know why a physically demanding sport might be in decline. Wakeboarding is easier. Likewise, wakesurfing is even easier than wakeboarding and tubing is easier still. The laziness gene dictates that many will choose to do whatever is easiest and requires the least amount of effort. I personally will never understand that mentality but whatever. It's the inconsideration of many boaters that irritates me to distraction.

Slumping sales of slalom sticks is evidenced by the meteoric rise of prices. The manufacturers must recoup costs and generate profits from fewer # of skis so they must charge more for them. Just a few years ago the top end HO skis were ~ $1000 MSRP for a blank and now, just a few years later, they're over $1400. 40% increase in 3 years. Materials costs have not risen that quickly.

Is slalom dying? No. Are sales soft? Duh. I like how much less gas it takes to slalom ski.

You and me both....my wife is a quit because I can't do it or it isn't easy type. I'm a kill myself trying, I'll be stronger because of trying type.

[malibuparadise]

SO, we need to positively promote the sport more. Right? Get involved too... (even at the cost of a thread jack?)

Here goes:

At our ski club, you all are invited, here is the latest news (Feb Tourney)

"STEVE CESNAUSKAS WHO WAS AT LAST YEARS TOURNAMENT

IN FEB. HAS OFFERED TO SPONSOR THE EVENT BY CONFIRMING

GREG BADAL AND BOB LAPOINT TO NOT ONLY SKI IN THE

TOURNAMENT ON SATURDAY BUT BE AVAILABLE WITH

THE NEW 2013 SKIS TO SET UP, COACH, ETC.

PACIFIC SLALOM(STEVE) WILL PROVIDE GIVEAWAYS AND PRIZES

TO THE CLUB ON TOURNAMENT DAY,

Honestly, I don't even know these skiers, but not for long.

Anyone interested PM me.

[noonewakeboards]

"If slalom skiing was easy ... They'd call it wakeboarding."

If wakeboarding was boring ... They'd call it skiing.

[NorCaliBu]

If wakeboarding was boring ... They'd call it skiing.

If you think slalom skiing is boring then you've never actually skied. And I'm not talking about the slow, lazy turns of some out-of-shape hack. I'm talking about skiing a course at 34 mph and 28 off or shorter, with cross course speeds reaching close to 50 mph. Definitely not boring. But again, it's not easy and only the physically fit should attempt it. If your physique is more akin to Pop'n'Fresh (the Pillsbury Doughboy) than to an actual athlete, then surfing or tubing are probably the appropriate "sports" for you.

Edited December 16, 2012 by NorCaliBu

[tvano]

this thread is going to head downhill fast if we head towards bigger, better, etc.; let the blood-letting begin!

my name is tvano and i'm a slalom skier.

6 slalom passes and i'm toast but i can hang onto the rope all day long on a wakeboard

then, again, i'm not throwing inverts or 7 part tricks, either.

i just don't know how you big kids on the board can mentally hold the composition of the trick(s) while your body is upside down, backwards and headed to total destruction.

my hat's off to those that can make a wakeboard take flight.

if my body could stand the hurt i'd be headed in that direction. too cool (where that 'too cool' is a pretty good indicator of my age).

[old skool malibu]

I love skiing and surfing. I like wakeboarding but I do find it harder.... I just have never been able to get the hang of getting the right pop off the wake. My hat goes off to those that can throw sick air with a nice tweaked out grab!

You can tell winter has set it. We have the stereo wars beginning and now the debate may be getting heated on the ski thread. I guess cause most of us have Malibus we cant argue over which brand it better so we have to beat each other up over what company makes a better EQ? Help me out here guys, why do we do this year after year?

[saskicker32]

For me they are both enjoyable, I grew up with a direct drive boat and a dad who was waking up to go ski the course before work. I didn't get into it young because like stated skiing is tough. Therefore I learned to wakeboard first. I am okay (W2W, 180 every so often, the occasional tantrum attempt), but in high school I one day went to my dad and asked him to teach me to ski. He was definitely elated. I actually learned very quickly how to get up and make the slow turns, but man trying to master fast turns let alone the course are tough, best I have done is 4 buoys at 31 and 15 off. I recently attempted to convert a few friends of mine. I now have the privileged of an old response and a vlx so i have the best of both worlds. So case and point, they both have different style adrenaline rushes, but I love them both

[Webby]

UP to 14 hours on our new 2012 VTX and i have still not even thought about touching a wake board. Still having too much fun learning to surf and best of all trying to find the sweat spot between 32mph to 36mph.

Only down side to our new boat, my wife lost her 18 year old engagement ring on her first slalom behind the boat on the weekend.

How much doi spend on the new one?????

[Michigan boarder]

Taste's great - Less filling (yeah, I'm old)

Wakeboarding, slalom, jogging, frisbee...it's as easy or hard as you want to make it. W2W and trick after trick will wear you out. 50mph speeds across the wake will wear you out. A good driver will wear me out on a tube (ever go W2W on a tube? Or slow down the whip by flipping on your back, then flipping back right after your speed slows down?). I can stand in one place and throw a frisbee to my sons and back, or we can throw it so we are chasing in down over and over in a foot of water and making diving catches.

It's all good stuff, just really personal preference, and a matter of what you put into it.

[plano86skier]

UP to 14 hours on our new 2012 VTX and i have still not even thought about touching a wake board. Still having too much fun learning to surf and best of all trying to find the sweat spot between 32mph to 36mph.

Only down side to our new boat, my wife lost her 18 year old engagement ring on her first slalom behind the boat on the weekend.

How much doi spend on the new one?????

With the VTX you need to spend an equal amount on her new ring. I'm assuming you are talking about buying a new ring and not a new wife.

On a side note, you should join the Southern Wakeboarders and Skiers meetup, It's in your area.. The organizer is a friend that I skied and surfed with here in the states for a few years. Good guy and lots of fun. His only downside is he has a 2012 Mastercraft PS214. If you join, tell him Eugene sent you, below is the meetup link.

http://www.meetup.co...nd-Waterskiers/

Edited December 18, 2012 by plano86skier