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Last Tuesday, too rainy. Last Monday, too cold. Last weekend, a mixture of both. Spring Ohio weather can be worse then skinny-dipping in a pond full of leeches for the Ohio University Water-Ski club. This club likes nothing more than to hang out on nice days, party, compete and ski all afternoon. In the fall (the official beginning of water-ski season), the club participates in competitions at Cajun Lake (about 15 minutes south of Athens), where members of the club can participate in three types of contests: Slalom (where skiers use only one ski with two feet and navigate though a set of six buoys), Trick (skiers perform tricks either on skies or wakeboards and receive points for their efforts) and Jump (skiers wear large jump-skies and propel off a 6-7 foot ramp and are judged on distance).
{jcomments on} Although these are the only events offered at Cajun Lake, several other water sports are available to a water-skier, according to usawaterski.org. Barefooting (skiers do not use any skies), Ski Racing (skiers race for their best time out of two tries on a 2-1/2 mile course), Hydrofoiling (skiers ride above the water with the help of a hydrofoil), and Kneeboarding (similar to a wakeboard, but skiers balance on their knees instead of their feet). The OU Water-Ski Club may be the most relaxed club on campus, and that’s the way they like it. For now, the club is in the red when it comes to financing, and the unpredictable spring weather has kept them off the water so far this season, but everyone has their calendar marked for the spring trip down South. “Right now we just hang out a lot because we are limited because of the weather,” said fundraising chair Zach Foreman. “When the weather warms up, though, we all take a trip down to Tennessee for spring training and then we compete in the fall.” The club travels for an annual tour to Tennessee’s Dale Hallow Lake (May 12-17) where skills are sharpened for the upcoming season as well as members having fun and carousing on the lake. “Dale Hallow is a week-long spring training trip that we go on,” said Chris Hendricks, president of the organization. “We go and stay on a houseboat … We bring down three or four ski boats and ski all day and do a lot of teaching. A lot of people learn to ski their first time out there, but those of us who have been doing it longer get a whole week of training.”
Whether you’ve been skiing for years, if you have never skied before in your life, or even if you wipe out more times on a run than in the Beach Boys’ song, any student is welcome to join the water-ski club. “We are sitting on around 25 members right now,” Hendricks said. “There are only a select few of us who actually compete; most people are here for the social aspect. A lot of people don’t even know how to ski real well, but they like hanging out and want to learn. We have all levels from moderate people who can wakeboard or trick ski but can’t do too many tricks but they can ride, and we have people who can throw back flips. We have every level and it makes it pretty cool.” The club holds meetings in Baker Center 233 from 8-9 p.m. every Tuesday. So if the weather ever warms up and you want to learn how to do a back flip on a wakeboard, carve the water on a slalom ski, or even just stand up on two skies, you don’t have to win a “Boat Ride for Three” out of a cereal box like Andy Samberg; you can just join the water-ski club.
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