Too Cold? Ankles Broken? Try Water Skiing Next Time

Maybe you don't like to ski. Maybe you're one of those people who shudder at the prospect of snow-soaked pants, eggbeater tumbles, and broken ribs. If you fall into this class of timid souls but still have a mild attraction for skiing, buy yourself a pair of oversized hickories and head for the warm waters of some Floridian bay.

Water-skiing entails little expense and far fewer fractures than its snowy sister sport. All you need is a speedboat, a quiet lagoon, several hundred feet of light rope, and, above all, a life preserver to keep you afloat.

If you've skied before, you won't find water-skiing hard to learn. In fact, only a few major differences present themselves to the student surface-slider who has had previous experience on the mountainsides. Instead of leaning forward with your knees bent and your weight toward the ski tips, you keep your weight behind your harnesses and stand as nearly straight as possible.

There are no perilous inclines to navigate, no trees or cleverly hidden boulders to dodge, and no budding slat experts to schuss by you asserting their proficiency in a spray of icy powder; just a refreshing surface of water through which to plunge and a dozen scantilly-clad maidens to console you in your athletic short-comings.

Water Jumps and Slaloms

You can jump the wake, christy, and tailwag to your heart's content with only a few days of practice, and, as you become more adept, countless other methods of soaking yourself will appear. The ingenious inventors of this comparatively new sport have even stretched their imaginations to the construction of wooden jumps and slalom courses of elusive floats.

Water-ski jumps usually consist of wooden platforms set with rollers or slime covered ramps aimed skyward at a forty-five degree angle. The two principle points the aspirant jumper must bear in mind as he finds himself launched into the air by this maniacal device are: (1) he must release the tow rope at the top of the jump; and (2) sooner or later he will come down.

Swapping Skis Afloat

Other pastimes for the man who has learned "everything" about the sport are skiing on one slat, using only one ski while holding the tow rope with the other foot, changing skis at full speed, and changing skis with another fanatic behind the same boat.