End of season fun

[Lakewaterjunky]

 

 After several years of tubing, kneeboarding, wakeboarding (yuck!) and standard waterskiing, both our girls (eight and eleven years old) got up on a slalom ski within a week and a half of each other late this season.
Our youngest that has been skiing since the age of five, mastered the task first (cheers from ours and two other boats watching were really great) and man did it eat up our oldest girl seeing her younger sister get it before she did.
Not only did our youngest get up before her sister, but by the third time up that day, she was crossing the wakes with little or no effort.

After a week of trying since our youngest got it, once we got through the frustration, a few emotions and a little drama, our oldest nailed it and on her first time up she was instantly crossing the wakes as if she had done it for years. We skied her for a good distance then headed for the course to let her go side to side, mostly around the guide buoys.

Although the event itself and the super progression were at the forefront of our excitement, what she finally got up on put a twist on the whole thing.

Repeated attempts on a junior set slalom ski (that her little sister got up on) were fruitless and the only alternative on board at the time was a slightly larger set of old wooden cut n jumps.

Sure enough, we put the slalom from that old set on her and she instantly popped out of the water like someone was pushing from underneath. The look on her face and the yelling was awesome, between the two of them, she was the one that really wanted it to happen this year and was getting very frustrated.

Motivation from little sis and a vintage ski made it happen.

The next day she went through the gates and rounded one ball!

Too bad it was just before the water got to cold for the season.

Both of my girls did this from deep water starts with no assistance in the water by anyone! Just coaching from the boat.

Right or wrong, I just didn’t want them to rely on dropping one ski after they got up, we were afraid of them getting accustomed to the practice and also didn’t want a ski always left floating until we got back to it.

Deep water is how I learned about their age (on vintage wood also) and although it took many attempts this year with both of them, we wanted them to do the same and it worked.

We promised a new ski, gloves and the whole bit after they both started slalom skiing.
Now it may seem silly unless some of you already have girls, but the two skis they think are the prettiest are the HO Siren and the Radar Lyric. It seems that the smallest Siren is sixty three inches and the smallest Lyric is sixty five inches. We would like it if they could share a ski for a little while next year since all the other gear we have promised for both of them, will nearly break us (it all must match BTW).

Our oldest may weigh a hundred pounds at the start of next season and we were skiing her at twenty five to twenty six mph, but I’m sure that speed will go up fairly quick next year, any recommendations or comments would be greatly appreciated.

My wife and I are really looking forward to the beginning of next season and are considering a southern location during spring break or so for a family ski school session.

What a great end to the season, exciting stuff!

[DaveD]

I think your oldest deserves a Wooden Underground t-shirt.