Adamsski26 Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 We are looking at building a lake for 3 event skiing . Is 600m (1968 feet) long enough? We are thinking of using a 8 ball slalom course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Lukin Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 I ski on a lake that long - JUST long enough - not ideal but doable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller_ MISkier Posted July 24, 2015 Baller_ Share Posted July 24, 2015 If you're not at altitude, it's long enough and long enough for just a 6 ball course. If you are at any significant altitude, you would want it longer or use the 8 ball course. The worst slalom equipment I own is between my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller Skoot1123 Posted July 24, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 24, 2015 Absolutely long enough. Our lake is 2000' long and is plenty long enough. Do you have any altitude issues to contend with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller Marco Posted July 24, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 24, 2015 Our lake is exactly 2000', and we are at 5800 feet above sea level. It is plenty long enough, though we do have turn islands to get extra distance on the set up. We drop as soon as the boat clears the 55's. I don't think 16' less on each end would make much of a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller Edbrazil Posted July 24, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 24, 2015 Plenty of room, but not ideal. Don't think you need an 8-buoy, with today's high-powered boats. Perhaps somewhat of a standard to go by, McCormick's main lake is about 2200 feet. Which has dual-direction jumping, and room for barefoot tournaments. But, I have seen length way down near 1300 feet. Such as at LaPoint Ski Park in Orlando (8-buoy overlapping), and Autore's in Northern New Jersey (2 separate 6-buoy courses). The "record" may have been at the Old Marine World in Redwood City, CA with a 4-buoy in about 1050 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller eleeski Posted July 24, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 24, 2015 That is plenty long for a three event lake if you don't have islands. Trickers will have too short a setup with islands and it is a safety issue for long jumpers hitting the island. You can always simulate @Marco 's island boat path if you want when slaloming. My lakes are that long and we slalom straight in. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller klindy Posted July 24, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 24, 2015 There's a lake in northern Indiana which is a 3 event lake with islands and its 1610' from shore to shore. Tight but works. Our lake in Michigan was no more than 2000' with islands and it was comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller Ed_Johnson Posted July 24, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 24, 2015 Our Lake in Orlando is 1850' and plenty of room..We use "Imaginary" turn islands and have no roll back..Has been working great for over 25 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller bishop8950 Posted July 25, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 25, 2015 @klindy I thought the lake in Lawton was closer to 1,800? I am skiing there this week actually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adamsski26 Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 Would 52m (170 feet) be wide enough for 3 events? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller_ MISkier Posted July 26, 2015 Baller_ Share Posted July 26, 2015 I think you need more than 200 for 3 event. Probably 250. The worst slalom equipment I own is between my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller ntx Posted July 26, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 26, 2015 I would think 250 would be min. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller MrJones Posted July 27, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 27, 2015 It would be great with turn islands. You are kidding yourself if you think straight in will be any good. Mine is 2150' straight in and it's not enough. You can ski on short lakes, but quality goes down. There is a lot to be said for having time to get up and settle in before starting your pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller JohnCox Posted July 27, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 27, 2015 Plenty of room, and you don't need an 8 buoy unless you just want it. Ours is 1,340 feet, and we just installed an 8 buoy after 4 years using a 6 buoy. Short, but doable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller Andre Posted July 27, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 27, 2015 Wow! 1340' is crazy short for a regular course ... Straight in or doglegs starts? My ski finish in 16.95 but my ass is out of tolerance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller eleeski Posted July 27, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 27, 2015 @MrJones He did spec a 3 event lake. The islands will interfere with tricks and jump - perhaps to the extent of creating a real safety hazard. And you can simulate an island boat path without the islands but you can't hide the island for that long jumper or the tricker putting on a toe harness. There used to be an AWSA spec requiring 15m (~50 feet) of clearance for the skier. While the rule is no longer in the books, it is a good guideline. The slalom course is 75' wide plus the 50' clearance so 170' is a slalom only lake (23m plus 15m plus 15m = 53m wide). Jump takes more width. Carefully measuring the jump course or just multiplying the 75' jump rope by 2 and adding the 50' clearances on each end you end up needing a 250' wide lake (or 23m rope plus 15m clearance times two = 76m). you can go a bit tighter as the countercut realistically doesn't need 50' of clearance - but the jump side is tight. Clearly, the entire lake doesn't need to be that wide. Cutouts for the countercut zone and the jump area can be made - engineer it carefully. In California, where water is very scarce, minimizing your lake size is important. Side benefits to a narrow lake are that the water doesn't move as much, rollers dissipate faster, wind has less effect and you don't have to move as much dirt. I put cutouts for the slalom buoys in my lake to keep it as narrow as possible. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller thompjs Posted July 27, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 27, 2015 Ski Texas P1 is 1950 with turn islands no problem. Trick done on other lake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller thompjs Posted July 27, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 27, 2015 On our Jump lake at Ski Texas -- on one end the island is offset the "wrong" way. This allows tricks to run the whole length of the lake, experienced driver-skier combo can turn around without going around island too. Jump works fine -- lake is now 2140 but it used to be 2000 and we've had 190 ft jumpers. @eleeski's comments on shape is good idea for jump, you really need a big area for passing and weird falls that go 45 deg off top of ramp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller JohnCox Posted July 27, 2015 Baller Share Posted July 27, 2015 @Andre we would start at the 55m buoys and go away from the course and spin in - right against the shore. When the boat settled in, it was time to pull out. Now, we can almost go straight in with the 8 buoy course, with a slight dog leg, which actually helps with bow roll. We are still tweaking water levels and set ups, but the lake skis great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now