Traditional 3-Event Skiing

Three event waterskiing is an international competitive sport. The three events of waterskiing are Slalom, Trick, and Jump.

Trick Skiing: Skiing with short flat skis without rudders on the bottom. These skis slide easily on top of the water allowing a skier to turn 360 degrees. Trick skiing can be done on one or two skis and is a popular competitive sport among waterskiers.

Slalom Skiing: Skiing on a single ski! This type of waterskiing is usually a competitive sport. Skiers compete in a slalom course where they attempt to ski around buoys at high rates of speed with decreasing lengths of rope for additional challenges. Slalom skiing can easily be identified by the big spray of water created as the skier cuts back and forth across the wake of the boat.

Jumping: The ski jump is performed on two long skis, with a specialized tailfin that is somewhat shorter and much wider. Skiers towed behind a boat at fixed speed, manuever to achieve the maximum speed when hitting a ramp floating in the water, launching themselves into the air with the goal of travelling as far as possible before touching the water. Professional ski jumpers can travel up to 70 meters. The skier must successfully land and retain control of the ski rope to be awarded the distance.

Show Skiing

Extremely popular in the upper Midwest and practiced throughout the nation, show skiing combines components of all traditional (and some not so traditional!) waterski disciplines. Waterski shows feature several waterski acts choreographed to music and built around a theme.

Shoe Skiing: Similar to trick skiing, but with even shorter skis. Shoe skiing is typically found in show skiing or as a training device for barefooting.

Barefooting: Skiing with no skis at all! Barefoot waterskiing, invented in the late 1940's, was made possible by higher boat speeds and people daring enough to try it! In order to barefoot, an average adult requires boat speeds of 35-40 mph and typically wears a wetsuit with built-in flotation for protection.

Swivel Skiing: This type of skiing is typically performed by women in ski shows on a wide wooden single ski with a binding that can turn 360 degrees on ball bearings. Swivel skiing allows the skier to turn gracefully while the ski itself remains stationary.

Wakeboarding: Wakeboarding evolved from surfers pulling their boards behind boats. In the mid 1980’s skurfers were marketed, which were essentially minature surfboards with bindings attached. By the early 1990’s the sport and equipment developed into what we know now. Wakeboarding has become the most popular type of waterskiing.  Wakeboarders have pushed the sport to the extreme by launching off boat wakes inventing a variety of high-flying tricks!

Hydrofoil: Hydrofoil skiing is commonly known as the “Air Chair” because it looks like the skier is sitting in a chair hovering above the water. The “chair” is attached to a ski and foil similar to a miniature airplane wing that rides under the water, lifting the ski and seat above the surface of the water. The hydrofoil can be launched out of the water for spectacular aerial tricks.

Kneeboarding: Kneeboarding is exactly what is sounds like... a skier kneels on a board and is pulled behind the boat. Skiers, however, have taken it to a high level by inventing a variety of surface and aerial tricks.