Wade's enthusiasm is laudable, but unfortunately even pessimists are memorialized:

"More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
Woody Allen

Obviously he was never a skier!

http://twitpic.com/m6ltz/full

Last edited by PFG (Mon, Oct 19, 2009 11:59 PM)

wow this is deep. all this water ski philosophy on life. lol

i think the $60,000 price tag on new comp boats makes some people. think again about buying a boat. and people who own a ski boat already, love it so much they dont want to get rid of it. skiing behind a fishing boat or a party barge is definately not the same. 

I've got a '98 Mastercraft P190 and i love that boat more than anything!

Ick...




Full story here: http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/component … nd-quarter

The downward trend is not encouraging, but on the other hand in 2008 + 2009 over 8,000 new expensive tournament boats/ wakeboard boats have landed on the planet.  Even if the purchasers already had a ski/wake boat ("skwake" boat?) their old boat had to go somewhere.  And surely some percentage of those new boat purchasers were getting into watersports for the first time... or rekindling an interest for the sake of their children.

So even in a downward trend market we should still be getting new blood into the game.  The question is, how does the influx math out against the attrition at the other end?  In other words, is the fresh meat keeping up with retirement / death of the old guard? "Cause that's I would think what we care about most.

TW

Just wodering...with the onslaught of satellite/cable channels, there has got to be a way to get coverage of the larger pro tournaments and /or the sport...What about a reality type show that follows the pros "behind the scenes"? What about MB's Face2Face tour, I know those guys have stories to tell and they cover a lot of ground...If someone (network/producer) would ever take a chance, get it on the air, that will bring interest, which will bring sponsors, which will bring more tournaments, which will bring more $'s...you know the story...I really believe that people don't have an appreciation for the effort required and if they ever were exposed to it, maybe, just maybe there would be a passion that is cultivated ...When the passion is there, everything else just becomes excuses....Just my "out of the box" idea....

what if they did one of those espn behind the scenes stories or whatever on someone.  that would be pretty cool. i bet people would watch that for sure.

mbskier, I agree with you. But, if we "build it, they will come". I really believe that the more we get kids involved, and make them want to associate themselves with a skiier, the sport or the merchandise, the sport will grow. Look what Nike did with Michael Jordan. I really like the concept of clinics and what Marcus Brown is doing with the Face2Face tour, but somehow, someway, we need to reach the masses. It may take each of us getting involved and hosting mid week fun tournaments or making an "event" out of local tournaments. Somewhere down the line there also has to be a point with the manufacturers where skiing/merchandise/etc. is affordable to the newcomer. I have not been "addicted" as long as a lot of people here and I don't think it has gotten this way overnight, which means we have to fix it a little bit everyday and sonner or later we'll hit a homerun! IMHO..

Hey There,
           New to the site and just found this topic and I tell you what I am new to skiing. I have always wanted to do it my whole life. When I was a kid I used to go to the lake every now and then with my uncle and family and I can remember the first time I ever seen in done and I was hooked and of course being kids in my family we weren't aloud to do that it was for adults only. Which was BS I always thought. Well anyway to my point, this past summer I was finally able to buy a boat which of course I hade to buy one of the best than my poor ass could buy which was an 1980 Ski Nautique, wake tower, the works, so I spent since July learning how to get up on the ski and then now how to cut and make that awesome spray like I see from every pro and non pro old guys that hang around our lake here in Denver. But the thing that I have always wandered was is this a dieing sport, because it seemed like all season we were the only ones up at 4 am and skiing which is un real to me because I was hooked ever since the first time I stood up on a slalom ski.  But here in Denver there's really no one around to ask for good tech help. We have Tommy's Slalom Shop but they seem to focus on wakeboarding now.
Since I found this site, everything has been great info, thanks everyone

vrod69 wrote:

I am new to skiing. I have always wanted to do it my whole life. When I was a kid I used to go to the lake every now and then with my uncle and family and I can remember the first time I ever seen in done and I was hooked and of course being kids in my family we weren't aloud to do that it was for adults only.

That's the first time I've heard that one, for sure! Thanks for posting. Hopefully there's a lot more people like you out there~ Get the kids involved and keep pushing yourself!

millertime wrote:

Skiing is not a dying sport. If anything I see it on the rise. As everyone has said we need to get today's youth involved and show them the art and the beauty of morning glass weather in the course or running down the shore line. I remember as a kid watching people in the morning just laying down turns and saying man that is cool.

....

We need to get kids out there weather it is slalom, trick, foot'n or, jumping and just get them on the water it is infectious.

....

  All in all everyone needs to support their local lakes and clubs. Talk about it read about it. And get some of those ski mags that you have held on to cause you never know when you might need something out of it. LOL! And leave them out form someone to see and pick up. Spread the word.
Miller

"art and beauty of the morning glass" - That and every evening shooting a ginormous spray across the the glass as the sun barley continues to light the earth is what got me hooked!!! YES this is the one of the most addicting sports out there. Which is why i must concur with "Skiing is not a dying sport. If anything I see it on the rise"  its the simple fact. yeah, our sport isn't well known. yeah, wakeboarding has kinda stolen the name of skiing. i like to think the question "is water skiing dying" like this - As a teen skier, i'm sorry, addicted teen skier, i talk to every kid i meet about skiing. Some how, i can bring up the topic! My friends say i'm bloody obsessed... And i agree, as i'm sure anyone who reads this will know how i feel. anyways, when i tell people i'm a skier first they think snow... then I'm say umm No... water! (cuz that's what makes since... skiing = water.  Downhill/snow skiin = snow ;] ) And i swear the biggest reply i get is - "OHH you mean wakeboarding awesome!!" And once again i'm like - No... haha you got it all wrong! le'me show yeah what your missin! If i can i pull up a vid of from you tube ("speed freaks" is a fav! look it up) orr i'll show them some footage of me. and just talk about what slalom skiing is. and EVERY person who didn't know about slalom skiin are amazed. And think its a sick sport! they don't say, "ohh wow that's an old-man's thing." problem is... i can't teach every kid i met how to ski :'( But i really try to get my friends who are really interested up to the lake with me and teach them how to get up on two... then one... then turn! or teach them anything! Cuz yes the lake is infectious! its not something you can do once and say okay, check that off my life list! Getting people out is the BIGGEST thing we can do! Cuz i'm sure the situation i fall into is the same across the country or even world! Our sport isn't dying, its just potential and awesomeness has yet to be noticed!!

I LOVE everything Marcus, Wade, and all the skiers out there have been doing to help spread this passion we all share! From, the face to face tour to MB's fire side chat, to teaching people how to ski. They've been sharing the sport and making it bigger! WE can do the same! and we SHOULD be doing the same! I know, it'd be impossible for me to keep my love in skiing all to myself! i wanna spread it to everyone i can! Its what i do and I'm sure as hell proud of it!

that's bacically how i feel about this topic. We can grow this sport. it may have "died" a while, but it's coming alive again! lets get it to grow!

-plotz

Last edited by Pl0tz (Tue, Feb 9, 2010 8:32 PM)