Ski Trip - 9/19/09

We hit the lake about 9am this morning. We were the only skiers we saw the whole morning although there were once again plenty of fishermen everywhere. We started off by the dam but the wind was just a bit too much from the Northwest to really ski very well. I started off on slalom and wearing my shorty wetsuit. I forgot how much the wetsuit drags when pulling out - made it much more tiring.

We left the dam area and went towards the cove by Speegleville Park. There was just enough shelter to keep the wind away although there were at least 4 fishing boats in view at all times. Jenny skied on slalom and did very well through her 3 passes. She is really getting comfortable with cutting and her turns, too bad the season is almost over. I went out again on slalom and this time without the wetsuit since it was getting warmer out. Skied much better and was really getting some good cuts, leans and turns. Made 2 passes before wearing out.

Jenny then skied on two for 2 passes. She went thru all the "tricks" she knows and you could tell she was having lots of fun. I then went out on backwards slalom. Got up on first pull and went outside the wakes and was working on my balance when Jenny had to turn the boat around. During the turn I lost balance and went ove the wake. I over-corrected and fell backwards (towards the boat). The ski came at me and I forgot to guard my face with my hand. The ski was upside down and wound up hitting me hard in the collarbone area, right between the two shoulder pads of my life jacket. The skeg hit me in the chin and created a fairly deep gash about half an inch long (see the picture). It was definitely painful. Jenny pulled the boat around and jumped in to help me when she saw the blood, since I was in pain and all I was trying to do was keep my head out of the water.

After finally getting into the boat, Jenny pulled out the first aid kit and bandaged me up pretty good. My doctor's office is one exit down from the park where we launch our boat and he was open until noon today, so we made a quick stop off to see if he could see me. They were booked up with flu patients so it would have been an hour wait or more. But since Jenny works at the same clinic and they knew her, the nurse came out to see how bad it was. She said to just clean it out and put a butterfly bandage on it - no need for stitches. She saw the bruise on my chest and didn't think it was anything to worry about but if it doesn't feel better by Monday I will be going in for an X-ray.

All in all, it was a good day of skiing it just ended too soon. Not the first time though that we've ended a ski trip on an injury and I'm sure it won't be the last time either. No skiing next weekend because of family commitments so it might be October before we get another trip in. Unless we can make time during the week and I get doctor's clearance to ski.

2.25 hours skiing, 2 skiers, 5 skies used, 3 ropes used

Jerry

Excert from the past - 8/5/1996

Well, it has been raining here since last Friday and I mean raining - some parts of Central Texas have seen 14-16 inches in 36 hours. It is letting up today but not weather for skiing. We need the rain though so there are no complaints, plus it has already brought Lake Waco up 2 feet and almost back to normal levels.

Since there is no new skiing going on I thought I should start electronically documenting our journal entries from past years at Lake Tenkiller. I'm not sure where the first journal is but I do have books 2 & 3.

TENKILLER 1996

Monday, August 5, 1996 - site #43

We are here and the wind is blowing.
- Katherine Davis Snider
- Lee Snider
- Rebekah Lauren Snider (back again & better than ever!)
- Natalie Louise

We're already making plans for summer '97. More Family, more fun! Wanda D.

Ron se habla espaniol, un poco.

As usual - wonderful time! We will do something similar next year! Love, Don

Here for the day only- no watermelon - Coy and Alice couldn't make it. First summer of retirement - taking lessons in relaxation. Uncle Loren and Nancy

TENKILLER 1997

There are no notes in the journal for this year other than the header above. My financial tracking shows that we rented a boat from Cookson Marina on 8/5/1997. The group included Jerry, Natalie, Rebekah, Lee and Nat's boyfriend at the time - Mikey.

TENKILLER 2001

Wednesday, August 22, 2001

We came by ourselves & tent camped. Jerry showed me all of the sites...Liserine Drip. Jenny

This is all that is listed in the journal. We spent just 3 days camping at Tenkiller after spending a few days in Ozark with Papaw & Nancy. This is the year that I bought Papaw's 1990 Glastron from him for $2,200 (he asked for half what it was worth at the time).

TENKILLER 2002

Wednesday, July 31 - Saturday, August 3, 2002

Had a great time with the Snider family...well some of them...Ron, Kathy, Lee & Jerry. Hope to get the rest of the family here next year. Jenny

I got up on slalom...Finally. Jenny

I skied a little. Lee skied and wakeboarded against doctor's orders (6 stitches in his hand). Jerry and Jenny taught Ron and Lee to play Mexican Train dominoes. All who are not here are missed. Kathy

Best time skiing & wakeboarding - learned that - wish we had more company & more time.

- Yo I feel up on a steep hill, Da said I couldn't ski, but I figured I will

- Ended up gettin me like 6 stitches, thought I ain't gonna sit round at lake like a witches

- Learned me how to jump from wake to wake, fell a few times but easier than eatin cake

- Put on a glove & I can do some crazy tricks, people be like "WHOOAAA" he picked that up quick

- Out here I be winning MT, kickin it wit J&J, a boat & some water so I wish I could stay

- Whether 6 inches in air or laid back wit a hat, If you see a skunk you better be sit sat

- Runnin outta page so I'm a end it here, Best time of my life whoda how u lud dat!

Lee Snider

That is all the entries for book #2. I'm not sure exactly what happened but book # 3 starts off with 2003 and the entries are much more detailed about skiing and other happenings around camp. I'm glad to be able to get all of these memories saved somewhere so that when we lose the journals again (which I'm sure we will), we won't be out these fantastic stories.

Until next time,

Jerry

Labor Day Ski Trip 2009

It was an awesome morning on the lake as there was absolutely no wind. There were plenty of fisherman on the lake again, in fact when we pulled out at 10:30am there were boat trailers parked in the overflow parking which is something I've never seen before in nearly 7 years of skiing Lake Waco.

We got on the water at 8am, yes it was late but I let Jenny sleep in a little for the holiday. It was Jenny's turn to go first and she really abused that glassy water. I wish I could film and drive at the same time because she really looks great on slalom. She skied for two longs runs before taking a break. Then I slalomed. My turns are getting better on the right side, so much so that I can feel the ski slipping out because I'm skiing above the level of the ski. Now that we are debt free I'm saving for a true advanced/competition level ski so that by next season I'll be finally on a ski that matches my ability. Anyways, I made several good passes before getting tired enough for my form to start slipping.

So Jenny went out again to try backwards skiing again. She had the takeoff position correct this time but just couldn't get the timing on the pullout. She decided to just ride two for a while and had fun doing so. She ran thru all the "tricks" of riding two and really looks smooth and easy. I then went out again on backwards slalom. It took me a few pulls to get the timing on the pullout right again but got up on about the fourth pull and rode away with ease. I was able to cross both wakes under control and am feeling much more comfortable on the ski. I had one really good bust when I put too much pressure on my front foot and it threw me backwards.

We then stopped and sat for a few minutes for rest and snacking. Jenny didn't feel like another run so I decided to attempt to pull out on slalom with the "wrong" foot forward. I'm usually a right foot forward but thought I should try to be "ambidextrous". First pull I tried with both feet in and wow was that weird. Didn't get out so I decided to try with one foot in and one out. That was even worse, apparently I don't have the same balance on my left foot which probably explains why I'm a right foot forward slalom skier. One last try with both feet in was successful. Skied for a while and it brought me back to the days of just learning to slalom, constantly focused on which foot I was putting pressure on. Crossed the wake several times but it was slow and easy.

By this time we were out by the dam and decided to head back to the house. We started off across the lake and then I decided to ride two back instead of just wasting gas driving. I gave a skiers salute to several house boats on the lake and just had fun squatting, stomping feet, jumping and zipping across the wakes.

Summer's over which means fewer boaters on the water from now until spring. Now the shorty wetsuits are going in the boat for the rest of September and then the full length wetsuits for October thru March.

2.5 hours skiing, 2 skiers, 7 skis used, 3 ropes used

'Til next time,
Jerry

Ski Trip - Saturday 9/5/09

We were not sure if we would get out on the lake today, meteorologists were forecasting lots of rain for the area starting yesterday. And it did actually rain yesterday morning so it appeared that they would actually be correct for once. BUT, they were wrong. The weather cleared this morning and we were able to go out under somewhat cloudy skies. We didn't get out as early as we would have liked because we wanted to be cautious about the forecast. So after the sun came up and there was still no activity on the radar we decided to hit the lake.

It was just Jenny and I for this trip. We got on the lake about 9:30am and there were fishermen all over the lake. There must have been a Labor Day Weekend tournament going on. We went over to the Speegleville area of Lake Waco to get out of the wind but still stay close enough to our boat ramp should the weather turn for the worse.

I rode slalom first and had some really good turns on both sides of the wake. Including one turn on the right side in which I was leaning so hard in the turn that my rope handle went into the water, a first for me, and it startled me for a split second. Jenny just happened to be turned to where she could see it and she made a face as if to say "that's gonna make him fall". Took a short break in the water after 2 solid passes then got up for a third pass. About half way thru I hit another boat's wake that we were crossing over and it jarred me just enough to cause my old high school cross country injury (slipped SI joint) in my back to act up. I couldn't put any pressure on my back foot from that point on so after attempting two more turns I had to call it quits. After a short therapy/stretching session, Jenny went out on slalom.

She did a very good job working on her hand release timing during her turns. She also had a few really good turns where she is starting to put more pressure on her back foot thru the turns. Unfortunately, there were a few fishing boats moving around during her run so she had to deal with quite a few rollers. She reminds me of where I was just a few years ago.

After some more stretching, I decided not to waste the good water - especially if it does actually rain the rest of the weekend as predicted. I went out on tricks since they are very low stress to ride. Did several 360s in each direction and multiple back to back to back 360s. Completed helicopters on both sides of the wake. I had to quit before I really wanted to because there were just too many boats coming around our area.

We made a short trip thru the Lake Waco Marina to see if people were moving around. Not much movement for a holiday weekend so I'm assuming the weather scared people away. We then went back across the lake to our boat ramp at Midway Park, where we swam for a short bit before loading the boat up and heading home at about 11:30am.

1.5 hours skiing, 2 skiers, 4 skies used, 3 ropes used

Hopefully more on Monday,
Jerry