Lake Saint Louis has a long tradition of success in 3-Event skiing. The club has a proud history of state, regional, and national achievements in the sport.
Ken
Ken Treadway, 3-Event Coach
Lake St. Louis Water Ski Club
This individual competition involves three core events:
- Slalom skiing
- Trick skiing
- Jump distance
3-Event skiing emphasizes individual growth and reaching personal goals. It is a journey of pushing boundaries, whether mastering new tricks, navigating buoys in slalom, or extending jump distances. These competitors are driven by intrinsic motivation and determination, as the lake's conditions can pose challenges for practice.
The 3-Event community is characterized by camaraderie and mutual support. It is common to witness club members teaching their skills to newcomers in trick and slalom skiing. The jump team, under the guidance of Brad McLaughlin and the "Lake Saint Louis Air Force," provides invaluable training and mentorship.
Junior Slalom Sessions
For the beginner junior slalom skier – Instructional skiing the slalom course. Prerequisite: must be able to perform a deep water start, ski on a slalom ski, and cross wakes.
3-Event Junior Tournament Team
For the competitive junior 3-event skier. (Instruction in slalom course, jump, and trick skiing for 3-event. Prerequisite: must be able to complete full pass of slalom course and have interest in tournament skiing.)
Slalom League
For the competitive slalom skier (any age). (Handicapped weekly scoring of the slalom course, determines the LSL Slalom Course Overall Champion and LSL Slalom Course Best Buoy Count trophy winners!)
In 2023, the club witnessed four of its members capturing state championships. At present, three former club members are skiing for their respective college teams.
Ayden and Carson Czerniewski and Reed Treadway have qualified to attend the Missouri Junior Development Camp, and Reed will join the Midwest Elite Ski Team in Florida in June for training. Reed has qualified for the national championships the past three years.
3-Event Water Skiing
A majority of competitive skiing is based on 3-Event Water Skiing. The three events include slalom, trick, & jump. Skiers can typically choose whether they want to participate in all three events or just one or two. The slalom event is typically the most popular. See below for a complete description on each event…
SLALOM
Slalom skiing is about timing and rhythm. A skier negotiates his/her way through a slalom course by rounding six buoys in an alternating right-left pattern. To run the course, the skier must pass through an entrance gate, ski around all six turn buoys, and ski out through the exit gate. Once the maximum speed is achieved, the rope is shortened at the completion of each pass, thus making it more difficult to reach the buoys on each subsequent pass. A skier’s turn continues until they miss or fall. An athlete receives one point for each consecutive buoy. The athlete with the most buoys wins the event.
The maximum speed for a skier is based on your age division. Once a skier is at the maximum speed, the rope is shortened to make the six buoys progressively harder. The minimum speed for all ages is 15 mph. A typical tournament hosts skiers of ALL ability levels. At the elite level the rope length of 11.25m (38 feet off a 75’ rope) is shorter than the distance of the buoy from the boat, calling for hairpin turns and aggressiveness behind the boat.
The boats also have “cruise control” to regulate the speeds through the slalom course to make the conditions fair to all skiers. This system has been perfected over the years to get within 1/100th of an actual time through the slalom course.
TRICK
Trick skiing is the gymnastics of this sport. This event takes great coordination and balance to accomplish the intricate maneuvers. A competitor has two 20-second passes to complete as many tricks as possible using one or two skis. Each trick has an assigned point value and can only be done once in the pass. Usually each pass is performed with “hand tricks”, where the handle is held in the hands, or “toehold tricks” were the contestant’s foot is attached to the handle.
Each trick run is scored by 3 judges who occupy elevated platforms on shore. The judges call out the tricks as they are performed and determine if they were done according to the rules. The competitor who earns the most points wins.
JUMP
The jump event is an extreme event for adrenaline-junkies. This event generates a lot of excitement at tournaments because of the risk that an athlete takes to see how far he/she can fly!
The object is plain and simple: jump as far as you can, and the longest jump wins. Each competitor has three passes through the jump course during his/her turn. For a jump to count, the skier must ski away from the landing. Competitions typically have a wide range of jumping abilities. Many of the skiers are just “riding over” the jump at speeds as slow as 24 mph and other more experienced jumpers are making full cuts at the ramp, as shown in the diagram below, at a max speed of 35 mph.
The boats are installed with “cruise control” to ensure the athlete gets consistent pulls on each of their jumps. High end jumpers are accelerating at speeds in excess of 65 mph, it is very important that the boat and cruise control are set up properly to make the competition fair. Distances are computed instantaneously through video triangulation, and communicated to the jumper before the next jump.
The content for this 3-Event information was page borrowed from Proskiers.com
