firefistus t1_jcodoez wrote on March 18, 2023 at 9:09 AM

Reply to comment by Nitroburner3000 in May 18th, 1980— this person casually jet skiing with St. Helens erupting behind them by happyleads

Then where are his skis? This man looks to me like he's wake boarding. Just 1 board, not 2 skis.

DCPlumber t1_jcpejih wrote on March 18, 2023 at 3:19 PM

Correction. He is slalom skiing. This is in 1980. Wake boarding was invented in 1990.

DCPlumber t1_jcpepot wrote on March 18, 2023 at 3:20 PM

But also possibly Skurfing.

kiddestructo t1_jcpf49g wrote on March 18, 2023 at 3:23 PM

Single skis with 2 foot bindings are a thing.

Nitroburner3000 t1_jcpx90q wrote on March 18, 2023 at 5:25 PM

Water skiing on a single ski is the only way I ever did it.

cookerg t1_jcsf6wl wrote on March 19, 2023 at 5:02 AM

It's a slalom ski, with one foot behind the other. Much more nimble for zipping around buoys, because you can turn the ski using both legs. In this picture he is way outside the wake to the starboard side of the boat and is starting to cut back towards the centre.

BluestreakBTHR t1_jcog25e wrote on March 18, 2023 at 9:44 AM

Why is it “water skiing” and not “wake skiing” then?

cookerg t1_jcsek4q wrote on March 19, 2023 at 4:55 AM

He's not riding the wake. He is towed by a rope and has swung wide, way outside the wake.