MEET THE EAST
SKI VIRGINIA

Virginia Federation

In the 60's tournaments were typically held on tidal saltwater rivers where boat traffic, strong tides, and whitecaps kept performances down, but crowds gathered and our sport developed a healthy base of dedicated hard-core supporters that in many cases continue to "make R happen in Virginia'. Tournaments in Virginia in those days often included barefooting, where the winner skied the longest, and skiers were talking the finer points of kite flying, mixed doubles competition, ski racing and the Barefoot Club. The Virginia Water Ski Team, with Ks well known state cardinal emblem, could be found at tournaments all over the Eastern part of the country, making a name for themselves both as talented skiers and spirited team members that made their presence known.

In the late 60's tournament skiing was changed forever when six river skiers from the Virginia Water Ski Team and the Wipeouts Ski Club rented a 28 acre pond that was part of a farm being developed as a race track. The auto racing took 25 years to realize, but the skiing took off at this tranquil pond, called Picture Lake. Tournament skiers flocked to Picture Lake, and in 1968 the first annual Virginia Water Ski Championships were held. In 1969 the Governor proclaimed August as Water Ski Month in Virginia when the Virginia Championships, Eastern Masters, and Eastern Regionals were all held at Picture Lake. The Regional male overall titles were won by Bruce Jenner, Al Tyll and Wayne Grimditch that year, but Virginia skiers Ken Mead, Gordon Gay, Bill Lohr and your author all had respectable showings. In 1973 the "Miracle at Petersburg' Nationals were held at Picture Lake, when 333 skiers braved driving rain storms and skied around telephone poles with mattresses tied around them.

Picture Lake was the start of a good thing, and in the early 70's Jenning's Pond and Lohr's Lake, both mill ponds developed in Colonial times for grist mills, were tailored to use by tournament skiers. Later a lake built by Soup Campbell, a professional baseball player, was converted to a tournament site and Virginians enjoyed.

Rick and Jerry Stansberry's Lake Holly. Conditions at tournaments became near perfect, performances improved, and our sport prospered. Lake owners strived for better and better sites, and some found that private lakes were a lot of trouble and demanded time away from practice. Nevertheless, private sites continued to grow and for better or worse, river tournament skiing was removed from the Virginia tournament scene.

The 80's brought junior development programs, where the first clinic was held in 1987. Current times see more private sites, with one private lake, Hogback Mountain, built by coal miners Bill and Rusty Skewes, designed specifically for tournament water skiing. The Jenning's Pond skiers also decided to build an adjoining lake and surveyed the courses long before the lake was filled.

With the development of Timberlake, a pond afso built by Lake Holly developer Soup Campbell, the tiny crossroads post off ice of Sparta became known as the 'Water Ski Capital of the East" with its three lakes and four National Overall Champions in 1995. Listening to an announcer at a National tournament may lead a spectator to conclude that Sparta must be a pretty big place, when in reality the Sparta area has at most 1 00 people, two small country stores, three ski clubs that pick up trash along the roadway, and an active Church that graciously feeds the tournament skiers when they come to town.

Virginia enjoys many fine skiing traditions, from the Ken Mead Memorial Tournament to the Timberlake Team Tugoff, to the annual Sparta Junior Development Clinic. Virginians also enjoy many wonderful tournament sites, from Fredericksburg's elegant Fawn Lake, Colonial Williamsburg's Lee's Lake, Smith Mountain Lake in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, and Iron Horse along the railroad tracks south of Petersburg. Virginians love to ski, and to share their sites with others. The heritage that Virginia skiers enjoy has been shared with many, and the future for our sport in Virginia is bright !!