Tales from the Foot

All Things Barefooting…

Archive for category events

Best Dam Barefoot Race is Saturday, May 15

Mar 15

Posted by wedge in announcements | No Comments

Just got off the phone (yes people do call me and let me know about events) and found out that the Best Dam Barefoot Race will be taking place on Saturday, May 15 on Beaver Dam Lake in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. It’ll be a 22 mile relay race for teams of 4 or 5 footers.

Last year the weather didn’t cooperate on Saturday (just a tad bit windy) and on Sunday when the ran the rice, although it was very sunny, the actually temperature was way cold (we’re talking 30’s). Hopefully, the weather cooperates a bit more this year.

More details on registration and cost will be coming soon.

Tags: ,

Building a Barefoot Calendar

Mar 9

Posted by wedge in events | No Comments

Do you have a barefooting event coming up this spring, summer, fall or even winter? Any type of barefoot event (figure-8, 3-event, race, freestyle, clinic, really anything.) If so, shoot me an email at wedge@talesfromthefoot.com and I’ll get it added to the calendar here on Tales from the Foot. Be sure to include some details about when, where and who to contact for more details. I can even add a full post about your event if you send in enough details about it. If you want a page on the site (ie talesfromthefoot.com/youreventnamehere to use as the events official website, I can help with that too (all I ask is you provide some follow up on what happens at the event for a story with some pictures and/or video).

Not planning an event, but looking for one to go? Be sure to look at the calendar here. There’s already lots of events in store for 2010. Based on my scouring of the internet, so far on the calendar we have the Blue Moo Chickfest, Wisconsin Open, Midwest Regionals, Barefoot Nationals, Manitowish Waters Midwest Open, World Barefoot Championships, Footstock, Clean Lakes Barefoot Challenge, Faceplant Fest and Project Snowflake.

Still waiting to here when or if there will be a Best Dam Barefoot Race (I need to make some calls), when the Dam to Dam Race will be (sometime in November), when the big St Louis Figure-8 and Race will be, and any other events that might be occurring somewhere this year.

Barefoot Chick Fest is Set for June 19

Feb 16

Posted by wedge in announcements, events | No Comments

In the most recent issue of the Wisconsin Water Skier (a WWSF publication) on the inside cover there is ad announcing the Barefoot Chick Fest that will be taking place at the Blue Moo Lake near Alma Center, WI on Saturday, June 19 this year. The website is listed as www.BarefootChickFest.com but as of this writing, there are no details there. Another site to look for details is www.cowzrus.net. As of this writing, there aren’t any more details other than to save the date.

For those that don’t know, the Blue Moo Lake is run by the Heller family who have several very accomplished barefoot skiers that competed successfully at the 2008 Worlds Barefoot Championships in New Zealand. Needless to say, they know a little something about barefooting.

Tags: , ,

Varying Degrees of Winter Water Skiing

Jan 12

Posted by wedge in events, recaps | No Comments

First off, some props go out to the Mad-City Ski Team, Skipper Buds and Malibu Boats. Based in Madison, WI, the ski team performed a benefit show on December 19th called Project Snowflake to raise some dollars for he local children’s hospital. They braved 30 degree weather and 36 degree water to raise about $3k for the American Family Children’s Hospital. They had fun for a very good reason. Check out the story on their website for more details. You can also donate to the cause. Details are in the Mad-City story. You ask why this made a barefooting website? Well, they had some barefooting in their show. Picture below.

Next, 30 years ago a town in California decided they needed a way to boost business on New Years. They settled on the Bun Run. It’s naked water skiing on New Year’s Day. Read the story here for more details.

Finally, there are a group of wild and crazy guys up near Montreal, Canada that like to do some water skiing in the winter. It sounds like it’s an annual tradition and they have a lot of fun in the process. Watch the video below…


Winter Water Skiing in Canada [video]

Tags: , , ,

Worlds & Nats

Aug 18

Posted by wedge in events, press, recaps | Comments off

The main reason for a new post is my google alerts found a nice article on the Heller girls.  They recently competed at the World Games in Taiwan and did very well with Elaine taking the gold and Shannon the bronze. Quite an accomplishment for two sisters.  They also competed at the US Nationals a couple weeks later taking gold and silver.  (article)  One thing that helped a lot is Elaine is now using the inverted jumping style and is currently the only woman using that type of jump. Basically, you fly through the air like superman (or woman) and fly a hell of a lot farther.

I can’t find a source to back this up, but I remember seeing a USA Water Ski post go through my RSS reader about Keith St. Onge winning gold at Worlds and I know he also won gold at Nationals as well as set a pending trick record. (article)

Here’s a link with all of the Nationals results.

Finally… a little teaser. Keep an eye on here for a pretty sweat barefoot video (or two) coming soon. Camera work kinda sucks and the view point isn’t that great, but the trick is more than kick ass and makes up for the poor camera work and bad perspective.

Tags: , , ,

Faceplant Fest 2009 Info

Aug 3

Posted by wedge in announcements, events | Comments off

The image below came to my email account and contains all the details you’ll need to know about the upcoming figure-8 barefoot tournament at Long Lake, MN.

faceplant2009

US Barefoot Nationals… New Place, New Dates

Feb 24

Posted by wedge in announcements | Comments off

I just saw this on USA Water Ski.  The US Barefoot Nationals are now being held at Mystic Lakes in Maize, Kansas and are taking place a week later, now from August 11 thru 15.  Here’s the official announcement from USA Water Ski:

Dates & Venue Changed For ABC Nationals

Due to severe drought conditions in central Texas, the American Barefoot Club (ABC) has announced a change in the dates and location of the 2009 Barefoot Water Ski National Championships. Originally scheduled for Aug. 4-8 at the Barefoot Ski Ranch in Waco, Texas, the 32nd annual event will now be held Aug. 11-15 (to accommodate the local organizing committee) at Mystic Lakes in Maize, Kan.

“This is relatively short notice for a local organizing committee to get ramped up for a national championships, however, the American Barefoot Club is confident with the commitments we have for support, both physical and financial, that the local organizing committee will pull together a first-class event,” said Dan Cummings, president of the American Barefoot Club.

Mystic Lakes is a two-lake site built in what was formerly a sand pit just outside Wichita, Kan. It was built into a water ski community with houses surrounding the lake. Mystic Lakes has hosted the Midwest Regional Water Ski Championships with more than 300 competitors, so it is no stranger to the logistics of putting together a large tournament.

“There are sidewalks around the lake, it has very high banks for wind protection, and a center strand between the two lakes provides for perfect spectator viewing,” Cummings said. “We will be able to jump on one lake and run slalom and tricks on the other lake. While this is certainly a change from the previously announced Waco site, I am confident it will be a great tournament and one that you will not want to miss. Mystic Lakes has hosted our Regional Barefoot Championships on multiple occasions as well as regular local tournaments.”

More than 100 athletes are expected to compete for national titles in wake slalom, tricks, jumping and overall in respective divisions.

The American Barefoot Club is one of nine sport disciplines of USA Water Ski.

Link to Article

This is especially good news for the many barefooteres that are also show skiers.  Prior to the announcement, Show and Barefoot Nationals were on the same weekend.

Update:

I recieved this in an email from the ABC President:

Barefooters,

Due to the draught we currently experiencing in Central Texas and the lack of water to make the site ski-able, this year’s Barefoot Nationals is being moved to Mystic Lakes in Wichita, Kansas.To accommodate the LOC and Homeowners association, the dates are also being moved toAugust 11-15. The date move will also resolve the conflict we had with Show Ski Nationals, which is good since most of our World Junior Team are also show skiers. 

This is relatively short notice for an LOC to get ramped up. However, we are confident, with the commitments we have for support, both physical and financial, the LOC will pull together a first class event. Mystic Lakes is a two lake site built in what was formerly a sand pit just outside Wichita in Maize, KS. It was built into a water ski community with houses surrounding the lake. Mystic Lakes recently hosted 3 event regionals with over 300 skiers. So they are no strangers to the logistics of putting together a large tournament. Wichita is centrally located in the US and is serviced by an international airport. 

There are sidewalks around the lake, it has very high banks for wind protection, a center strand between the two lakes for perfect spectator viewing. We will be able to jump on the second lake and run slalom and tricks on the other. They have hosted our Regional Barefoot Championships on multiple occasions as well as regular local tournaments.

While this is certainly a change from the previously announced Waco site, I am confident it will be a great tournament and one you will not want to miss. Waco is lining up to host next years Nationals, so we will get to experience that great site as well. We wanted to get the word out so everyone has as much notice as possible to make plans. See you in Wichita!

Dan Cummings
President, American Barefoot Club

Tags:

Ski-A-Rees Benefit Show for Ryan Bergeron

Feb 18

Posted by wedge in announcements | Comments off

Here is some info about an upcoming benefit show for Ryan Bergeron that the Sarasota Ski-A-Rees are doing. Ryan was injured while barefooting during a professional ski show.  Here are all the details…

Some of you know that Ryan Bergeron, who has skied with the Sarasota Ski-A-Rees Water Ski Show Team, in Sarasota, FL, since 1999 was injured barefooting last year while performing in Brazil and is currently without the use of his legs. Ryan’s recovery is going well and he recently returned to the water, performing in our Sunday shows. As you can imagine, Ryan’s medical bills are staggering.

To help Ryan, March 22, 2009 will be “Ryan Bergeron” day at Ski-A-Rees Stadium, with all proceeds from the Sunday 2:00 show going to the Ryan Bergeron Medical Fund.

We invite all show skiers, especially those in the Southern Region or visiting our area on Spring Break, to join with us for the entire weekend, including practice on Saturday and an all-day party and 2:00 public show on Sunday. We plan to heavily publicize this show and would love to have commitments from other skiers to report to the media.

Our show director, Sherri Brunner, needs to know as soon as possible how skiers plan to participate. Please send her an email at benefit@skiarees.com.

If you’re unable to ski, but would still like to help Ryan, please consider sending a donation to:

Ryan M Bergeron Medical Account
c/o Sarasota Ski-A-Rees
P.O. Box 1493
Sarasota , FL 34230

For more information, please contact us a http://www.skiarees.com/ryan

Also here is a link to a video aired on TV done on Ryan. http://usfmasscomm.blip.tv/file/1713685/

Brad Satterlee
Event Coordinator

Best Dam Barefoot Race is on for 2009!

Feb 17

Posted by wedge in announcements | Comments off

The Best Dam Barefoot Race is on!  I spoke with T-Bell, the race organizer tonight, and she confirmed that the race will occur this year. They decided to push the race date back one week so it will be the Saturday after Mother’s Day weekend (May 16th). The water should be ever so slightly warmer and we’ll no longer need to deal with being “exhausted” on Mother’s Day.  Be sure to check back here for more details.  I’ll have them as soon as they are announced.

Start training now for the 22 miles of fun pain torture racing excitement.  Get your team’s together now!

Tags:

Blue Moo Chick Fest Is Online

Feb 11

Posted by wedge in announcements | 1 Comment

The Cowz R Us Ski Team, based at The Blue Moo (near Alma Center, WI) has posted their event calender for the year.  They are kicking off the ski season with a Beach Party on May 30 (which is a Lions Club Fundraiser ).  Their next major event is the Wisconsin/Illinois Open on June 26- 28.  Following that is the Blue Moo Chick Fest on July 11th.  They’ve launched a completely new website for that event and you can find it online at www.barefootchickfest.com.  The Blue Moo event calander comes to a close with the Midwest Regionals July 24 – July 26.

You can view their event calender on their site or you can view the event calendar here.  I’ve added all of their event and many others for 2009.

Be sure to check out their video section.  They put together a nice video of the footing from the 2008 Beach Party titled Hellar 2008.

Barefoot Chick Fest 2009 Logo

Tags: ,