The 2020 Season!

We are just one month away from kicking off another ski season in Bumpass!

As usual, winter has been too long, but the warm air and sunshine are returning to Virginia. The water will be heating up by the day through March and our official Opening Day will be April 4! For the die hards, we can even slip in some bonus skiing on April 2nd and 3rd, weather permitting!

This year the Bum Pass Water Ski Club celebrates its 10th birthday and we have some exciting new changes to share! Sorry, no sneak peaks! You'll just have to come out and see what we've been up to during the off season. Waterskiing is growing in Virginia and we are growing along with it and hoping to be part of a sustainable evolution of the sport.

Aside from some upgrades to our home base, we have some exciting events to announce. Please mark your calendars!

The Third Annual Buskey Cider Cup will take place May 30-31.

Building on the fun and success of the past two years, we hope to make this year's Buskey Cider Cup better than ever. Saturday will be the main event and keep the same fun format from the past two seasons. All ages and abilities are encouraged to come out and shred. Each skier will get 6 passes to go for one of 5 awards: 1) Smoothest Pass 2) Scrappiest Pass 3) Best Crash 4) Best Dressed and 5) Best Performance. Here is the sign up link to Saturday's Fun Class Event: Buskey Fun Class

To add to the event, we have decided to offer a two-round "Class C" tournament on Sunday. Spaces will be limited, so sign up early. It's first come; first serve! Each skier will get two rounds to achieve their best score for the national ranking list. The five skiers with the top scores based on NOPS points will get a bonus third round shootout to take home the tournament's top prize! Here is the link to the Class C portion on Sunday.

Driving Clinic

After hearing from so many skiers that they would like to improve their driving, we thought we would do something about it. We'll be hosting our first ever driving clinic on April 11. This is an all-levels class that will include both a classroom portion and on-water practice. We will cover some basic maneuvering specific to ski boats and lakes (launching, docking, picking up fallen skiers).

We will also dive into the finer points of slalom course driving so that drivers can offer their ski partners the best possible pull, whether in the course or free skiing. So much goes into giving a great pull and this is an opportunity to share our accumulated knowledge to promote safety and best practices. Participants can elect use this clinic to attain their AWSA Trained Driver Rating. To do so, they will have to complete the Online Course through USA Waterski and submit to the Motor Vehicle Review. That info can be found here. We will have the practical evaluation sheets here to administer the exam. The clinic fee is $50. That includes snacks and drinks, classroom time and water practice. Everyone should bring wetsuits and skis, as we will need participants to ski so that others can practice driving and apply the new techniques. Email me at h2oSkiJunkie@gmail.com to register.

We are also expanding our Radar Nation Day, a free ski demo day sponsored by Radar Skis to two days this year. I believe both days - May 16 and 17 are already full.

Thank you to those who signed up and thank you Radar for supplying us with skis and lunch for the day. If you are considering a new ski this year and missed the sign ups, fear not! I'll have a full line up of Radar skis and gear available to demo all season! If you already know what new gear you need to start the season (ski, gloves, vest, rope, handle, ski bag/sleeve) great! Just email me at h2oSkiJunkie@gmail.com and I can get your order in right away!

We are currently working on new Peace, Love & Waterskiing merch. Expect new designs by Amelia and fun new products this summer. Meanwhile, you can help us clear out 2019 inventory by placing an order at the PLW online store. (Sizes and quantities vary)

For the Ladies

It wouldn't be a complete season here without a couple of Women's Clinic days. Amelia will send out an email next month with more details to our core group of women skiers. These days have been a blast - skiing all day and then capping off with a fun happy hour and shared hors d'oeuvres. The first clinic date is set for June 19. We'll add at least one more, if not two over the course of the season.

Hot Bumpass Nights Wednesday Night Ski League Will be back for year 2!

This was a no brainer. Last year's Wednesday night league was something I looked forward to each week. We had such a fun group and literally every person made massive improvement over the summer. AJ Quimper won the league title and a prize pack by improving 24 buoys over the course of the summer. This year the league will run almost every Wednesday from June 10 - September 30.

It's $300 to sign up and then just $25 each week when you come for your set. Your top score each week is all that counts. We establish a baseline score in the first week and then track each skier's progress over the summer. He or she who improves the most wins! All leagues skiers get a free T-shirt. Members are encouraged to bring food for an open grill every week and we'll have a celebratory dinner on the last meet up. I dare someone to break AJ's record of picking up 4 full passes!

That's all for now. I know it's a lot but it's going to be a full and fun summer! I'll keep the updates fresh as we move closer to these events. I'll be traveling like a madman this summer, so I encourage everyone to come out early and get a jumpstart on the season in April. There is simply no time more powerful to start creating habit change than at the beginning of the season! Don't wait until you re-ingrain old habits and then try to change them. Let's shake the rust off together and set a new course that makes 2020 our best ski season ever!

Ski you soon!

Corey