CLOSE
Sign up to get news on contests, pro events, new products and special offers.
WATERSKI MagazineA lake with the following characteristics truly must be considered a hot spot for water skiing:
Skiers are looking for it.
Skiers can't find it.
It could be across the neighbor's tree line and you wouldn't even know it.
Sources told us that Austin Lake, Ohio, could be found north of Steubenville, south of Empire and a javelin toss from the West Virginia border, and we still felt stupid trying to locate the place.
“That's kind of the idea,” says Bill Cable, who operates the man-made lake in the picturesque Ohio River Valley. “This is a retreat, a lake for water skiers who want to get away from overcrowded lakes.”
Cable and his family run the lake like a private site, though the 70 acres of spring-fed water are spread out and more natural-looking than most personally owned sites. You'd never know from looking at it that Austin Lake
was built with mortal hands. It's
surrounded with 1,500 acres of woods that are home to raccoons, beavers and other forest fauna.
Once you see the lake, however, you'll know you're in the right spot. Dead giveaways are the campground facilities and Nautiques waiting to roll. The Cables schedule tournaments and clinics throughout the summer, and they occasionally hire world-class skiers and wakeboarders like Tony Klarich and Shaun Murray to hold clinics. Instruction is available for all levels of skiers, or they'll just take you out for a few pulls through the slalom course. Call 614-544-LAKE, and be sure to ask for directions. – Robert Stephens
