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WATERSKI MagazineBy now you've heard plenty about Ralph Samuelson's famous ski ride of 1922. It was the springboard for this special issue. You've seen the equipment, boats and bathing caps. Even old Lake Pepin is familiar to the eyes. You know how disruptive the lake could be during the founding days of water skiing, but maybe you'd like to know what it's like in 1997.
Given the buffet of lakes that extends from the Wisconsin border over to the Dakotas, Lake Pepin probably wouldn't be your first choice for spoon-fed conditions. Pepin isn't just a splotch along the Mississippi River. At three miles wide and 25 miles long, it's the biggest, baddest bulge on the most unpredictable river system in the country, and can be as unbecoming as an aneurysm. But on the original playground where Samuelson skied with garage-sale material, skiers still come from an hour away or more toting fiberglass wares to continue the tradition.
“We sit on the porch every evening in the summer and watch people ski out there,” says Bill Webb, who lives across the street from the very spot where it all started. Give Samuelson credit for knowing something about scouting for calm water. His personal harbor is bisected with a small peninsula where the Lake City Marina now sits, offering skiers two options depending on wind direction.
To the north is a picturesque bluff known as Maiden Rock, where legend has it a Native American girl once jumped to her death to avoid an arranged marriage. It's plenty safe these days, and you might even find some smooth water up this way. The extreme south end of Pepin transforms into something like a desolate bayou instead of a Midwestern lake.
Lake City is as innocent today as it was at the turn of the century. If you visit, expect the populace to know your name and where you're staying by the end of your first day in town. By then you'll also be enlightened as to why Samuelson said he couldn't have hand-picked a better place to create such a great sport. – Robert Stephens
