WaterSki Magazine

WATERSKI Magazine
2001-06-14 15:00:00 | 58 views |
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I was totally stoked when I got the call from WaterSki
magazine's slalom editor, Todd Ristorcelli, about a trip to
Acapulco. By late October, the wind in Orlando spends more time in
the slalom course than we do, and the summer heat has moved south
for the winter. How could I not take on the project of a WaterSki
magazine photo shoot at one of the sweetest sites in the world with
a few of my U.S. Pro Water Ski Tour counterparts? Yep! That's
right; I would be meeting up with Chris Parrish and Jason “J”
Paredes in an average 85-degree December in south Mexico. What an
offer! We could “get up it” one more time before the new millennium
with Gordon Rathbun of Ski Paradise at his primo dual slalom-course
site. Knowing that all four of us had run 39.5 off in a record
tournament during the 1999 season made me even more stoked, and I
was really chomping at the bit to get down there.
Parrish and I were the first to arrive at our new home for the
week. Gordon put us up in his plush seven-room villa overlooking
Acapulco Bay. With Coronas in hand, we immediately realized that
there were going to be no shortcuts in food and accommodations.

Todd and photographer Heather Lee showed up the next day, and as
I suspected, everyone was ready to rip it up the first day at the
lagoon. By the time “J” showed up on Wednesday, if you weren't
headed down 39.5 off, there was no use showing up at the dock.
Thursday morning, young Parrish broke the lagoon record for the
second time, running two at 41 off. To make our training a little
interesting, we decided to have a friendly tournament. Friendly is
an overstatement because it turned out to be just as serious as a
tour final.
It went down like this. The tournament consisted of a two-round
average buoy count. After the first round, all was pretty much
even. Parrish was a little ahead with five at 39.5 off and the rest
of us were just behind him around the middle of the pass. After a
night of goin' big in downtown Acapulco, the morning of our final
round came quickly. With all of us fighting hangovers, we knew
where we stood for the final round. With “Wonder Boy” Chris Parrish
first on the water, we knew it was going to take a lot of buoys to
win. I guess Parrish had had too much fun with his Mexican
girlfriend of the week, Sonja, because he went down at 38 off. With
a five at 39.5 off and a 1.5 at 38 off, his average would only be
.25 at 39.5. This left the door open for the rest of us. We were
all over it like a Jenny Craig dieter gone awry at an
all-you-can-eat buffet. Todd skied well enough to get past Parrish
with an average of one at 39.5 off. “J” bumped past Todd and Chris
with an average of two at 39.5 off, and I took honors with three at
39.5 off.

Certainly, the best part of the trip was the unbelievable fact
that Gordon's slalom courses on Laguna Azul ran parallel to and no
more than 125 yards from the beach. This meant alternating slalom
sessions and surf sessions for the nine days we were there. Armed
with my 9-foot longboard and Todd with his fun-shape, we caught
some waves between the photo shoots we did in the morning and
afternoon ski rides.
I couldn't have imagined a better way to end a great year on tour
than to hang in south Mexico at a spot that illustrates the exact
reason we are all habituated with slalom skiing. Perfect weather
and remarkable company seems to make us push for better skiing and
more of it. The trip will definitely make the winter go by a little
faster, and I'll always remember my trip to Ski Paradise.

Thanks for the good time, boys!