What is Slalom water skiing?? Is it a legit sport? I’ve been in the competitive ski industry since the mid 90’s and I answer this question shockingly often. People don’t realize Slalom Water Skiing is an actual sport with competitions and tournaments.
Recreational Slalom Water Skiing uses a single narrow ski to ride behind a boat, and carve across the wakes. Tournament Slalom is where skiers run a zigzag course of 6 buoys, arranged to the sides of the boat. Pros are capable of speeds up to 120km/70mph and pulling loads of 4 G’s after each buoy!
What most people think of as Slalom, is recreational. When you, your buddies or family, can ski behind the boat on one ski. This ski is known as a slalom ski. Slalom skiing is getting up on one ski, standing comfortably, and being able to move from one side of the boat wakes to the other. As you progress and become more comfortable, your boat speed will go up so you will be able to make big turns, make epic spray turns, and cut faster across the wake at a full lean.
The vast majority of skiers will stop progressing beyond this point. It’s fun to do, you’re capable enough, but you don’t do it all that often. There are, after all, many other things to ski or board on while you’re out at the lake having fun during summer. It’s easy to leave it there because the next step is a big one. Progression takes time in the slalom course and more consistent dedication. It’s undoubtedly still fun, just much more goal-oriented than the casual ski weekend over the summer break.
Slalom Specific Gear
My extensive gear list is found here
- Slalom Ski with bindings
- Boardshorts, rash top, wetsuit
- Life vest, Lighter version than is common
- Gloves
- Handle and rope
The Basics of the Slalom Event
The Slalom Course
The slalom course is two courses of buoys. First set of buoys for the boat to drive through, and a second set for the skier to utilize.
White line is the boat path.
The black line is the skier path.
The red line is the ski handle path. As the rope shortens it becomes too short to even reach the buoy. The skiers body must make up the difference. Being taller is a big advantage. It is also why one hand releases the handle, adds reach.
The boat drives through the middle, while the skiing moves from side to side. The skier uses the boat buoys twice in a pass, once at the entry gates, and again when exiting. The boat drives toward the course, with a good run in for the skier to get settled. The Slalomer pulls out to the left at the green buoys, to get up next to the boat. Then times the turn through the entry gates with as much angle as possible towards buoy number one.
As Slalom Skiers accelerate, they gain 100km/60mph from the moment boat hooks up after a turn, to the moment they cross the wake. Less than a second
The skier releases the outside hand (right hand into buoy one) to get more reach to get the ski around the buoy. Along with giving more width, it also helps with turning back in towards the wake with more angle to get to the next buoy. As the ski rounds the buoy, skier brings the handle back into their hips, putting the outside hand back on the handle.
Once your hands are on, you want to be in position as the boat hooks up and shoots you like a bullet! The angle of the ski to the boat accelerates skiers to double the boat speed. The acceleration and pull put forces on the skier of up to 4 G’s. At that moment, you are holding 4x your weight. 2 G’s is felt consistently through all turns, the 4+ spike is when the skier reconnects with the boat finishing a turn.
Once skiers pass the center of the boat wake, they lose all of that speed as you come into the buoy to make the next turn. Repeat until you round all six buoys, and through the exit gates. Provided you didn’t fall or miss a buoy; the pass is complete. After completion, the difficulty increases for the next pass.
How Scoring Works in Slalom Water Skiing
Three main factors are determining the score —what number buoy you missed or fell at, length of the rope, and the boat speed.
1 -What Buoy did you miss or fall around
In tournament, athletes receive one point for each buoy successfully rounded — the athlete who skis the most buoys down the shortenings, scores the most points and wins the event. You may think why bother with points if its just the furthest along wins? Points are there in case 2 rounds are added together, or you are skiing in a team and your team gets those points. In competition, you can start your first pass at any line length and speed you choose.
2 – What Speed to Slalom Skiers Go
Recreationally, you may ski at anywhere from 30-50 km/15-30mph. Where you ski in that window depends on what feels comfortable, you can always signal your boat driver up and down to find your comfortable speed.
When you first begin running the Slalom Course, you’ll be at whatever speed you feel comfortable. As you progress and you are running more passes, you will increase the speed. The more time you can put into this, the faster you will increase the speed you can run passes. Once you reach the divisional maximum well done!! But it doesn’t stop there, that is when you begin to shorten the rope, and things get heated.
In Tournament Slalom Skiing, the speeds are set at 3km/2mph increments starting at 25km/15.5mph. The increases aren’t endless; there are maximums for each of the divisions. The Womens max is 55km/34mph, and Mens is 58km/35mph(Typically at 17-18 years old). You can always choose your speed at the start of your turn in a tournament. Below are the speeds from which you can choose.
Boat Speed in Km Boat speed in Mph
| KM | 28 | 31 | 34 | 37 | 40 | 43 | 46 | 49 | 52 | 55 | 58 |
| MPH | 17.4 | 19.2 | 21.1 | 23.0 | 24.9 | 26.7 | 28.6 | 30.4 | 32.3 | 34.2 | 36 |
Tournament boats utilize Zero Off, a GPS cruise control unit. So when you are skiing 58km/36mph, you know for sure it will be 16.08 seconds, entry to exit gate, every time. Or at least within 0.001 of a second anyway. There are settings for how you want the boat to do its acceleration, but it makes sure the speed is fair for everyone, no-one gets an advantage. It is also becoming more popular among recreational skiers as well.
3 – Understanding Rope Lengths for Slalom Water Skiing
A new rope will be 23m/75ft, though you may notice different colours of sections near one end. The colours show the lengths used when competing.
As a beginner, you will likely start at the longest rope, or maybe the red, 18m/15off. For recreational skiing, you can pick any line length that you find comfortable. A longer line is a little heavier to ski with, so someone struggling with balance might find a shorter rope easier. Be careful shortening too much as you could get stuck in the prop wash, which isn’t fun.
In competition, a measured rope is provided for the athletes. You are permitted to bring and use your own handle, as long as it gets tested before you ski. One is provided for athletes, but most skiers will use their personalized handles.
Looking at the table below,
Note that the distance from the ski pole in the boat to the buoy is 11.5m/37ft9inchs. So on any rope violet length and beyond, the handle isn’t as wide as the course. The world record is on the 2.5@9.75m/32ft. 1.75m/5.7ft short of the buoy
Rope Colour Rope in Meters Rope length in feet Rope in Feet “Off” the rope
| Rope Colour | Rope Length Meters | Length In Feet | No. “Feet Off” |
| White | 23.00m | 75.5 ft | 0 |
| Red | 18.25m | 60 ft | 15 Off |
| Orange | 16.00m | 52.5 ft | 22 Off |
| Yellow | 14.25m | 46.75 ft | 28 Off |
| Green | 13.00m | 42.5 ft | 32 Off |
| Blue | 12.00m | 39.5 ft | 35 Off |
| Distance from ski pole to Buoy | 11.50m | 37.9 ft | 37 |
| Violet | 11.25m | 37 ft | 38 Off |
| White | 10.75m | 35.25 ft | 39 and a half Off |
| Pink | 10.25m | 33.5 ft | 41 Off |
| WR=2.5 – Black | 9.75m | 32 ft | 43 Off |
| Red | 9.50m | 31 ft | 44 Off |
To begin, skiers choose the line length they would like to start at, but caution, miss the first pass, and their score roles back to the slowest speed and the longest rope. Skiers must complete an opening pass to secure a place in the progression.
Until skiers reach divisional max, they will be on the 18m/15off, the red rope. From the 18m/15off, it shortens to the 16m/22off and continue down the shortenings until a pass is missed. There is no shortest rope; the world record is 2.5 buoys on a 9.75m/43off; if someone runs it, they will just shorten the line again. You go until you fail every time.
So the score is the number of boys, @ what rope length, @ what speed.
e.g.
- 6@18m@58 or 6@15off@36
- 4@12@58 or 4@35off@36
- 1.5@10.75@58 or 1.5@39off@36
The Slalom Skiing Head Game
I love the mental game of Slalom and competitive skiing in general. You go out every time in both practice and tournament to compete against your own Personal Best. If you learn to do this in practice, then a competition feels familiar. And if you manage to beat your personal best in a comp, then wherever you place on the leader board is your best possible result on the day.