Water Skiing on the Trinity River. Really?

By Nick Olivier, communications intern

Who knew it was possible to water ski in the shadow of downtown Fort Worth? Of all my adventures so far this summer, I was most surprised to hear that I would be going water skiing on the Trinity River. When I think of water skiing or wakeboarding, I think of driving at least 45 minutes to a lake, or at least a wider, more rural river. Turns out both activities are offered within the city limits.

For water skiing, I hooked up with the Metroplex Ski Club, a family-oriented, social ski club active in Dallas/Fort Worth. The club started out in 1974 based in Dallas, but migrated to Fort Worth in the mid-1980s. The group now spends much of their time at Marine Creek Lake in Fort Worth and on a 3-mile stretch of the Trinity River. The group currently has about 70 memberships, amounting to approximately 130 members (some memberships are for families or couples). A little over 50% of members have their own boats, which is not a requirement for membership. The group hosts tournaments and features slalom skiers, show skiers and jumpers. They have put on clinics for disadvantaged youth and the physically disabled.

Streams and Valleys Executive Director Adelaide Leavens joined me on this excursion. She water skied as a teen and was excited to get back on the skis. I, however, had never water skied and was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stand up on the water. But I had some great teachers, who provided me with the water ski equivalent of training wheels. They placed a “boom,” or bar meant for barefoot skiing, on the side of the boat and I held onto that first, rather than starting out with the rope behind the boat. After that, a short rope was attached to the boom, and then I tried out the real thing. With this slow progression, I was able to stand up on my second try behind the boat.

My coaches were ski club secretary Mike Oleson, vice president in charge of the Trinity River Kip Ballinger and former president Bruce Carr. Each has their own story for how they started skiing and how they heard about the club. Mike is from Wisconsin and moved to Fort Worth to work on projects related to the Trinity River Vision Authority. Before moving to Fort Worth, he looked up the ski club because he wanted to find others to ski with. He now helps out with the club’s show ski team, which performs tricks and pyramids.

The club meets every third Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm at the Coors Distributorship at I-35W and Meacham Blvd. in Fort Worth. Visit the MetroplexSkiClub.com for more information.

On a side note, visit CowtownWakepark.com to learn about the new wakeboarding cable park (no boat necessary) along the Trinity River in Fort Worth.

Click HERE for a photo gallery of our water ski trip. Click HERE to see video of me water skiing for the first time (warning: it’s not pretty).

Did you know it was possible to water ski and wakeboard so close to home? Have you ever seen the water skiers on the Trinity River? Think you could get up on your first time? Leave a comment to let us know.