by "functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
Published 02/27/2017 at 10:17
by "functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
Published 02/27/2017 at 10:17
Tags: legendary
STARS: 6
You read that correctly. Barefoot waterskiing. Behind a snowmobile. In February. In New Hampshire.
www.unionleader.com/Weirs-Channel-skimmers-draw-attention-of-law-enforcement
Quote from a bystander:
“They had a spotter in the water in a kayak and several of their own bystanders. These were no average Joes doing a water crossing. They were well prepared and safe. They were wearing life jackets and had wet suits on,” she said.
“The snowmobile was set up for water crossing,” Thurston said. “This was well thought out before they attempted it that’s for sure. It was amazing to see the kid bare footing it in the channel, never mind it being winter time.”
Update:
So out of respect for their identities I didn’t mention I know these guys before. But I guess this made local news and was picked up by a bunch of other news outlets around New England... their facebook video has over 100k views... long story short they have been found and they paid their fines. Not before someone started a gofundme to help them pay the $500 each, haha. I’ll try to get a better video but it’s all on Facebook which doesn’t like to share.
The news story being shared now includes an amazing quote from an observer, about the fines: “ You can’t put a price on legendary. ”
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Another update:
They interviewed the skier. Kinda funny. The way they edited the interview he comes across in a bad light, I think. He’s a nice kid and probably didn’t think this was a really big deal, honestly.
"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
02/27/2017 at 10:20, STARS: 0
Sounds bad but that looks really fun.
"Honeybunchesofgoats" (honeybunche0fgoats)
02/27/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 4
Oh yeah! America just threw down the gauntlet. Come at us, Canada.
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
02/27/2017 at 10:31, STARS: 1
I admire their fun. My question though is did the guy get onto his feet? Dragged behind and rotated? Did he drop his skis? You need to get on plane quickly but the snowmobile can’t start in the water.
These are important details!
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 10:32, STARS: 1
I’ve never waterskied behind a snowmobile. BUT I’ve driven my boat in water with ice in it many times, including where we got out and towed each other around on ice chunks. I’ve also waterskied behind a boat when there was still ice on half the lake, and I’ve driven my snowmobile across open water. But this combination... it’s another level.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 10:34, STARS: 1
He started on ice - snowmobile and skier - and dropped skis once he was in open water.
My question is, how did he get back onto the ice after barefooting? I’m thinking he let go before getting back on the ice, and swam to shore. He wasn’t far at all since they were in a channel, and he had a serious wetsuit on AND a helper in a kayak - so that guy could have picked up the skier, too I guess.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 10:38, STARS: 3
I remember telling people in college that skimming was a thing, where you drive your snowmobile across open water. I guess now anyone can look this up on youtube, but at the time, most people looked at me like I told them you could drive a car across open water. (You can! In January.)
I had some friends visiting from college over winter break one time, and I took a left turn onto a lake - this was at night so it wasn’t immediately obvious what I had done, until they realized it was very open and flat. I got a good chuckle out of that. It was actually a shortcut to where we were going, so it wasn’t
entirely
designed to freak them out.
"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
02/27/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 3
Larry is gonna have to step up his game!
http://totalfratmove.com/larry-enticer-hero-mullet-snowmobile/
https://www.facebook.com/larryenticer69/
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"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 10:49, STARS: 1
Haha, someone shared that recently with me... yeah he’s got some ground to make up
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
02/27/2017 at 10:56, STARS: 3
If there was a shoreline near by with a gradual slope, you can time your drop so that you stop just shy of the edge and walk out. Easy for both the snowmobile and skier as the snowmobile wouldn’t have to slow down and risk sinking.
I don’t know if that was the case but it seems like the logical way to end the run.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 11:06, STARS: 0
Yeah that’s true - I am sure they scoped it out and had a plan, based on the rest of the operation.
I don’t want to say anything that would incriminate them, but I believe these guys really knew what they were doing and did it as safely as one could really do such a thing.
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
02/27/2017 at 11:32, STARS: 1
I’ve been barefoot on ice. It’s not as bad as it sounds, so long as you don’t stand in one spot for too long.
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
02/27/2017 at 11:36, STARS: 3
There’s even a full on snowmobile on water racing league these days.
People be crazy
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 11:46, STARS: 0
Starting is one thing. He stepped into waterskis, in any case. But hitting the ice on the other end, barefoot - even if he had neoprene boots on - at ~40mph? Nope. He has to have dropped before hitting the ice. Another video cuts off well before they get that far....
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
02/27/2017 at 13:07, STARS: 0
We were out doing an FSAE thing a few years ago, and I snapped a few pics of my truck out by the course. Got a few comments along the lines of “wow Saskatchewan’s flat.” None of my friends from down south could grasp the concept of there being I’ve on a lake in the middle of March, let alone enough to drive a truck on. I think we were at around five feet of ice at that point, and still accumulating. Although that was a late spring. It was May before it started breaking up that year, and didn’t move off until after the long weekend that year.
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
02/27/2017 at 13:13, STARS: 1
Unless it’s recently broken off, the ice is usually a pretty gentle slope with water on top, so it wouldn’t be too bad I’d imagine. Your feet would be so numb after that run anyhow though, booties or no, that you wouldn’t feel it till the next morning anyhow.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 13:35, STARS: 0
That’s true, but then I wonder how he would stop. Like, he’s going close to 40 I suspect; I don’t think it would be easy to smoothly transition down to walking/running speed.... anyway I’ll just ask him next time I see him.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 13:38, STARS: 0
Haha, yup. I used to do boat tours and people from the south had a really hard time understanding driving trucks on the ice. Or even walking across the lake, for that matter. I would tell them about the local camp that harvests ice for summer use, and that blew their minds...
By the way 5 feet! We might get 18-24" here... that’s impressive because I know ice formation slows down - it’s not linear, you know? That’s some serious cold.
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
02/27/2017 at 13:45, STARS: 1
It got cold fast that year. Lots of wind, not much snow. December barely cracked -30°C, and never -25. January and February weren’t much better. Usually we top out around 3' on ice thickness, that year was an exception.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 13:57, STARS: 0
Yikes. Well, I know where to go when it doesn’t get below freezing anymore in New England! Because this year, December was winter-like, but January had temps above 0 C every day, we had a few weeks of “seasonable” cold temps, then this past weekend was pushing 15 C.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 14:08, STARS: 0
Update: confirmed, he let go and swam to shore.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/27/2017 at 14:11, STARS: 0
Update: confirmed, he let go and swam to shore. These guys are sharing videos all over social media.... perhaps not the wisest if you don’t wish to be caught. I guess it depends how far F&G wants to go in identifying these guys, and what kind of teeth a facebook video might have in court, if it went that far. You can’t ID them from the video, but what if others comment, “hey that’s ____ nice one bro”
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
02/27/2017 at 16:56, STARS: 1
Yeah, when I was out in PA and NY at the beginning of the month, everyone else on the Rally complained about how cold and snowy it was. Compared to back home, it was almost tropical.
"Shamoononon drives like a farmer" (shamoononon)
02/28/2017 at 16:52, STARS: 1
Seems like you could really mess up your foot like that.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/28/2017 at 16:55, STARS: 1
yeah, hitting an ice chunk would have hurt for sure. I think he was mostly aware of them, and chose his path accordingly. But there was some luck involved there too.
"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
02/28/2017 at 18:19, STARS: 2
“You can’t put a price on legendary”
pretty much how I live my life
"Roadster Man" (roadsterman)
02/28/2017 at 20:34, STARS: 1
Holy farts.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
02/28/2017 at 21:02, STARS: 0
Like, was that guy, and that line, planted? Or maybe it’s a quote from a movie that I don’t know. It seems way too good to be spontaneous.
"You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much" (youcantellafinn)
03/01/2017 at 10:34, STARS: 1
My guess is that someone watches How I Met Your Mother .
